O'Doherty, Rosa
O'Doherty, Rosa (c.1588–1660), refugee and political activist, was born on the Inishowen Peninsula in northern Co. Donegal, daughter of Sir John O'Doherty (d. 1601) and his first wife, a daughter of Shane O'Neill (qv). Rosa…...
O'Donnell, Nuala
O'Donnell, Nuala (c.1575–c.1630), refugee, was born in Tir Conaill, daughter of Hugh O'Donnell (qv) (d. 1600), lord of Tyrconnell and his second wife,…...
O'Donohue, Maura
O'Donohue, Maura (1933–2015), missionary doctor and public health campaigner, was born on 2 March 1933 at Likeen, her family home in Kilfenora, Co. Clare, the second of four children (two girls and two boys) of Andrew O’Donohue, a farmer, and his wife Kate (née O’Brien). Mary Brigid, as…...
O'Neill, Henrietta
O'Neill, Henrietta (1757/8–1793), poet, hostess, and patron of the arts, was the only child of Charles Boyle (1728–59), Viscount Dungarvan (son of John Boyle (qv), 5th earl of Cork and Orrery), and his wife, Susannah (1732–83), daughter of…...
Overend, Letitia Lily Anne Letham
Overend, Letitia Lily Anne Letham (1880–1977), philanthropist and motor enthusiast, was born 15 July 1880 at 11 Herbert Road, Dublin, the elder daughter of Trevor T. L. Overend, a successful solicitor, and Bessie Anna Overend (née Butler), better known as Lily. She had one sister,…...
Owens, Evelyn
Owens, Evelyn (1931–2010), trade unionist and women's rights advocate, was born on 22 January 1931 at 23 Vernon Gardens, Clontarf, Dublin, the fourth of six children of William Owens, a civil servant of Clontarf, originally from Co. Roscommon, and his wife Ellen (née Monaghan), from…...
Palmer (Ambrose), Eleanor
Palmer (Ambrose), Eleanor (c.1720–1818), celebrated beauty, was born Eleanor Ambrose , daughter and heiress of Michael Ambrose, a wealthy Roman catholic brewer and merchant, and his wife, the daughter of Richard Archbold, a Dublin brewer; nothing is known of her mother.…...
Patterson, Sarah (‘Saidie’)
Patterson, Sarah (‘Saidie’) (1904–85), trade unionist and peace activist, was born 25 November 1904 at 32 Woodvale St., Shankill Road, Belfast, eldest of three children of William Patterson (d. 1912), shipyard blacksmith, and Sarah Patterson (née Moore), both of whom were devout…...
Perolz, Mary (Máire, Marie)
Perolz, Mary (Máire, Marie) (1874–1950), republican and trade unionist, was born 7 May 1874 in Market Alley, Limerick city, daughter of Richard Perolz, a Dublin-born, protestant printer of French Huguenot origin, and Bridget Perolz (née Carter), a catholic. The family moved to Tralee,…...
Pike, Mary
Pike, Mary (1776–1832), quaker heiress, was the only surviving daughter of Samuel Pike and his wife Catherine Hutchinson (d. 1813), a son and daughter both having died in infancy. Samuel (d. 1796) was a partner with his older brother Ebenezer in the family bank in Cork city,…...
Pim (later Grubb), Sarah
Pim (later Grubb), Sarah (1746–1832), and her brothers Joshua Pim and Joseph Pike Pim, entrepreneurs, were among the sixteen children of John Pim, quaker businessman of Mountrath, Queen's Co. (Laois), and his wife Sarah (née Clibborn), who was also of a quaker family from Moate, Co.…...
Pirrie, Margaret Montgomery
Pirrie, Margaret Montgomery (1857–1935), Viscountess Pirrie , public figure and philanthropist, was born 31 May 1857, probably in Belfast, and probably the youngest child among three sons and two daughters of John Carlisle , English master in the Belfast Academical Institution, and…...
Plunkett, Elizabeth Mary Margaret (‘Daisy’) (née Burke)
Plunkett, Elizabeth Mary Margaret (‘Daisy’) (née Burke) (1862–1944), countess of Fingall , socialite and cooperationist, was born at Danesfield, near Moycullen, Co. Galway, eldest among three daughters and one son of George Burke, farmer and magistrate; her two youngest siblings…...
Porter, Margaret Lavinia
Porter, Margaret Lavinia (d. 1881), philanthropist, was eldest daughter among three sons and five daughters of Thomas Lindsey , gentleman, of Hollymount, Co. Mayo, and his wife (m. 1784) Lady Margaret, daughter of Charles Bingham…...
Redmond, Mary
Redmond, Mary (1950–2015), solicitor and founder of the Irish Hospice Foundation, was born on 25 August 1950, third in a family of six girls and a boy, to Dr John Redmond, civil servant, and his wife Mary (Máire) (née Lannin). She described her childhood in the family home on Mount Eden…...
Rooney, Maude
Rooney, Maude (1902–1974), consumers' and women's rights activist, was born Mary Maude Mahony in Co. Armagh, one of six children (three boys and three girls) of a retired RIC district inspector (who was a catholic), and his wife Frances Charlotte. She was raised in Holywood, Co. Down…...
Russell, Mary Baptist (Katherine, Kate)
Russell, Mary Baptist (Katherine, Kate) (1829–98), nun, philanthropist, and educator, was born 18 April 1829 at Seafield, Ballybot, Newry, Co. Down, the third daughter and third child among the six children of Arthur Russell, ship's captain turned brewer, and his wife, Margaret (…...
Ryan, Agnes
This is a co-subject for the entry on Ryan, Mary Kate ('Kit', 'Cáit'). View the original entry....
Sandes, Elizabeth Anne (‘Elise’)
Sandes, Elizabeth Anne (‘Elise’) (1851–1934), founder of Sandes Soldiers' Homes in Ireland, India, and Great Britain, was born 19 February 1851 in Tralee, Co. Kerry, third daughter among seven daughters and two sons of Stephen Sandes, British army officer, of Sallow Glen, Co. Kerry…...
Sheridan, Monica
Sheridan, Monica (1912–93), cookery expert, broadcaster, and journalist, was born Monica Elizabeth Treanor on 29 January 1912 at Augher Castle, Co. Tyrone, daughter of Hugh Treanor, prosperous cattle- and sheep-farmer at nearby Killaney, and Mary Ann Treanor (née Devine). She had…...
Simms, Mercy Felicia
Simms, Mercy Felicia (1915–98), social crusader, was born 3 March 1915 in a nursing home at 89 Lower Baggot St., Dublin, only child of Brian James Gwynn (1883–1972) of 48 Hollybrook Road, Clontarf, civil servant employed as assistant secretary in the labour exchange, and his wife…...
Sinclair, Elizabeth (Betty)
Sinclair, Elizabeth (Betty) (1910–81), trade unionist, was born 3 December 1910, into a protestant working class family in Hooker Street, Belfast. She was the third child of two sons and two daughters born to Joseph and Margaret Sinclair. Her father worked as a sawyer in Harland…...
Skinnider, Margaret (Ní SCINEADÓRA, Máighréad)
Skinnider, Margaret (Ní SCINEADÓRA, Máighréad) (1893–1971), republican, teacher, and trade unionist, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to immigrant parents from Co. Monaghan. Qualifying as a teacher at Craiglockhart, she taught mathematics in Glasgow's Hillhead district. Active in the…...
Smithson, Annie M(ary) P(atricia)
Smithson, Annie M(ary) P(atricia) (1873–1948), author, nurse, republican, and trade unionist, was born Margaret Anne Jane Smithson 26 September 1873 at 22 Claremont Rd, Sandymount, Dublin, daughter of Samuel Raynor Smithson, a protestant, unionist barrister, and Margaret Louisa…...
Smyly, Ellen
Smyly, Ellen (1814–1901), philanthropist, was born 14 November 1814, third daughter among seven children of Mathew Franks (1768–1853) of Jerpoint, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, and 28 Merrion Square, Dublin, and Mary Franks (née Fergusson; d. 1856). Ellen began her charity work in…...