Musa, Jennifer ('Mummy'; Jennifer Jehanzeba Qazi Musa)
Musa, Jennifer ('Mummy'; Jennifer Jehanzeba Qazi Musa) (1917–2008), politician, tribal elder and nurse, was born Bridget Wren on 11 November 1917 in Tarmons, Tarbert, Co. Kerry, one of five daughters and two sons of John Wren, a small-holding farmer, and his wife Johanna (née…...
Nelson, Rosemary
Nelson, Rosemary (1959–1999), human rights lawyer, was born Rosemary Magee at Lurgan, Co. Armagh, daughter of Thomas Magee and his wife Sheila. A strawberry birthmark partly paralysed the left side of her face, and from the age of ten she endured several years of facial surgery and skin…...
Ní Bhrolcháin, Muireann
Ní Bhrolcháin, Muireann (1955–2015), academic and activist, was born on 15 May 1955 at Calvary Hospital (Bon Secours) in Galway, the eldest of three daughters of Cilian Ó Brolcháin, professor of physics at University College Galway (UCG, now the University of Galway) from Dublin, and…...
Nic Shiubhlaigh, Máire
Nic Shiubhlaigh, Máire (1883–1958), actress and republican, was born Mary Elizabeth Walker, 8 May 1883, at 39 Charlemont Street, Dublin, daughter of Matthew Walker, a printer and typesetter, and Mary Anne Walker (née Dogherty), a dressmaker. Her father, who had printed Fenian and other…...
Niland, Nora
Niland, Nora (1912–88), Sligo county librarian and founder of the Sligo municipal art collection, was born 21 March 1912 in Galway, eighth child among six sons and three daughters of John Niland, of Ballinastack, Tuam, Co. Galway, railway worker and small farmer, and his wife Elizabeth…...
Noble, Margaret Elizabeth (Sister Nivedita)
Noble, Margaret Elizabeth (Sister Nivedita) (1867–1911), educator, writer, and political activist in India, was born at 23 Scotch Street, Dungannon, on 28 October 1867, the eldest daughter and first child of Samuel Richmond Noble and Mary Isabel Hamilton. Both male grandparents are said…...
O'Brennan, Elizabeth (‘Lily’)
O'Brennan, Elizabeth (‘Lily’) (1878–1948), republican, was born probably in Dublin, third daughter of Francis Brennan , auctioneer, and his wife, Elizabeth. The family was strongly nationalist and later changed their name to O'Brennan; her father was allegedly a Fenian and her…...
O'Brien (Arnold-Forster), Florence Mary
O'Brien (Arnold-Forster), Florence Mary (1854–1936), diarist, philanthropist, and craftswoman, was born 3 July 1854 in Bayswater, London, the second of four children of William Delafield Arnold and Frances Anne Arnold (née Hodgson). Her father, a son of Dr Thomas Arnold of Rugby and…...
O'Brien, Kathleen Cruise
O'Brien, Kathleen Cruise (née Sheehy ) (1886–1938), teacher, suffragist and Irish language enthusiast, was born 28 April 1886 in Loughmore, Co. Tipperary, the youngest in a family of two sons and five daughters (one of whom died in infancy) of …...
O'Brien, Máire
O'Brien, Máire (1882–1958), republican activist, civil servant and translator, was born Mary Louise O'Brien at 2 Lower Gloucester Street (now Sean MacDermott Street), Dublin, on 23 August 1882, one of five children of the nationalist politician…...
O'Brien, Nora Connolly
O'Brien, Nora Connolly (1892–1981), republican and socialist activist, was born on 14 November 1892 at 6 Lothian Street, Edinburgh, Scotland, second among six daughters and one son of James Connolly (qv), of Edinburgh, the socialist…...
O'Brien, Sophie Raffalovich
O'Brien, Sophie Raffalovich (1860–1960), writer and activist, was born in Odessa on 15 January 1860, daughter of Herman Raffalovich , banker, and his wife, Marie. She had two brothers: André, who became well known as a homosexual aesthete, and Ernest, a banker and tsarist agent…...
O'Callaghan, Kate (Kathleen)
O'Callaghan, Kate (Kathleen) (1885–1961), teacher and politician, was born 11 October 1885 in Crossmahon, Lissarda, Co. Cork, daughter of Cornelius Murphy , farmer. Educated at St Mary's Dominican College, Dublin, she obtained a BA from the…...
O'Callaghan, May
O'Callaghan, May (1881–1973), journalist, translator and communist, was born Julia Mary O'Callaghan in Wexford town on the 14 August 1881, the youngest of four children born to Patrick O'Callaghan, RIC head constable, and Jane O'Callaghan (…...
O'Connor, Deirdre
O'Connor, Deirdre (1951–99), architect, was born 25 September 1951 at Ranelagh, Dublin, eldest among five children of Brendan O'Connor (d. 1964), engineer, originally from Mostrim, Co. Leitrim, and Sheelagh O'Connor (neé McManus). After the death of her father, when Deirdre was 13,…...
O'Delaney, Mary Barry
O'Delaney, Mary Barry (1862–1947), journalist and nationalist, was born Mary Barry Delany , though from the time she came to notice as a journalist she styled her surname O'Delaney (or sometimes O'Delany). In 1883 she left Ireland for Paris, where she lived in the Avenue Kléber…...
O'Doherty, Katherine
This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Doherty, (Michael) Kevin. View the original entry....
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'Driscoll, Margaret Collins-
O'Driscoll, Margaret Collins- (c.1878–1945), teacher and politician, was born in Woodfield, Clonakilty, Co. Cork, eldest of three daughters and five sons of Michael Collins , farmer, and Mary Anne Collins (née O'Brien). Her youngest brother was the revolutionary leader…...
O'Faolain, Nuala
O'Faolain, Nuala (1940–2008), journalist, writer and feminist, was born 1 March 1940 in Clontarf, Dublin, the second of nine children (six daughters and three sons) of Terry O'Sullivan (qv) (Terry Phelan), journalist and broadcaster, and…...
O'Farrell, Elizabeth
O'Farrell, Elizabeth (1884–1957), republican, was born at 42 City Quay, Dublin, the youngest of two daughters of Christopher Farrell, a dock labourer, and his wife Margaret, a housekeeper. She was educated locally by the Sisters of Mercy. The 1911 census recorded her as living at 17…...
O'Leary, Ellen
O'Leary, Ellen (1831–89), nationalist and poet, was born 22 October 1831 in Tipperary town, the second child of John O'Leary, a prosperous shopkeeper, and his second wife Margaret Ryan. After the death of her mother in the mid 1830s while she was still a very young child, Ellen…...
O'Malley, Gráinne (Grace) (‘Granuaile’)
O'Malley, Gráinne (Grace) (‘Granuaile’) (c.1530–1603?), noblewoman and sea captain, was the daughter of Eoghan O'Malley (usually known as Dubhdarra O'Malley), lord of Umhall (now the barony of Murrisk, Co. Mayo), and Margaret, daughter of Conchobhar O'Malley. Gráinne (or…...
O'Malley, Mary (Margaret)
O'Malley, Mary (Margaret) (1918–2006), theatrical director and activist, co-founder of the Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast, was born Mary Margaret Hickey in Mallow, Co. Cork, on 28 July 1918, the posthumous daughter of Daniel Hickey and his wife Annie (née Lysaght). Her father died of…...
O'Malley, Pamela (Kathleen Mary)
O'Malley, Pamela (Kathleen Mary) (1929–2006), bohemian, radical and educationalist, was born in Dublin on 12 July 1929, daughter of Patrick O'Malley, Limerick tea, wine and spirit importer, and his wife Kathleen (née Bonass). Donough O'Malley…...