FitzGerald, Susan
FitzGerald, Susan (1949–2013), actor, was born on 28 May 1949 in Leicester, to Irish parents Emily FitzGerald (née Irwin) and William FitzGerald, a general practitioner. She was the eldest of six children, with three brothers and two sisters. The FitzGeralds were a well-connected family…...
Fitzhenry, Elizabeth
Fitzhenry, Elizabeth (c.1722–1790), leading actress, was born Elizabeth Flanagan in Abbey St., Dublin, daughter of the proprietor of the Old Ferry Boat tavern. She was sometimes mistakenly referred to as Mary Flannigan; her real name appears on her first marriage…...
Flanagan, Pauline
Flanagan, Pauline (1925–2003), actress, was born 29 June 1925 in Sligo town, youngest child of Patrick J. Flanagan and his wife Elizabeth (née McLynn). Her paternal family, originally from Co. Fermanagh, were driven out by anti‐catholic pogroms and resettled in Sligo, where her parents…...
Gibb (Gibson), Rosemary Elizabeth Jane (‘Rosy’)
Gibb (Gibson), Rosemary Elizabeth Jane (‘Rosy’) (1942–97), social worker, clown, and magician, was born 8 November 1942 in Dublin, the only child of Jack Gibson, a well-known surgeon and hypnotist, and Elizabeth Maude Gibson (née James). She passed her early childhood in Guernsey, where…...
Gibson, Chloe
Gibson, Chloe (1899–1995), theatre and television director, was born 18 May 1899 in Torquay, Devon, England, daughter of Walter Ernest Cawdle and Lotte Cawdle (née Saunders). She was educated at Lauriston Hall, Torquay. After studying painting briefly, she trained in speech and drama…...
Glover (Betterton), Julia (Juliana)
Glover (Betterton), Julia (Juliana) (1779/81–1850), actress, was born 8 February in Newry, Co. Down, in either 1779 or 1781. Both her parents, Thomas Betterton, a native of Dublin, who changed his name from Butterton for professional reasons, and his wife, formerly a Mrs Palmer,…...
Gray, Eileen
Gray, Eileen (1878–1976), furniture designer and architect, was born 9 August 1878 at the family home, Brownswood House near Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, youngest child and third daughter of James McLaren Smith , son of Richard Smith of Hazelgreen and his wife Eveleen, only child of…...
Gregory, (Isabella) Augusta
Gregory, (Isabella) Augusta (1852–1932), Lady Gregory, writer, folklorist and patron of the arts, was born Isabella Augusta Persse at Roxborough House, Co. Galway, on 15 March 1852. She was the ninth of thirteen children (eight boys and five girls) of Dudley Persse and his second wife…...
Griffith, Elizabeth
Griffith, Elizabeth (1727–93), playwright, novelist, and actress, was born in Glamorgan, Wales, on 11 October 1727, the daughter of Thomas Griffith (1680?–1744), at one time actor–manager of the Smock Alley theatre, Dublin, and originally from Wales, and his wife, Jane (née Foxcroft…...
Guinness, Mariga
Guinness, Mariga (1932–89), architectural conservationist and socialite, was born Hermione Maria-Gabrielle von Urach on 21 September 1932 in London, the only daughter of Albrecht von Urach (d. 1969), a member of the royal house of Wurtemberg from Schloss-Liechtenstein in southern…...
Harrison, Letitia Dunbar- (Crawford, Aileen)
Harrison, Letitia Dunbar- (Crawford, Aileen) (1906–94), librarian and methodist activist, was born Letitia Elizabeth Eileen Dunbar in Dundrum, Co. Dublin, on 4 February 1906, the youngest of at least four children of Arthur Dunbar, a commercial traveller, and his wife Margaret (née…...
Hart, Josephine
Hart, Josephine (1942–2011), writer, theatrical producer and poetry promoter, was born on 1 March 1942 in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, the eldest of five children of Dermot Hart and his wife Sheila (née Donoghue). Her father had been a commercial traveller and a lorry driver, until…...
Hobson, Florence Fulton
Hobson, Florence Fulton (1881–1978), architect, was born 11 February 1881 at Monasterevin, Co. Kildare, the daughter of Benjamin Hobson, grocer, and Mary Ann Hobson (née Bulmer), a women's rights campaigner and amateur archaeologist. Her family moved to Belfast shortly after her…...
Hobson, Valerie
Hobson, Valerie (1917–98), actress, was born 14 April 1917 at Larne, Co. Antrim, daughter of Commander Robert Gordon Hobson (1877–1940), naval officer, and Violette Hobson (née Hamilton-Willoughby). Educated at St Augustine's Priory, London, she was stage-struck from a young age.…...
Hoey, Moira
Hoey, Moira (1922–2010), actress, was born on 13 March 1922 in Cork city, the only daughter of two children of James Deady (d. 1952), a draper's assistant (described as a retired merchant at his death), and his wife Mary 'Cissie' (née Hickey). Christened Mary Frances, she used Moira…...
Honner, Maria
Honner, Maria (1808–70), actress, was born Maria Macarthy on 21 December 1808 in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, daughter of Eugene Macarthy (1788–1866), actor and manager. Educated in Cork, she lost her mother (name unknown) at a young age and made an early debut, at the age of 15, on…...
Horniman, Annie Elizabeth Fredrika
Horniman, Annie Elizabeth Fredrika (1860–1937), founding patron of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, was born 3 October 1860, at Forest Hill, London, the only daughter of Frederick John Horniman (founder of the Horniman Museum) and Rebekah Horniman (née Emslie, d. 1895). Her grandfather,…...
Kean, Marie (Ní Catháin, Máire)
Kean, Marie (Ní Catháin, Máire) (1922–93), actress, was born 27 June 1922 in Rush, Co. Dublin, the daughter of John Kean, a ship's captain, and Margaret Kean (née Foley). Her interest in the theatre developed at an early age, when she attended shows given by travelling companies who…...
Laird, Helen (‘Honor Lavelle’)
Laird, Helen (‘Honor Lavelle’) (1874–1957), actress, costumier, teacher, and feminist, was the daughter of John Laird, a protestant pharmacist, and of Marion Laird, née Seymour. She was born in Limerick on 12 April 1874. About 1899 she joined the Gaelic League and Inginidhe na hÉireann…...
Leavy, (Mary) Patricia ('Pat') (née Judge)
Leavy, (Mary) Patricia ('Pat') (née Judge) (1936–2003), actress, was born on 27 July 1936 in a nursing home at 12 Upper Leeson Street, Dublin, daughter of Edmund Judge, a commercial traveller in drapery, of The Downes, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, who died in a car accident on 22 December…...
Malleson (Annesley), Lady Constance Mary (‘Colette O'Niel’)
Malleson (Annesley), Lady Constance Mary (‘Colette O'Niel’) (1895–1975), actress and writer, was born 24 October 1895 at Castlewellan, Co. Down, the second daughter of the marriage of Hugh, fifth earl of Annesley (qv) and Priscilla…...
Manahan, Anna (Maria)
Manahan, Anna (Maria) (1924–2009), actress, was born on 18 October 1924 in Waterford city, third child in a family of three sons and three daughters of Patrick Manahan (d. 1967) and Mary Manahan (née Barry). Her father was a clerk in the margarine manufacturing business of W. and C.…...
Maude, (Maighréad) Caitlín
Maude, (Maighréad) Caitlín (1941–82), poet, writer, singer, actress, dramatist and Irish-language activist, was born 22 May 1941 in Casla, Co. Galway, second child of John Joseph Maude (Seán Ó Máidhbh) and his wife Mai Ridge (Máire Nic an Iomaire), a teacher. Caitlín received her…...
McAvin, Josie (Josephine)
McAvin, Josie (Josephine) (1919–2005) theatrical stage manager, and set decorator in cinema and theatre, was born 23 April 1919 in Dublin, one of three daughters and three sons of John McAvin (d. 1938), cattle exporter, and his wife Mollie. Her father was the last serving high…...
McKenna, Siobhán
McKenna, Siobhán (1922–86), actor and theatre director, was born 24 May 1922 at 28 St James's Park, off the Falls Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, the second daughter of Margaret (Gretta) O'Reilly from Loch Gamhna, Co. Longford, and her husband, Eoghan McKenna (b. Millstreet, Co. Cork, 1892)…...