Dixon, Beatrice Maureen
Dixon, Beatrice Maureen (1916–2005), pioneer of women's participation in public life, was born 17 August 1916 in Dublin, the younger of two daughters of James Bayley Butler (qv), a professor of zoology, and his wife Katherine Butler (…...
Donaldson, Denis Martin
Donaldson, Denis Martin (1950–2006), republican and informer, was born in Seaforde Street, Belfast; he had at least three brothers and one sister. Educated at St Malachy's grammar school in north Belfast, he grew up in the Short Strand, a small catholic enclave in (overwhelmingly…...
Dongan (D'Unguent), Thomas
Dongan (D'Unguent), Thomas (1634–1715), 2nd earl of Limerick , soldier and first governor of New York, was third son of Sir John Dongan, baronet, of Castletown Kildrought (Celbridge), Co. Kildare, and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir William Talbot, baronet, of Carton, and niece of…...
Dongan, William
Dongan, William (1630–98), Viscount Dongan of Clane and 1st earl of Limerick , soldier and Jacobite governor of Munster, was second son of Sir John Dongan, 2nd baronet, of Castletown, Co. Kildare, and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir William Talbot, 1st baronet, of Carton. His elder…...
Douglas, Caroline Margaret
Douglas, Caroline Margaret (1821–1904), marchioness of Queensberry , nationalist benefactor, was born in Ireland, younger daughter of Sir William Clayton , former army general and MP for Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, and Alice Clayton (née O'Donel), an heiress originally…...
Dowdall, Jane (‘Jennie’)
Dowdall, Jane (‘Jennie’) (1899–1974), philanthropist and politician, was born Jane Doggett at 28 Smithfield, Dublin, on 29 September 1899, the daughter of Michael Doggett , eating-house keeper, and Mary Ellen Doggett (née Andrews). After her schooling she worked as a nurse at St…...
Doyle, William Joseph Gabriel
Doyle, William Joseph Gabriel (1873–1917), Jesuit priest and military chaplain, was born 3 March 1873 at Melrose, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, youngest child of Hugh Doyle, registrar of the insolvency court, and Christine Doyle (née Byrne). He was educated by the Rosminian Fathers at…...
Duckett, William
Duckett, William (1768–1841), French agent, was born at Killarney, Co. Kerry, in 1768. Nothing is known of his family other than that he had a brother, Sidney, who in the 1790s lived in Paris and Hamburg. Duckett went to France and may already have been there before 1784, in which…...
Duff, Thomas
Duff, Thomas (c.1792–1848), architect, was born in Newry, Co. Down. Nothing is known of his parentage and early life, except that he was a catholic. It is possible that he was the ‘Thomas Duffe’ who won a prize at the Dublin Society (1805) for an architectural design. It…...
Duggan, Thomas Francis ('Tom')
Duggan, Thomas Francis ('Tom') (1890–1961), priest and military chaplain, was born 7 May 1890 in the Half Way, a small village in the parish of Ballinhassig, Co. Cork, the eldest of four surviving children (three boys and a girl) of Thomas Duggan (d. 1909) and his wife Hannah (née…...
Esmond, Sir Thomas
Esmond, Sir Thomas (d. 1674), soldier and confederate, was the only son of Lawrence, Lord Esmond (qv) (d. 1646), of Limerick, Co. Wexford, and Margaret, daughter of Murrough O'Flaherty of Connacht. His parents separated over…...
Feehan, Matthew (‘Matt’)
Feehan, Matthew (‘Matt’) (1913–90), soldier and newspaper editor, was born 11 November 1913 at 4 Great Denmark St., north-east of Rutland (later Parnell) Square, Dublin, youngest son of Matthew Feehan, grocer, and Aileen Feehan (née Boland), of Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. He was educated at…...
Fennell, Nuala
Fennell, Nuala (1935–2009), feminist and politician, was born Fionnuala Campbell in north Co. Dublin on 25 November 1935, the third eldest child of Patrick Campbell, from the rural east Co. Galway area of Lisheennavannoge (Clancarty), an IRA volunteer and one of the earliest Garda…...
Finucane, Brendan Eamonn (‘Paddy’)
Finucane, Brendan Eamonn (‘Paddy’) (1920–42), airman, was born 16 October 1920 at 13 Rathmines Road, Dublin, eldest among three sons and two daughters of Thomas Andrew Finucane, businessman, and Florence Louise Finucane (née Robinson) of Leicester, England. He was educated in…...
Finucane, (Cornelius) Aengus
Finucane, (Cornelius) Aengus (1932–2009), priest and international aid worker, was born in Limerick city on 26 April 1932, the eldest of four sons of John ('Jack') Finucane and his wife Delia (née Byrnes); he also had three sisters. His father was company secretary in a paper…...
FitzGerald, Desmond
FitzGerald, Desmond (1911–87), architect, was born 5 November 1911 at Saint-Jean-du-Doigt (Finisterre) in Brittany, France, eldest of four sons of Desmond FitzGerald (qv), writer and future minister for external affairs in…...
Fitzgerald, Maurice
Fitzgerald, Maurice (1590–1649), catholic landowner and soldier, was eldest son of Gerald fitz Philip Fitzgerald and his second wife, Joan Walsh of Shanganagh, Dublin. Born into a junior branch of the family of the earls of Kildare, he held an estate of 5,000 acres in the parish…...
Fitzharris, Edward
Fitzharris, Edward (c.1648–1681), soldier and conspirator, was the second son of Sir Edward Fitzharris (d. in or before 1700), of Kilfinane, Co. Limerick, and his wife, Ellen Fitzgerald. He was probably a grandson of Sir Edward Fitzharris (d. April 1641), a lawyer and…...
Fitzjames, James
Fitzjames, James (1670–1734), duke of Berwick , soldier and Jacobite, was born 21 August 1670 at Moulins, France, eldest son of James, duke of York (later James II (qv)) and his mistress Arabella Churchill, sister of…...
Fitzmaurice, James Christopher
Fitzmaurice, James Christopher (1898–1965), aviator, was born 6 January 1898 at 35 Mountjoy Prison Cottages, North Circular Road, Dublin, second of three sons and one daughter of Michael Fitzmaurice, prison warder, and Mary Agnes Fitzmaurice (née Riordan), both of whose families…...
Fitzpatrick, John (‘Jack’)
Fitzpatrick, John (‘Jack’) (d. p.1693?), army officer and politician, was the son of Florence Fitzpatrick, of Castletown, in the barony of Upper Ossory, Queen's County, who was a member of the commons in the confederate general assembly, 1642–9. The Fitzpatricks had…...
Fitzpatrick, Sir Jeremiah
Fitzpatrick, Sir Jeremiah (c.1740–1810), physician, inspector of prisons, and social reformer, was born at Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath. Of his parents and education little is known, but it can be inferred from the elder Fitzpatricks’ burial in the Old Relic graveyard on the…...
Fitzwilliam, Oliver
Fitzwilliam, Oliver (d. 1667), 2nd Viscount Merrion and earl of Tyrconnell , landowner and army officer, was the eldest son of Thomas Fitzwilliam, 1st Viscount Merrion, and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Oliver Plunkett, fourth Baron Louth. The Fitzwilliams were an important…...
Flanagan, Edward Joseph
Flanagan, Edward Joseph (1886–1948), catholic priest and founder of Boys Town, was born 13 July 1886 at Ballymoe, Co. Roscommon, son of John Flanagan, herdsman, and Nora Flanagan (née Larkin). One of eleven children, he was first educated at a local school, Drimatample, and…...
Flannery, Austin
Flannery, Austin (1925–2008), priest, scholar, editor, journalist and social justice campaigner, was born William ('Liam') Flannery on 10 January 1925 at Rear Cross, Co. Tipperary, the eldest of seven children of William K. Flannery and his wife Margaret Flannery (née Butler),…...