Ahern, Catherine Ita ('Kit')
Ahern, Catherine Ita ('Kit') (1915–2007), president of the Irish Countrywomen's Association, senator and TD, was born 13 January 1915 in Athea, Co. Limerick, eldest of eight children of Patrick Liston , a wheelwright and carpenter, and his wife Mary Ann (née McAuliffe). The family…...
Aiken, Francis Thomas (‘Frank’)
Aiken, Francis Thomas (‘Frank’) (1898–1983), farmer, revolutionary, and politician, was born 13 February 1898 in Carrickbracken, Camlough, Co. Armagh, seventh child and youngest son of James Aiken, farmer and builder from Co. Tyrone, and Mary Aiken (née McGeeney), of Corromannon,…...
Aiken, Jim
Aiken, Jim (1932–2007), music promoter and businessman, was one of seven or eight children born to Joseph Aiken and his wife Annie (née Fagan), and was raised on the family farm in Jonesborough, Co. Armagh, close to the border. After completing his secondary education, he studied…...
Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph ('Joe')
Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph (Joe; ‘Two Gun Joe’) (1927–2015), garda, was born 17 May 1927 at his parents’ home at Davitt’s Terrace, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, the elder of two sons of Harry (Henry) Ainsworth, a victualler, and his wife Margaret (née Feeney). Ainsworth was…...
Allan, Frederick James (‘Fred’)
Allan, Frederick James (‘Fred’) (1861–1937), Fenian, journalist and civil servant, was born 15 June 1861 in Dublin, the third son of William Gartley Allan (d. 1881?), a clerk in the accounts department of the Board of Public Works (until 1873), and his wife Ellen Batty (née Quince…...
Allen, Thomas
Allen, Thomas (d. 1634), merchant, was second son among three sons and two daughters of Edward Allen of Kilteel, Co. Dublin, and his wife Ales, daughter of Alderman Giles Allen of Dublin; his paternal grandfather, Thomas Alen, from Norfolk, had settled in Ireland in the 1530s…...
Allen, William Philip
Allen, William Philip (1848–67), Fenian and ‘Manchester martyr’, was born in April 1848 near Tipperary town but moved when aged about 3 to Bandon, Co. Cork, where his father, Thomas Allen (1814?–1909), was keeper of the bridewell (c.1850–1868). The Allen family was…...
Altman, Albert Liebes Lascar
Altman, Albert Liebes Lascar (c.1853–1903), businessman and nationalist politician, was born c.1853 in Prussian Poland, the son of Moritz Altman (born Shagra Moshe ben Aharon) and his wife Deborah (born Devorah bat Chaim Liebes). He was the eldest of four surviving…...
Alton, Bryan Gerard
Alton, Bryan Gerard (1919–91), physician, politician and goldsmith, was born in Dublin on 5 June 1919, the only child of Norman Bindon Alton, bank inspector, and his wife, Mary Frances (née Hayes). The family lived at 119 Morehampton Road until his father died in 1925. Bryan and his…...
Anderson, James Augustine
Anderson, James Augustine (1837–1903), Augustinian priest and politician, was born in Drogheda, Co. Louth, where his mother's family, the Kellys, were well-to-do (an uncle, John Kelly, served as mayor in 1871). He was educated locally and at the Armagh diocesan college. Deciding upon an…...
Andrews, Christopher Stephen (‘Todd’)
Andrews, Christopher Stephen (‘Todd’) (1901–85), revolutionary, public servant, and writer, was born 6 October 1901 at 42 Summerhill, central Dublin, elder of two sons of Christopher Andrews, of Dublin, and Mary (‘Molly’) Andrews (née Moran), daughter of a…...
Andrews, Niall Dermott
Andrews, Niall Dermott (1937–2006), politician, was born 19 August 1937, in the Stella Maris nursing home, 17 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, youngest of four sons of C. S. 'Todd' Andrews (qv), civil servant, who resided at 10…...
Archer, James
Archer, James (c.1632–c.1680), military engineer and architect, was born in Kilkenny. His early life remains obscure, but he was a royalist, left Ireland at some point, and entered the French service; he later claimed to have served six years as a…...
Archer, Patrick
Archer, Patrick (d. 1686), merchant, was fifth and youngest son of Walter Archer and Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Shee, from two of the leading families in the city of Kilkenny. Walter Archer served as mayor of Kilkenny in 1610; Patrick's older brother Henry sat as MP for the city…...
Arthur, Francis
Arthur, Francis (d. 1824), Limerick merchant and developer, belonged to a long-established catholic patrician family in that city. His father, Patrick (1716–99), mainly an importer of wine and timber, was one of the developers of a new suburb, Newtown Pery; he built a quay on the…...
Arthur, Sir Daniel
Arthur, Sir Daniel (d. 1705), banker, was born probably in the 1620s in Co. Limerick or Co. Clare, son of Daniel Arthur, a catholic merchant, and Joan Arthur (née Arthur), presumably a kinswoman. He is known to have been a successful merchant, with property in Dublin as well…...
Ashe (Ash), Richard
Ashe (Ash), Richard (d. 1659), ecclesiastical official, was probably the son of Nicholas Ash of Newtown, Co. Meath, though he may have been the son of Henry Ashe. He is recorded as having married Alice Jones, daughter of Lewis Jones…...
Ashe, Nora (Honora)
Ashe, Nora (Honora) (1882–1970), teacher, nationalist, and Irish language enthusiast, was born 15 July 1882 in Kinard, Lispole, Co. Kerry, the third daughter in the family of ten of Gregory Ashe, a farmer, and Ellen (née Hanafin), of Tobar, Co. Kerry. Both her parents were native…...
Ashe, Thomas (Tomás Ághas)
Ashe, Thomas (Tomás Ághas) (1885–1917), republican, was born 12 January 1885 at Kinard, Lispole, near Dingle, Co. Kerry, the fourth son in a family of seven boys and three girls born to Gregory Ashe, farmer, and his wife Ellen (née Hanafin). He attended Ardamore national school (1889–…...
Aylward, Alfred
Aylward, Alfred (1843–89), Fenian, was born in New Ross, Co. Wexford, son of a school inspector based in Enniscorthy. A police report later stated that his father died in Westport, Co. Mayo, in 1847. During the course of his life, Aylward used numerous aliases and told many exotic…...
Bagenal, Dudley
Bagenal, Dudley (d. 1712), Jacobite, was eldest son of Col. Walter Bagenal (qv) of Dunleckney, Co. Carlow, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Roper, 3rd Lord Teynham, and widow of John Plunkett of Dunsoghly. His father, a…...
Bagenal, Walter
Bagenal, Walter (1614–52), soldier and politician, was eldest son of George Bagenal of Dunleckney, Co. Carlow, and Joan, daughter of Walter Butler (qv), 11th earl of Ormond. The Bagenals originated from Staffordshire in England and only…...
Balfe, John Donnellan
Balfe, John Donnellan (1816–80), politician, journalist, and British government spy, was born in Co. Meath, son of James Balfe, gentleman, and Sara Balfe (née Sutherland). He was educated at Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare, and had a brief career in the British army, joining…...
Ball, John
Ball, John (1818–89), scientist, politician, and mountain traveller, was born 20 August 1818 in Dublin, eldest son among four children of Nicholas Ball (qv), politician and judge, and Jane Ball (neé Sherlock) of Butlerstown, Co.…...
Ball, Nicholas
Ball, Nicholas (c.1540–1610), merchant, mayor of Dublin, and MP, was born in Dublin about 1540, the second of the three sons of Bartholomew Ball, a merchant, and his wife, Margaret (qv) (née Bermingham). He had considerable…...