Rákóczi, Basil
Rákóczi, Basil (1908–79), painter and psychoanalyst, was born 31 May 1908 in Chelsea, London, son of Ivan Rákóczi, Hungarian composer, violinist, and artist, and Charlotte May Dobbey, who went by the name ‘Dolly Wilce’ and was an artist's model from Co. Cork. His parents, who were…...
Redmond, Mary
Redmond, Mary (1863–1930), sculptor, was born in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, daughter of a quarry worker, and moved at a young age with her family to Ardclough, near Straffan, Co. Meath, where her father was employed in the local limestone quarries, the chief source of wealth in the…...
Reid, Nano
Reid, Nano (1900–81), painter, was born Anne Margaret Reid on 1 March 1900 in Drogheda, Co. Louth, eldest among four children of Thomas Reid, publican, and Anne Reid (née Downey). The family lived above their pub on the corner of Peter St. and Fair St., and enjoyed a prosperous…...
Rice, Peter Ronan
Rice, Peter Ronan (1935–92), structural engineer, was born 16 June 1935 at the Leinster nursing home, 26 Upper Pembroke St., Dublin, son of James Patrick Rice, head of the Louth vocational education committee, and Maureen Rice (née Quinn), living at 11 Faughart Terrace, St Mary's…...
Rivers, Elizabeth Joyce
Rivers, Elizabeth Joyce (1903–64), artist, was born 5 August 1903 in the family home, Bonks Hill House in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England, the daughter of Thomas Alfred Rivers, nurseryman, and his wife Mabel (née Hall). Her family had run a renowned nursery plant operation from…...
Ronayne, Joseph Philip
Ronayne, Joseph Philip (1822–76), civil engineer and politician, was born at Mount Verdun, Cork, youngest son of Edward Ronayne, glassmaker, and his wife Margaret, daughter of John Meany of Dorrickmore, Co. Cork. He was educated in Cork at the school of Hamblin and Porter; then…...
Ryan, John
Ryan, John (1925–92), editor, painter, and broadcaster, was born 19 February 1925 in Camden St., Dublin, the third among eight children of Seamus Ryan, businessman, and Agnes Ryan (née Harding), both of Co. Tipperary. His father was the founder of Monument Creameries in Dublin,…...
Sadleir, John
Sadleir, John (1813–56), banker, politician, speculator, and swindler, was born 17 November 1813 at Shronell House in the parish of Shronell near Tipperary town, fifth of seven children born to Clement William Sadleir, a protestant farmer and middleman, whose earliest known…...
Sheehy, Edmund
Sheehy, Edmund (1733–66), farmer executed for murder, of Lodge (parish of Ardfinnan, Co. Tipperary), was the son of Ellin Fitzpatrick. He was otherwise known as ‘Buck’ Sheehy, a term indicative of semi-gentleman status, as he had an income of £300 or £400 a year, and was a person…...
Sheridan, Noel
Sheridan, Noel (1936–2006), artist, actor, and arts administrator, was born 12 December 1936 in Dublin, one of three children (two daughters and a son) of Cecil (Brinsley) Sheridan, entertainer, and his wife Ann ('Nan') (née Doyle). Cecil Sheridan (1910–80) was born 21 December 1910…...
Sisk, John Gerard
Sisk, John Gerard (1911–2001), civil engineer and businessman, was born 18 January 1911 in Cork, second son among two sons and one daughter of John Valentine Sisk (1868–1955), head of the family building firm, and his wife Mary Josephine, daughter of Patrick Harty,…...
Smyth, Brendan
Smyth, Brendan (1927–97), catholic priest and paedophile, was born John Gerard Smyth in Nansen Street, off the Falls Road, west Belfast, on 6 June 1927. He was educated at Barracks Street CBS, Belfast. In 1945 he joined the Norbertine…...
Sugrue, Elizabeth (‘Lady Betty’)
Sugrue, Elizabeth (‘Lady Betty’) (1740/50–1807), executioner, is thought to have been born in Co. Kerry into a tenant farming family between 1740 and 1750. The location of her birth and names of her parents are not known, and available details of her life are largely anecdotal or…...
Sweetman, John
Sweetman, John (1751/2–1826), brewer, United Irishman, and art connoisseur, was born probably in Dublin, the younger of two sons of John Sweetman (d. 1784), a brewer of King Street South, and his wife Mary (née Sweetman), daughter and heir of Patrick Sweetman (1702–71). John and…...
Swift, Patrick
Swift, Patrick (1927–83), artist and literary editor, was born 12 August 1927 in Dolphins Barn, Dublin, fifth child in a family of seven sons and one daughter of Michael Swift, lorry driver, and Catherine Swift (née Mahon), of Wicklow origin. He was educated to leaving certificate…...
Tabary, James
Tabary, James (fl. 1650–87), sculptor, was born in France of huguenot origins. He is almost certainly the ‘Jacques Tabouré’ who was admitted to the academy of St Luke, Paris, in August 1655. His two brothers, Louis and John, were also carvers. Sculptors with the surname…...
Timoney, Séamus Gearóid
Timoney, Séamus Gearóid (1926–91), engineer and university professor, was born 13 September 1926 in Galway, eldest among seven sons and three daughters of Lieutenant-colonel Séamus Timoney and Agnes (Nancy) Timoney (née Fullerton). He belonged to a devout catholic family, of whom two…...
Turnerelli, Peter
Turnerelli, Peter (1774–1839), sculptor, was born in Belfast, the son of James Turnerelli, also a sculptor. His paternal grandfather, an Italian refugee named Tognarelli, was banished from the papal states (c.1730) for his involvement in a conspiracy; Peter's father, who…...
Waldron, Laurence Ambrose
Waldron, Laurence Ambrose (1858–1923), stockbroker, patron of the arts, and MP, was born on 14 November 1858 at Ballybrack, Co. Dublin, fourth son of Laurence Waldron (1811–75), JP, DL, and MP for Co.…...
Walker, Dorothy
Walker, Dorothy (1929–2002), writer and critic, was born 16 January 1929 at 3 Mountjoy Square, Dublin, the daughter of Walter Cole, a stallholder at the city of Dublin fruit and vegetable market, and his wife, Moira. Following her education at the Dominican convent in Wicklow (1937–46)…...
White, (Patrick) James
White, (Patrick) James (1913–2003), arts administrator, art critic and art historian, was born 16 September 1913 in Holles St. maternity hospital, Dublin, son of Thomas John White, a bank clerk, of Grove Cottage, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, and (Mary) Florence White (née Coffey). His…...