Delaney, Edward
Delaney, Edward (1930–2009), sculptor, was born 1 August 1930 (registered as Edmund Vincent Delaney) at Farmhill, Claremorris, Co. Mayo, seventh among nine children of Patrick Delaney (d. 1955), a small farmer who also tended beehives and a wood mill on the estate of Lord Oranmore…...
Delany, Mary
Delany, Mary (1700–88), artist, was born 14 May 1700 in Coulston, Wiltshire, England, elder daughter and second among four children of Col. Bernard Granville and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Martin Westcomb, former consul at Cadiz. Her father, the younger brother of George…...
Delmonte, (Simeon) Koert
Delmonte, (Simeon) Koert (1913–82), portrait and landscape painter, was born 15 April 1913 in van Mierlestraat, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, eldest of three children of Solomon Delmonte, banker, and his wife Nanetha, daughter of Simon Speyer, diamond merchant. His younger brother…...
Dering, Henrietta
Dering, Henrietta (c.1674–1729), portrait painter, was born in France, the only daughter among two children of Francis and Suzanne de Branlieu , a huguenot family who came to England in 1687. The will of her daughter, Mary Dering, dated 23 April 1746 and proved 13 June…...
De Valera, Sinéad
De Valera, Sinéad (1875–1975), teacher, folklorist, and writer, was born Jane Flanagan , 1 June 1875, in Ballbriggan, Co. Dublin, one of three daughters and four children of Laurence Flanagan, a carpenter, and Margaret Flanagan (née Byrne). When she was seven the family moved to Munster…...
Devas, Nicolette
Devas, Nicolette (née Macnamara ) (1911–87), artist and writer, was the second-born child and eldest daughter among three daughters and one son of Francis Macnamara (see below), of Ennistymon House, Doolin, Co. Clare, and Mary Yvonne Macnamara (née Majolier); her youngest sister…...
Digby, Simon
Digby, Simon (c.1645–1720), miniature-painter and bishop of Elphin, was born at Kilminchy, Queen's Co. (Laois), youngest son of Essex Digby and his wife Thomasine, daughter of Sir William Gilbert of Kilminchy, Queen's Co. Essex Digby became dean of Cashel in 1661 and…...
Dillon, (Francis) Gerard
Dillon, (Francis) Gerard (1916–71), painter, was born 20 April 1916 in Belfast, eighth and youngest child of Joseph Henry Dillon, postal sorter, and Amie Dillon. The family lived at 26 Clonard St. in the Falls Road area of Belfast. Dillon was educated at the Raglan St. public…...
Diver, Bridget
Diver (Divers, Deaver, Deavers, Devens, Devins, Devan), Bridget (‘Irish Biddy’, ‘Michigan Bridget’) (fl. 1861–4), vivandière and ‘daughter’ of the First Michigan Cavalry regiment, was born in Ireland sometime before 1840. It has been suggested that the ‘Michigan Bridget’ legend…...
Dixon, James
Dixon, James (1887–1970), painter, was born 2 June 1887 on Tory Island, one of seven children of Denis Dixon, a farmer from Meenlaragh, Co. Donegal, and Madgey Dixon (née Diver) of Tory island. He spent almost all his life on the island working as a farmer and a fisherman, painting…...
Dixon, John
Dixon, John (c.1740–1811), engraver, was born in Dublin, youngest of four sons of Thomas Dixon (d. 1758), hosier, of Cork Hill, Dublin. He studied at the drawing school of the Dublin Society. He may have worked with his elder brother …...
Dixon, Samuel
Dixon, Samuel (d. 1769), watercolour painter and textile designer, was third of four sons of Thomas Dixon (d. 1758), hosier, of Cork Hill, Dublin. His younger brother, John Dixon (qv), became a noted mezzotint engraver in London. By 1748…...
Doyle, Henry Edward
Doyle, Henry Edward (1827–92), artist and gallery director, was born in Dublin, third of seven children and third of five sons of John Doyle (qv), political cartoonist, of Dublin, and Marianna Doyle (née Conan; d. 1832). He was the only…...
Doyle, John
Doyle, John (1797–1868), portrait painter, lithographer, and caricaturist, was born in Dublin, one of two sons of a catholic silk mercer whose forebears had been dispossessed of their lands. Expressing his artistic talent from an early age, he studied drawing at the Dublin Society…...
Doyle, Richard (‘Dickie’)
Doyle, Richard (‘Dickie’) (1824–83), illustrator, printmaker, and watercolour painter, was born 18 September 1824 in London, son of John Doyle (qv), political cartoonist, of Dublin, and Marianne Conan who died in 1832 after the birth of…...
Drummond, John
Drummond, John (1649–1715), earl and titular duke of Melfort , statesman, diplomat, and art connoisseur, was second son of James, 3rd earl of Perth, and his wife Anne, eldest daughter of the 2nd marquis of Huntly. His elder brother, James, became 4th earl of Perth. Drummond's…...
Drury, Susannah
Drury, Susannah (fl. 1733–1770), watercolour painter, was one of five children (two boys and three girls) of Thomas Drury, descended from an Anglo-Irish family resident in Dublin since the sixteenth century , and Rebeckah Drury (née Franklin) of Norfolk. One of her brothers…...
Duffy, Patrick Vincent
Duffy, Patrick Vincent (1832–1909), landscape painter, was baptised 4 March 1832 in Dublin, son of James Duffy, silversmith and jeweller, of Nassau St., Dublin, and his wife Mary Anne, daughter of Bartholomew Lamb, auctioneer. Duffy began his artistic training at the…...
Duncan, Ellen
Duncan, Ellen (1850–1937), arts administrator and journalist, was born in Dublin, eldest daughter of Thomas Douglas of Sydney Parade, Ballsbridge. She was educated at Alexandra College, Dublin and at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Married to James Duncan, a civil servant in Dublin…...
Dunlevy, Mairéad
Dunlevy, Mairéad (1941–2008), museum curator and expert on Irish costume and decorative arts, was born Margaret M. Dunlevy on 31 December 1941, eldest of three children (two boys and a girl) of James Dunlevy, a grocer and general merchant in Mountcharles, Co. Donegal, and his wife Pearl…...
Dunlop, Ronald Ossory ('R. O.', 'ROD')
Dunlop, Ronald Ossory ('R. O.', 'ROD') (1894–1973), artist, was born 28 June 1894 at 71 Lower Drumcondra Road, Dublin, second of three children and only son of Daniel Nicol Dunlop (qv), a Scottish-born clerk and theosophist, and Eleanor…...
Du Noyer, George Victor
Du Noyer, George Victor (1817–69), antiquarian, geologist, and artist, was probably born in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, the eldest son of Louis Victor du Noyer, a teacher of French and music, and his wife, Margaret du Bédat, who ran a school for young ladies. Both parents were of Huguenot…...
Dunphie, Charles James
Dunphie, Charles James (1820–1908), poet, author, and art critic, was born 4 November 1820 at Rathdowney House, Rathdowney, Queen's Co. (Laois), elder son of Michael Dunphy, merchant, and Kate Dunphy (née Woodroffe). He attended TCD…...
Early, Biddy
Early, Biddy (c.1798–1874), clairvoyant and healer, was born in the townland of Faha, near Kilanena, Co. Clare, as Bridget Connors (or O'Connor) ; the name Early, by which she was known throughout her life, was her mother's maiden name. Little is known about her, despite…...
Elliott, Robert Matthew Johnson
Elliott, Robert Matthew Johnson (1863–1910), painter and critic, was born in England. He went to sea, aged fourteen, and worked his way up from cabin boy to master's certificate. Largely self-educated, he is reputed to have slept only four hours out of twenty-four, in order to…...