Collins, Patrick
Collins, Patrick (1910–94), painter, was born 6 November 1910 at Dromore West, Co. Sligo, second of four children of William Collins, RIC constable, and Mary Collins (née McLaughlin), daughter of a businessman from Dowra, Co. Cavan.…...
Conefrey, Peter
Conefrey, Peter (1880–1939), catholic priest and social critic, was born 9 June 1880 in Mohill, Co. Leitrim, son of James Conefrey, publican, and his wife Mary McGivney. There were many priests on both sides of the family. His uncle, Fr Thomas Conefrey, parish priest of Drumlish,…...
Connellan, Thaddeus (‘Thady’)
Connellan, Thaddeus (‘Thady’) (Tadhg Ó Coinnialláin) (c.1780–1854), Irish-language scholar and scribe, was born at Corkhill, Templeboy, Co. Sligo. Little is known of his education except that he received instruction in the classics at a hedge school in Co. Clare. He…...
Conniffe, Denis
Conniffe, Denis (1942–2011), economist, was born on 10 January 1942 in Dublin, the only child of Patrick Conniffe, of Dublin, who had a career in law, and his wife Brigid (née Toland), of Derry. The family lived in Whitehall on the north side of the city and he attended the School of…...
Connolly, James
Connolly, James (1868–1916), socialist and revolutionary leader, was born in Cowgate, Edinburgh, on 5 June 1868, the youngest in a family of three boys. His father, John Connolly, and his mother, Mary McGinn, were both born in Ireland in 1833, possibly in Co. Monaghan, and emigrated to…...
Connolly, Sean
Connolly, Sean (1882–1916), actor, trade unionist, and republican, was born 12 April 1882 at 10 Seafort Ave., Sandymount, Dublin, third child and eldest son among eight daughters and eight sons of Michael Connolly, seaman, and Mary Connolly (née Ellis). When his father ceased seafaring…...
Conroy, Sheila (née Williams)
Conroy, Sheila (née Williams) (1918–2012), trade unionist, social activist and administrator, was born on 22 April 1918 (or 4 April 1917) in Bantry, Co. Cork, only child of Harry and Jane Williams. A Welsh petty officer in the Royal Navy, Harry Williams was stationed at Bantry (1914–…...
Conway, Arthur William
Conway, Arthur William (1875–1950), academic and president of UCD, was born 2 October 1875 in Main St., Wexford town, the only son of Myles and Teresa Conway (née Harris). He had one sister. His father died, aged 34, when Arthur was only two, and his mother married again, to a…...
Conway, Edward Joseph
Conway, Edward Joseph (1894–1968), biochemist, was born 3 July 1894 in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, son of William Francis Conway, a draper who came from farming stock, and Mary Anne Conway (née McCready), whose relatives had established the McCready Shoe Corporation in the United…...
Corish, Richard
Corish, Richard (1886–1945), trade unionist and politician, was born 17 September 1886 at 35 William St., Wexford town, eldest among three children of Peter Corish, carpenter, and Mary Corish (née Murphy). Educated at the CBS Wexford…...
Corkery, Daniel
Corkery, Daniel (Ó Corcora, Domhnall ) (1878–1964), writer, cultural philosopher, and literary critic, was born 14 February 1878 at Gardiner's Hill, Cork city, one of five children of William Corkery and Mary Corkery (née Barron). The Corkerys were of carpentering stock for four or five…...
Costello, Thomas Bodkin
Costello, Thomas Bodkin (1864–1956), medical doctor and antiquary, was born 4 February 1864 in Tuam, Co. Galway, son of Michael Costello, a shopkeeper, and his wife, Sarah Bodkin. His mother was a descendent of the Kilcloony branch of the Bodkin family, one of the original…...
Cotter, Brigid Mary
Cotter, Brigid Mary (1921–78), chemist and barrister, was born 3 January 1921 in Roscommon, the eldest daughter in the family of twelve children of Nicholas Patrick Cotter, the chief agricultural officer for Roscommon, and his wife, Bridie, née O'Brien. Brigid was educated at the…...
Coulter, William Alexander
Coulter, William Alexander (1849–1936), painter, was born on 7 March 1849 in Glenariff, Co. Antrim, the son of James Coulter, a coastguard, originally from Co. Down, and his wife Sarah, an Irish-speaker from the glens of Antrim. He grew up in a catholic family along the east Antrim…...
Coyne, William Patrick
Coyne, William Patrick (1866–1904), statistician, was born 18 May 1866 at Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, the second son of a merchant, Edward Coyne, and his wife, Maria (née Hayes). He was educated at St Stanislaus’ College, Tullabeg, and St Ignatius’ College, Temple Street, Dublin, from…...
Crawford, Leo
Crawford, Leo (1903–73), trade union leader, was born 1 December 1903 at 2 Grattan Place, Dublin, son of John Crawford, plasterer, and Annie Crawford (née Molloy). Educated at Westland Row CBS, he followed his father's trade as an…...
Crean, Eugene
Crean, Eugene (1854–1939), trade unionist and home rule MP, was born at 3 Douglas St., Cork, third child and only son among four children of Ellen Crean (née Wall) and Daniel Crean, urban landlord. His siblings were Honora (b. 1841), Margaret (b. 1848), and Anne (b. 1860). Eugene…...
Crommelin, Andrew Claude de la Cherois
Crommelin, Andrew Claude de la Cherois (1865–1939), astronomer, was born 6 February 1865 at Cushendun, Co. Antrim, grandson of Nicholas Crommelin (qv), and third son among twelve children of Nicholas…...
Cúndún, Pádraig Phiarais
Cúndún, Pádraig Phiarais (1777–1857), Irish-language writer, was born at Shanakill, a son of Piaras Cúndún, a farmer of Kilmacdonagh, Ballymacoda, Co. Cork, and his wife, Máire. He had two brothers, Tomás and Cit, and he may have had at least one sister. Information is scant on his…...
Curran, Amelia
Curran, Amelia (1775–1847), artist, was born in Redmond's Hill, Dublin, eldest child of John Philpot Curran (qv), orator, lawyer, and parliamentarian, and Sarah Curran (née Creagh), both of Newmarket, Co. Cork. Her artistic…...
Darby, Tom
Darby, Tom (1928–2009), trade unionist, was born in Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath, on 28 February 1928, one of seven children of James Darby, a labourer, and his wife Rachel (née Keenan). His family was poor and, after leaving Kinnegad national school at age 14, he worked locally as a turf…...
Davin, William
Davin, William (1890–1956), trade unionist and politician, was born 19 February 1890 at Grogan, Rathdowney, Queen's Co. (Laois), son of Timothy Davin, farmer, and Ellen Davin (née Costigan). He was educated at Rathdowney national school, at St Kieran's College, Kilkenny, and later…...
Davitt, Michael
Davitt, Michael (1950–2005), poet, was born Joseph Michael Davitt on 20 April 1950 in Mayfield, Cork city, the third child of four children (three girls and a boy) of Joe Davitt, a bus driver and native of Mallow, Co. Cork, and his wife Hilda (néae Parker), originally from Stoke-on-…...
Dease, Thomas (Déis, Tomás)
Dease, Thomas (Déis, Tomás) (c. 1568–1651/2), catholic bishop of Meath and poet in Irish, was second of three sons of Richard Dease of Turbotstown, Co. Westmeath, and his wife Lady Eleanor Nugent of Carlanstown, Co. Meath. He was closely related to the Nugents of Delvin…...
de Bhaldraithe, Tomás
de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1916–96), Irish-language scholar, was born in Ballincurra, Co. Limerick, one of five children of Pádraig de Bhaldraithe (1884–1953), civil servant, from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, and Eilís Nic Conmara (1886–1973) from near Kilkee, Co. Clare. When his family moved to…...