Cary (Tanfield), Elizabeth
Cary (Tanfield), Elizabeth (1585–1639), Viscountess Falkland , writer and translator, was born at Burford Priory, Oxfordshire, the only child and heir of Lawrence Tanfield (c.1551–1625), a wealthy lawyer, later appointed chief baron of the exchequer, and his wife,…...
Casey, Elizabeth Owens Blackburne
Casey, Elizabeth Owens Blackburne (1845?–94), author (as ‘E. Owens Blackburne ’), was born 10 May 1845/8 in Slane, Co. Meath, daughter of Andrew Casey and his wife (née Mills), and great‑granddaughter of Richard Blackburne of Mulladillon House, Co. Meath. She lost her sight as a…...
Casey, John Keegan
Casey, John Keegan (1846–70), poet and Fenian, was born 22 August 1846 at Mount Dalton near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, son of Luke Casey, the local schoolmaster; nothing is known of his mother. He was educated at Mount Dalton and at Ballymahon, Co. Longford, where his family moved. A…...
Casey, Juanita
Casey, Juanita (Joy Barlow) (1925–2012), novelist, poet, artist and expert horse breeder, was born on 10 October 1925 and adopted soon after. In the 1980s she tracked down her birth certificate, which revealed that she had been named Lorna and born within London’s outer suburbs at Elm…...
Casey, William Francis
Casey, William Francis (1884–1957), dramatist and journalist, was born 2 May 1884 in Cape Town, South Africa, son of Patrick Joseph Casey, theatre proprietor, native of Glenageary, Co. Dublin. After the family returned to Dublin in the 1890s, he was educated at Castleknock College (…...
Caulfield, Malachy Francis (‘Max’)
Caulfield, Malachy Francis (‘Max’) (1915–97), journalist, broadcaster, and author, was born 10 May 1915 in Agincourt Ave., Belfast, eldest of two sons and two daughters of Malachy Caulfield, civil servant, of Co. Roscommon, and Julia Caulfield (née Campion) of Dublin. Educated at…...
Cavanagh, Michael
Cavanagh, Michael (1822–1900), Fenian, poet, and biographer, was probably born 22 January 1822 in Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, the son of Andrew Cavanagh, a cooper of Cook St., Cappoquin, and his wife Mary (née Cullanane). He had six sisters, one of whom, Julia (b. 1833), was the wife…...
Cellán (Cellanus)
Cellán (Cellanus) (d. 706) was fourth abbot of Péronne in Picardy, a foundation mainly associated with St Fursa (qv), whose body was translated there. He was a correspondent of the Anglo-Saxon author Aldhelm of Malmesbury, having…...
Chabot, Isabella Charlotte de Rohan-
Chabot, Isabella Charlotte de Rohan- (1784–1868), aristocrat and diarist, was born 16 July 1784 in Leinster House, Dublin, fourth daughter of William Robert Fitzgerald (qv), 2nd duke of Leinster, and his wife Emilia Olivia,…...
Chaigneau, William
Chaigneau, William (1709–81), army agent and novelist, was born 23 December 1709 at Back Key, Dublin, and baptised at St John's, Dublin, on Christmas eve, second son among thirteen children of John Chaigneau, vintner, and Margaret Chaigneau (née Martyr), both of Dublin and of huguenot…...
Chapman, Mary Francis
Chapman, Mary Francis (1838–84), novelist, was born 28 November 1838 in Dublin, the daughter of Robert Chapman, of Walthamstow, Essex, who in 1838 was landing surveyor and surveyor of warehouses in Dublin port. When he was transferred to London the family moved with him to England,…...
Charlton, Maureen
Charlton, Maureen (1930–2007), playwright, poet and broadcaster, was born Mary Farrell in Dublin on 14 September 1930, one of three daughters of Edward and Bridget Farrell (or O'Farrell); her mother's maiden name was probably Farrell also. Mary, known as Maureen, was brought up in Mount…...
Chatterton, (Henrietta) Georgiana
Chatterton, (Henrietta) Georgiana (1806–76), writer, was born 11 November 1806 at 24 Arlington Street, Piccadilly, London, the only child of the Rev. Lascelles Iremonger , prebendary of Winchester cathedral, and Harriet, sister of Admiral Lord Gambier. Educated primarily by a…...
Chauviré, Roger
Chauviré, Roger (1880–1957), Renaissance scholar and writer, was born 6 April 1880 at Constantine, Algeria, the elder son of a French army officer. He studied at lycées at Lille and Lyons and then at the universities of Lyons and Paris. In 1904 he became a teacher of the higher…...
Chenevix, Richard
Chenevix, Richard (d. 1830), mineralogist and author, was born either in Dublin or in Ballycommon, King's Co. (Offaly), only son of Lt-col Daniel Chenevix, high sheriff of the county in 1764, and Elizabeth Chenevix (née Arabin), both of huguenot descent. A birthdate of 5 April 1774…...
Cherry, Andrew
Cherry, Andrew (1762–1812), actor and playwright, was born 11 January 1762 in Limerick, eldest son of John Cherry, printer and bookseller; nothing is known of his mother. Educated at the Limerick grammar school, he left at the age of 11 to work in Dublin for…...
Chesson, Eleanor (‘Nora’)
Chesson, Eleanor (‘Nora’) (née Hopper ) (1871–1906), poet and writer, was born 2 January 1871 at 8 Radnor Place, St Leonards, Devon, the daughter of Captain Harman Baillie Hopper, an Irish officer retired from the 31st Bengal native infantry, and Caroline Augusta Francis, who was…...
Chetwood, Anna Maria
Chetwood, Anna Maria (1774–1870), writer, was born on 7 February 1774, a daughter of the Rev. John Chetwood of Glanmire, Co. Cork (1742–1814), and Elizabeth Chetwood (née Hamilton) (d. 1826?), and great-granddaughter of Knightley Chetwood of Woodbrook, Portarlington, a friend of…...
Chetwood, William Rufus
Chetwood, William Rufus (d. 1766), prompter, publisher, and author, was most probably born in England. Little is known of his early life, but his own accounts, and the fact that he wrote several seafaring adventures, indicate that he had travelled around the world as a young man,…...
Chichester, Frederick Richard
Chichester, Frederick Richard (1827–53), earl of Belfast and littérateur, was born 25 November 1827, second son of George Hamilton Chichester, 3rd marquess of Donegall, and his wife Harriet, daughter of Richard Butler (qv), 1st earl of…...
Childers, (Robert) Erskine
Childers, (Robert) Erskine (1870–1922), British civil servant, author, and Sinn Féin propagandist, was born 25 June 1870 in London, second son among five children of Robert Caesar Childers, private secretary to the governor of Ceylon and scholar of Buddhism, and Anna Henrietta Childers…...
Clancy, Michael
Clancy, Michael (c.1704–1776), writer, was born in Co. Clare, son of Daniel Clancy, a soldier (or possibly a doctor) and a man of letters. His life, as recounted in his Memoirs (an incomplete and somewhat fanciful account), is dedicated to the earl of Kildare. He…...
Clarke, Austin
Clarke, Austin (1896–1974), poet, novelist, and verse dramatist, was born 9 May 1896 at 83 Manor Street, Dublin, the only surviving boy among twelve children, of which three girls also survived. His father, Augustine Clarke (d. 2 November 1918), an official in Dublin corporation, became…...
Clarke (Crilly), Margaret
Clarke (Crilly), Margaret (1881–1961), artist and teacher, was born 29 July 1881 in Newry, Co. Down, the daughter of Patrick Crilley and his wife Mary. After working as a baller in a rope factory she initially trained, with her sister Jane, at Newry technical school, and, in 1905,…...
Clarke, Harry (Henry Patrick)
Clarke, Harry (Henry Patrick) (1889–1931), stained-glass and graphic artist, and illustrator, was born 17 March 1889 in Dublin, third child and younger son among two sons and two daughters of Joshua Clarke (1858–1921), an English-born church decorator, and Brigid Clarke (née…...