O'Donnell, Erica Marie-Josèphe
O'Donnell, Erica Marie-Josèphe (1920–99), art historian and SOE officer, was born 11 March 1920 in Dublin, the only child of Eric Hugh O'Donnell, a British army officer of Dublin and Ballingaddy, Co. Limerick, and his wife Mary Mabel Elizabeth, second daughter of Joseph Charles Dunbar…...
O'Donnell, Nuala
O'Donnell, Nuala (c.1575–c.1630), refugee, was born in Tir Conaill, daughter of Hugh O'Donnell (qv) (d. 1600), lord of Tyrconnell and his second wife,…...
O'Malley, Tony (Anthony)
O'Malley, Tony (Anthony) (1913–2003), painter, was born 25 September 1913 in Bridge Street, Callan, Co. Kilkenny, eldest of two sons and two daughters of Patrick O'Malley, a commercial traveller for Singer sewing machines, and his wife Margaret (née Ryan), from the Callan area, who…...
O'Meara, Frank
O'Meara, Frank (1853–88), landscape painter, was born in Carlow on 30 March 1853, the youngest of the seven children of Thomas O'Meara, a medical doctor, and his wife, Sarah (née Isbourne). His grandfather Dr Barry Edward O'Meara…...
Ó Monacháin, Ailbhe
Ó Monacháin, Ailbhe (1889–1967), illustrator and Irish-language activist, was born 26 January 1889 in Belfast and christened Alfred Monahan, youngest of four sons and two daughters of Wexford-born Robert Joseph Monahan, sawyer, and Johanna Monahan (née Nolan). He was educated in Belfast…...
O'Shea, William Henry
O'Shea, William Henry (1840–1905), politician and adventurer, was born in Dublin, son of Henry O'Shea (pronounced ‘O'Shee’), a catholic solicitor from an indebted Limerick gentry family, and his wife Catherine, a papal countess and daughter of Edward Craneach Quinlan of Rosana, Co…...
O'Sullivan, Donal
O'Sullivan, Donal (1904–77), priest and arts administrator, was born Daniel Joseph Sullivan on 27 July 1904 in Donemark, Bantry, Co. Cork, the only son among two children of John Sullivan, a national school teacher, and Mary Anne Sullivan (née Keohane). After receiving primary and…...
O'Sullivan, Seán
O'Sullivan, Seán (1906–64), artist, was born John O'Sullivan on 20 June 1906 in 44 St Joseph's Terrace, Dublin, son of John O'Sullivan, carpenter, and Mary O'Sullivan (née Taylor). Educated at Synge Street Christian Brothers' School and Dublin Metropolitan School of Art, where he was…...
Palmer (Ambrose), Eleanor
Palmer (Ambrose), Eleanor (c.1720–1818), celebrated beauty, was born Eleanor Ambrose , daughter and heiress of Michael Ambrose, a wealthy Roman catholic brewer and merchant, and his wife, the daughter of Richard Archbold, a Dublin brewer; nothing is known of her mother.…...
Pearse, James
Pearse, James (1839–1900), sculptor, was born on 8 December 1839 at 24 Plumtree Street, Bloomsbury, London, the second of three sons of James Pearse, frame-maker, and his first wife Mary Ann (née Thompson). The family was impoverished and moved to Birmingham (c.1847), where…...
Pearse, William (‘Willie’)
Pearse, William (‘Willie’) (1881–1916), revolutionary and sculptor, was born 15 November 1881 at 27 Great Brunswick St. (Pearse St.), Dublin, second son among two sons and two daughters of James Pearse, a monumental sculptor originally from London, and his second wife,…...
Phelan, Jim (James Leo)
Phelan, Jim (James Leo) (1895–1966), writer, activist and tramp, was born in Inchicore, Dublin, the third child and eldest son of five surviving children (three daughters and two sons; two others died in childhood) of James Phelan, ironworker at the Inchicore railway works, and his wife…...
Phillips, Michael
Phillips, Michael (d. 1796), Franciscan friar and government spy, was probably brought up in north-east Connacht, and in 1795 was described as ‘from French Park’ or from ‘Killfree, near Boyle’, Co. Roscommon. His parents cannot be identified, although it is possible that he was a…...
Pilkington, Ellice
Pilkington, Ellice (1869–1936), women's activist and artist, was born 1 September 1869 as Louisa Ellice Esmonde , second daughter of Sir John Esmonde, MP and lieutenant-colonel of Waterford artillery militia, of Ballynastragh, Gorey, Co. Wexford, and Louisa Esmonde (née Grattan),…...
Pollen, John Hungerford
Pollen, John Hungerford (1820–1902), architect, artist, and author, was born 19 November 1820 in London, second son of Richard Pollen, barrister, and his wife Anne, daughter of Samuel Pepys Cockerell. Educated at Durham House (1829–33) and Eton (1833–8), in May 1838 he…...
Power, Albert George
Power, Albert George (1881–1945), sculptor, was born 16 November 1881 at Barrack Street (now Benburb Street), Dublin, second of two sons and one younger daughter of Henry Power, watchmaker, and Mary Power (née Atkins), embroideress. He was educated at the Christian Brothers national…...
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, James Louis
Rice, James Louis (1730–p. 1793), soldier and duellist, was son of Thomas Rice, count of the Holy Roman Empire and merchant, of Baile Mhic an Daill, Dingle, Co. Kerry, and Alicia Rice (née Meade). Educated at the Irish College at Louvain, he was initially destined for the…...
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…...
Robertson, Olivia Melian
Robertson, Olivia Melian (1917–2013), writer, artist and co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis, was born on 13 April 1917 at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London, to Manning Durdin Robertson (qv), urban planner and architect, and…...
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,…...
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…...