Barry, Katty
Barry, Katty (1909–82), restaurateur and famous Cork character, was born on Dalton's Avenue, off the Coal Quay, Cork, daughter of John Barry. Her mother ran a provisions shop on Dalton's Avenue, which Katty took over and turned into an eating house. Beautiful, witty, earthy, and…...
Bates, Daisy May
Bates, Daisy May (1859–1951), welfare worker for Aborigines, anthropologist, and eccentric, was born 21 October 1859 in Roscrea, Co. Tipperay, third among six children of James Dwyer , catholic tradesman and blacksmith, and Bridget Dwyer (née Hunt). Her twin brother, Francis, died…...
Blake, Caroline
Blake, Caroline (1835–1919), landlord and hotelier, was born Caroline Johanna Burke in 1835 in Co. Tyrone, to Henry A. Burke, a protestant clergyman, and Julia Burke (née Blake) of Co. Mayo. Little is known of her childhood, although she regularly spent holidays at Renvyle House in…...
Bonney (Bonny), Anne
Bonney (Bonny), Anne (c.1700–p.1721), pirate, is thought to have been born in Cork about 1700. While her life story has been somewhat mythologised over time, the lead source about her remains the work of a Captain Charles Johnson (presumed to be the pseudonym of Daniel…...
Browne, José
This is a co-subject for the entry on Browne, Dennis. View the original entry....
Cadden, Mary Anne (‘Mamie’) (‘Nurse Cadden’)
Cadden, Mary Anne (‘Mamie’) (‘Nurse Cadden’) (1891–1959), midwife and abortionist, was born 27 October 1891 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA, eldest of seven children of Patrick Caden, of a small-farming background from Doonbredia, Lahardane, Co. Mayo, and Mary Caden (née McLoughlin), a…...
Cashman, Nellie
Cashman, Nellie (1845?–1925), frontier entrepreneur and philanthropist, was born in the mid 1840s near Cobh (Queenstown), Co. Cork. Documentary details of her early life in Ireland and America are few, rendering any chronology of her first twenty-five years largely speculative.…...
Cleary, Bridget
Cleary, Bridget (1867–95), dressmaker, was born in Ballyvadlea, near Cloneen, Co. Tipperary, daughter, and apparently the youngest child, of Patrick Boland , a farm labourer, and his wife, Bridget (née Keating). This was probably in February 1867, although most contemporary…...
Clifford, Mary (‘Mai’)
Clifford, Mary (‘Mai’) (née Hollingsworth ) (1913–86), trade union official and laundress, was born 25 September 1913 at Phoenix Park, Glasgow, Scotland, the elder of one daughter and one son of Joseph Hollingsworth, a blacksmith from Co. Kerry, and his wife Elizabeth, a Glasgow…...
Copley, Clara (‘Ma’)
Copley, Clara (‘Ma’) (1865–1949), boxing promoter, was born 14 May 1865 at Masbrough, Rotherham, England, to Jonas Roddis, fishmonger, and his wife Mary Roddis. Clara was the sixth of their nine children. She married Joseph Copley of Leeds on 22 November 1886 at Darfield, Yorkshire.…...
Coppin, Louisa (Little Weesy)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Coppin, William. View the original entry....
Crowley, (Mary) Patricia
Crowley, (Mary) Patricia (1933–2013), fashion designer, was born on 17 May 1933, in Taylor's Hill, Galway, the daughter of Hubert Vernon , who worked in a local branch of the Bank of Ireland, and Margaret ('Netta') Vernon (née Morrissey), daughter of a prosperous family of grain…...
Deane, Anne (Duff)
Deane, Anne (Duff) (c.1834–1905), businesswoman, philanthropist, and nationalist, was born at Ballaghadereen, Co. Roscommon, the daughter of Joseph Duff and Monica Duff (née Dillon), a younger sister of the Young Irelander, …...
Duignan, Mary Ann (‘Chicago May’)
Duignan, Mary Ann (‘Chicago May’) (1871–1929), criminal and prostitute, was born c.26 December 1871 in Edenmore, Ballinamuck, Co. Longford, eldest among two daughters and three sons of Francis Duignan (1837–1930), farmer, and Anne Duignan (née Gray) (1852–1924); the pet name ‘…...
Gaj, Margaret (née Dunlop)
Gaj, Margaret (née Dunlop) (1919–2011), restaurateur, radical, and political activist, was born on 28 January 1919 in Edinburgh, Scotland, one of four children (two girls and two boys) of James Aloysius Dunlop and his wife Ellen (née O'Malley). Both parents were catholics of Irish…...
Gallagher, Eileen Helen Mary
This is a co-subject for the entry on Gallagher, Redmond. View the original entry....
Gibson, Violet Albina
Gibson, Violet Albina (1876–1956), failed assassin, was born 31 August 1876 in Dalkey, Co. Dublin, to Edward Gibson (qv), a wealthy lawyer and politician, and Frances Maria Adelaide Gibson (née Colles), the daughter of a barrister. Violet was…...
Gray, Caroline Agnes (Carrie)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Gray, Edmund William Dwyer. View the original entry....
Guiney, Mary
Guiney, Mary (1901–2004), businesswoman and centenarian, was born 2 March 1901, daughter of John Leahy, a farmer of Creeves, near Shanagolden, Co. Limerick, and his wife Hannah (née Cuddihy). Mary, known as May when she was a young woman, had at least one older brother and an older…...
Hanley, Ellie
Hanley, Ellie (1803–19), the ‘Colleen bawn ’, was born in Ballycahane, near Croom, Co. Limerick, daughter of Michael Hanley, farmer, and his first wife (née Connery). At 6 years old, she was adopted by her mother's brother, John Connery, ropemaker, also of Ballycahane. Connery's…...
Hart, Alice
Hart, Alice (1848–1931), philanthropist, artist, and businesswoman, was born Alice Maria Rowland , daughter of Alex William Rowland (d. 1869), a merchant with a family fortune derived from the Rowland Macassar oil company, and his wife Henrietta Maria Margeretta (née Ditges; d. 1851…...
Herlihy, Nora
Herlihy, Nora (1910–88), founder of the Irish credit union movement, was born 27 February 1910 at Ballydesmond, Co. Cork, the third of twelve children of Denis Herlihy, a teacher, and Nora Herlihy (née Mulcahy). Having taught firstly in Belmullet, Co. Mayo, Nora's father was appointed…...
Johnson, Rosanna (‘Rosie’)
Johnson, Rosanna (‘Rosie’) (1891–1987), street trader, was born 24 March 1891, daughter of William Walsh, labourer, of 6 Turner's Cottages, Dublin, and Julia Walsh (née Reilly). At the age of 12 she was selling violets on the street for a penny a bunch and by the time she was 17 she…...
Kellett, Iris
Kellett, Iris (1926–2011), showjumper and horse trainer, was born on 8 January 1926 in Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, the only child of Thomas Kellett, of Mespil Road, Ballsbridge, and his wife Julia (née Maron). Her father was a veterinary surgeon who, after service as a British army…...
Kiernan, Catherine Brigid (‘Kitty’)
Kiernan, Catherine Brigid (‘Kitty’) (1893–1945), hotelier, and fiancée of Michael Collins (qv), was born 26 January 1893 in Granard, Co. Longford, fifth child and fourth daughter among six daughters and one son of Peter Kiernan, a…...