Charters, John
Charters, John (1796–1874), millowner and philanthropist, was born 24 June 1796 in Gobrana, near Crumlin, Co. Antrim, son of Alexander Charters and Eleanor Charters (née Mackey). He possibly attended the Belfast Academical Institution; in 1836, with two partners, he established…...
Clarke, William
Clarke, William (1738?–1810), businessman, rose from poverty to become a successful entrepreneur in Dublin. He was the owner of flour-mills and iron works, a contractor for lighting and scavenging (‘half the city of Dublin’), had interests in brewing, distilling, milling and…...
Clery, Michael John
Clery, Michael John (1833/4–96), draper, was born at Bulgaden, near Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, and was said at the time of his death to have come from ‘an old County Limerick family'. He entered the drapery trade in Cork with the firm of Fitzgibbon, moved to Dublin to work for…...
Coakley, Denis
Coakley, Denis (1922–87), businessman and farmer, was born 15 October 1922 at Bunkilla, Donoughmore, Co. Cork, the son of farmers Jeremiah Coakley and Katy (née Buckley) Coakley. Educated at Presentation College, Cork, and UCC, he…...
Coffey, Peter
Coffey, Peter (1876–1943), priest and professor ofphilosophy, was born 27 April 1876 in Rathrone, Enfield, Co. Meath, son of Andrew Coffey, farmer, and Bridget Coffey (née Cosgrove). Educated at the model school, Trim, the diocesan seminary, Navan, and St Patrick's College,…...
Coile, Bernard
Coile, Bernard (1771?–1829), linen manufacturer and catholic activist, was born near Magherafelt, Co. Londonderry, on, by his own account, 14 May 1771 (though a gravestone inscription suggests 1766). His father's family were from Co. Donegal and related to the catholic bishop of…...
Connolly, Joseph
Connolly, Joseph (1885–1961), politician, businessman and civil servant, was born 19 January 1885 at 41 Alexander St. West, Belfast, one of fourteen children (five of whom died in infancy) of John Connolly, master baker, and Margaret Connolly (née MacNeill) of Cushendall, Co.…...
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…...
Coppinger, William
Coppinger, William (d. 1696), merchant and ancestor of the Coppingers of Bordeaux, was second son of Stephen Coppinger (d. 1681) of Ballyvolane, Co. Cork, and his wife Ellice (d. 1688), daughter of Henry Gould of Cork, alderman. According to a local tradition his father's…...
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…...
Cotter (alias O'Brien), Patrick
Cotter (alias O'Brien), Patrick (1760/61–1806), giant and showman, was born at Belgooly, near Kinsale, Co. Cork. His parents were farmers; while no details of his father are available, his mother was still alive at the time of his death and is named in his will as Margaret Cotter…...
Coughlan, Stephen
Coughlan, Stephen (1910–94), dáil deputy, bookmaker and publican, was born 26 December 1910 in Limerick, the third child of three sons and three daughters of Timothy Coughlan, accountant, and his wife, Annie Liddy, both of Limerick. He was educated at the Presentation Sisters’…...
Courtney, Thaddeus Cornelius (‘Ted’)
Courtney, Thaddeus Cornelius (‘Ted’) (1895–1961), engineer, army officer, and businessman, was born at Cork on 13 December 1895, the elder son of Timothy Courtney of Co. Kerry, pensioner of the RIC, and Ellen Courtney (née Shea) of…...
Coveney, Hugh
Coveney, Hugh (1935–98), businessman and politician, was born 20 July 1935 at Cork, the son of Patrick Coveney, builder and quantity surveyor. He was educated at Christ the King primary school and the Christian Brothers’ College at Cork, Clongowes Wood College, and the College of Estate…...
Crosbie, Thomas
Crosbie, Thomas (1817?–1899), newspaper editor and proprietor, was born in Ardfert, Co. Kerry. Educated at Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare, in 1842 he joined the Cork Examiner of John Francis Maguire (qv) soon after…...
Crowley, Michael
This is a co-subject for the entry on Crowley, Vincent. View the original entry....
Crowley, Niall
Crowley, Niall (1926–98), businessman, was born in Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin, on 18 September 1926, the eldest son of Vincent Crowley (qv), accountant, of Donnybrook, Dublin, and his wife Eileen (née Gunning). After an education in…...
Crowley, Vincent
Crowley, Vincent (1890–1965), businessman, was born 12 May 1890 in Farnham Street, Cavan town, the youngest of three sons of Patrick Crowley, a teacher hailing from Ballymore, Co. Cork, and his wife Bridget (née Halpin), who was from Co. Armagh. His father taught English at St Patrick…...
Cruise, Jack (John Joseph)
Cruise, Jack (John Joseph) (1913–79), entertainer, was born 9 August 1913 in the family home at 14 Arranmore Avenue, Phibsborough, Dublin, third child and eldest son among four children of Michael Cruise, a hall porter, native of Essex, England, and Brigid Cruise (née O'Kelly), from…...
Cuffe, Charles Richard
Cuffe, Charles Richard (1914–72), solicitor and employers’ leader, was born 5 August 1914 in Dublin, the son of Laurence Cuffe, livestock sales master, and Catherine Johanna Cuffe (née Hague), of Peafield Terrace, Blackrock, Co. Dublin. He attended St Gerard's school, Bray, Co.…...
Cusack, Cyril James
Cusack, Cyril James (1910–93), actor, director, and writer, was born 26 November 1910 in Durban, South Africa, son of James Walter Cusack, an Irish officer with the Natal mounted police, and Alice Violet Cusack (née Cole), a Cockney chorus girl, who was related to the music-hall…...
Dalton, James
Dalton, James (1834–1919), Irish-Australian merchant and pastoralist, was born 24 May 1834 at Duntryleague, Co. Limerick, third child of James Dalton, farmer, and his first wife Ellen (née Ryan). While Ellen was pregnant with James, his father assisted in the failed kidnapping of a…...
Dargan, Michael James
Dargan, Michael James (1918–2005), Aer Lingus chief executive and businessman, was born at Ballivor, Co. Meath, on 14 September 1918, the eldest son among seven children of Peter Dargan, farmer and butcher, and his wife Gretta (née O'Conor), a national school teacher. He was educated at…...
Darragh, Austin
Darragh, Austin (1927–2015), doctor and businessman, was born in the family home in Heytesbury Street, Dublin, on 27 April 1927, the sixth of nine children of Alexander Darragh, a mathematics teacher, and his wife Frances (née McDonnell). He grew up in Terenure, Dublin, and spent his…...
Davy, Eugene O'Donnell
Davy, Eugene O'Donnell (1904–96), rugby player and stockbroker, was born 26 July 1904 in Dublin, the eighth of nine surviving children of Thomas Davy (d. 1923), a Dublin publican, originally from Newtown, Ballymurreen, Co. Tipperary, and Alice Davy (née O'Donnell; d. 1955) of Annameedle…...