Dillon, Myles Patrick
Dillon, Myles Patrick (1900–72), Celtic and Sanskrit scholar, was born 11 April 1900 in Dublin, third son among five sons and one daughter of the Irish nationalist leader John Dillon (qv) and his wife Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the Rt Hon.…...
Dooge, James Clement Ignatius ('Jim')
Dooge, James Clement Ignatius ('Jim') (1922–2010), academic and politician, was born on 30 July 1922 in Grange Road West, Birkenhead, near Liverpool, the only son of Denis Dooge, marine engineer, and his wife Veronica (née Carroll). The Dooges were a family of engineers, most notably…...
Doran, Charles Guilfoyle
Doran, Charles Guilfoyle (1835–1909), civil engineer, Fenian, and bibliophile, was born on 1 February 1835 at Knockanna, Co. Carlow (not as previously stated at Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow), the first of seven surviving children of John Doran and his wife Mary (née Guilfoyle). He was…...
Drumm, James Joseph
Drumm, James Joseph (1896–1974), chemist, industrial technologist, and inventor, was born 25 January 1896 in Dundrum, Co. Down, one of three sons of John Drumm (or Drum), RIC constable, and his wife Bridget (née Connolly). The family…...
Fitzmaurice, Gerald Henry
Fitzmaurice, Gerald Henry (1865–1939), consular official and linguist, was born 15 July 1865 in Dublin, son of Henry Fitzmaurice, tea and commission agent, of Howth, Co. Dublin, and Margaret Fitzmaurice (née McKenny); he had one younger sister. He was educated at University…...
Fortune, Sean
Fortune, Sean (1953–99), catholic priest and paedophile, was born in Gorey, Co. Wexford, on 20 December 1953. He was educated in Gorey at the Loreto Convent and the Christian Brothers' School, and then became a member of the Christian Brothers' juniorate in Dún Laoghaire (1969–73). In…...
Freney, James
Freney, James (c.1719–1788), robber, was born in Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny, son of John Freney, bailiff, and Alice Freney (née Phelan). John Freney was taken into the employment of Joseph Robbins at Ballyduff near Thomastown at the age of 10, was apprenticed as a gardener,…...
Gahagan, Usher
Gahagan, Usher (d. 1749), classical scholar and criminal, was perhaps from Co. Westmeath and may have been educated at TCD, though he did not take a degree. He converted to catholicism, much to the consternation of his family, who…...
Gallagher, Patrick
Gallagher, Patrick (1951–2006), businessman, was born on 8 May 1951 in Holles Street hospital, Dublin, the second son of Matt Gallagher, businessman, and his wife Helena Patricia (née Sheeran). He was raised from 1957 in palatial surrounds at Hollywood Rath, Mulhuddart, Co. Dublin. The…...
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…...
Gogarty, James Martin
Gogarty, James Martin (1917–2005), civil engineer, building company executive, and anti-corruption whistle-blower, was born 20 May 1917 in Cannon Street, Kells, Co. Meath, son of Bernard Gogarty, a mason and small-scale building contractor, and his wife Mary (née Mooney). Educated in…...
Hare, William
This is a co-subject for the entry on Burke, William. View the original entry....
Havel, Miroslav ('Paddy')
Havel, Miroslav ('Paddy') (1922–2008), glass designer and craftsman, was born in Držkov, Czechoslovakia, on 26 May 1922, the only child of Frantisek Havel, costume jewellery manufacturer of Držkov, and his wife Anna (née Klubelova). He had a prosperous, somewhat sheltered, upbringing in…...
Henry, Robert Mitchell
Henry, Robert Mitchell (1873–1950), classicist and university administrator, was born 11 February 1873 in Belfast, son of Robert Mitchell Henry (1824–91), who was himself son of a Reformed Presbyterian minister, William Henry (1789–1852). Robert M. Henry sen., having started his…...
Hicks, James Joseph
Hicks, James Joseph (1837–1916), manufacturer of scientific instruments, was born 4 November 1837 at Rosscarbery, Co. Cork, the only son of George Hicks, flax worker and farmer, and Gillian Hicks (née Coakley), whose father owned the mill in which George worked. The second of…...
Hinkson, Henry Albert
This is a co-subject for the entry on Hinkson, Pamela. View the original entry....
Holland, John Philip
Holland, John Philip (1841–1914), inventor of the submarine, was born 24 February 1841 at Castle Street, Liscannor, Co. Clare, son of John Holland, a coast guard officer, and his second wife, Mary (née Scanlon). He was educated at St Macreehy's national school, Liscannor, and by the…...
Hughes, Pat
Hughes, Pat (1924–99), prospector and businessman, was born Patrick Joseph Hughes on 14 March 1924 near Keady, Co. Armagh, the only son of three children of Charles Hughes, a building contractor of Keady, and his wife Mary. When he was around 10, his catholic family moved to Newry,…...
Ingram, John
Ingram, John (1887–1973), engineer, educationalist, and civil servant, was born 5 February 1887 in Derry, the son of William John Ingram, of Shipquay Street, Derry, a civil service clerk. He attended the Londonderry model school as a presbyterian, before transferring to St Columb'…...
Kettle, Laurence J.
Kettle, Laurence J. (1878–1960), political activist and electrical engineer, was born 27 February 1878 at Kilmore, Artane, north Co. Dublin, second son among five sons and six daughters of Andrew J. Kettle (qv), ‘progressive’…...
Kilmartin, Terence (‘Terry’) Kevin
Kilmartin, Terence (‘Terry’) Kevin (1922–91), intelligence officer and literary editor, was born 10 January 1922 at Church Road, Greystones, Co. Wicklow, seventh of eight children of Ambrose Joseph Kilmartin, deputy forestry commissioner and veteran of the 1916 rising, and Eva…...
Kissane, Edward Joseph
Kissane, Edward Joseph (1886–1959), priest and biblical scholar, was born 14 May 1886 in Lisselton, Ballybunion, Co. Kerry. He was educated at St Michael's College, Listowel, and St Brendan's Seminary, Killarney. In September 1903 he entered St Patrick's College, Maynooth, where…...
Leeson, Margaret (‘Peg’)
Leeson, Margaret (‘Peg’) (1727–97), prostitute, brothel-keeper, and memoirist, was born Margaret Plunket at Killough, Co. Westmeath, one of eight surviving children of Matthew Plunket, a wealthy farmer, and his wife, whose maiden name was O'Reilly. Most of what is known about Margaret…...
Lynam, Sybil Mary Joan (‘Shevawn’)
Lynam, Sybil Mary Joan (‘Shevawn’) (1914–98), administrator, author, and linguist, was born 16 April 1914 in Dublin, daughter of Charles Lynam, engineer, and Margaret (‘Mai’) Lynam (née Moran), both from Co. Galway. Her father served in the first world war as an officer in the…...
Mac Cana, Proinsias
Mac Cana, Proinsias (1926–2004), Celtic scholar, was born 6 July 1926 in Belfast, son of George McCann and his wife Mary Catherine (née Mallon). He grew up in a catholic district in east Belfast, where inter-community tensions were keenly felt. He attended St Malachy's College during…...