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, Charles Francis (‘Charlie’)
Casey, Charles Francis (‘Charlie’) (1895–1952), barrister, attorney general, and judge, was born 2 January 1895 in Dublin, second son among six children of Dr Charles Casey (d. 1911) of Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, and his wife Mary Genevieve (d. 1949), daughter of Matthew Conran of…...
Caulfeild, William
Caulfeild, William (1665–1737), MP and justice of king's bench, was eldest son of Capt. Thomas Caulfeild (d. 1691), landowner, of Donamon, Co. Galway, and his wife Anne, eldest daughter of Charles, 2nd Viscount Moore, of Drogheda. The family estate comprised lands in Co. Galway…...
Cenn-Fáelad
Cenn-Fáelad (d. 679) was son of Ailill, grandson of Báetán (qv) (d. 572) king of Ailech, and great-grandson of Muirchertach/Mac Ercae (qv), king of Tara. According to some late traditions,…...
Chadwick, John Cooper-
Chadwick, John Cooper- (1864–1948), colonial policeman and Rhodesian pioneer, was born 13 May 1864 in Baggotstown, Bruff, Co. Limerick, second son of Richard Austin Cooper-Chadwick (1831–92) of Ballinard House, Emly, Co. Tipperary, and his second wife, Charlotte Sophia (d. 1912),…...
Chance, Patrick Alexander
Chance, Patrick Alexander (1857–c.1930), solicitor and politician, was born at Chelsea, London, second son of Albert George Chance, engineer, and his wife, Elizabeth Mary, daughter of George Fleming of Dublin. He was educated in Dublin at the Catholic University School…...
Charles, Robert Henry
Charles, Robert Henry (1855–1931), Biblical scholar, was born 6 August 1855 at Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, probably in Loy House, fifth of the seven sons of Dr David H. Charles and Annie E. Charles (née Allen). He attended Belfast Academy and won a scholarship to…...
Chartres, John Smith
Chartres, John Smith (1862–1927), lawyer, civil servant, and diplomat, was born 5 October 1862 in Birkenhead, Wirrall, England, son of John Smith Chartres, staff surgeon in the British army, and formerly of 30 Great Charles St., Dublin, and Margaret Chartres (née Henry) of Clones,…...
Chedworth (Chaddesworth, Charworth, Cheddlewerth, Theddesden?), Thomas of
Chedworth (Chaddesworth, Charworth, Cheddlewerth, Theddesden?), Thomas of (d. 1311), official, justice, and archbishop elect of Dublin, derived his name from Chedworth in Gloucestershire. Styled ‘magister’, he first appears in Irish records in 1262 as ‘Thomas de Theddesden’, a…...
Cherry, Richard Robert
Cherry, Richard Robert (1859–1923), lord chief justice of Ireland, was born near Waterford on 19 March 1859, younger son of Robert William Cherry, a solicitor of huguenot descent, and his wife, Susan, daughter of John Briscoe, MD. In…...
Chesney, Francis Rawdon
Chesney, Francis Rawdon (1789–1872), soldier and explorer, was born 16 March 1789 at Ballyveagh, near Annalong, Co. Down, eldest son of Capt. Alexander Chesney, coastguard officer, of Ballymena, Co. Antrim, and his second wife, Jane (née Wilson), of Ballymena. Capt. Chesney had been…...
Christian, Jonathan
Christian, Jonathan (1808–87), barrister and judge, was born 17 February 1808 in Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, third son of George Christian, solicitor, and Margaret Christian (née Cormac). He entered TCD in 1824 and graduated…...
Clancy, John Joseph
Clancy, John Joseph (1847–1928), journalist, politician, and barrister, was born 15 July 1847, the eldest son of William Clancy (1809?–1874), a farmer of Carragh Lodge, Claregalway, Co. Galway, and his wife Mary (née Burke). He was educated at Summerhill College, Athlone, and at…...
Clarke, Adam
Clarke, Adam (1760/62–1832), methodist minister and scholar, was born at Moybeg, near Maghera, Co. Londonderry, son of John Clarke (fl. 1762), schoolmaster, whose early marriage to a Miss McLean prevented him from completing a degree in…...
Clemens Scottus
Clemens Scottus (‘the Irishman’) (fl. c.800), scholar, was teacher at the palace school at Aachen under Charlemagne (d. 814) and his son Louis the Pious. A letter from Alcuin to Charlemagne, dated 797, refers to the presence of Irish scholars at the palace court, one of…...
Clinch, James Bernard
Clinch, James Bernard (1770–1834), scholar and pamphleteer, was born 16 July 1770 in James's St., Dublin, fifth son of Joseph Clinch, a merchant originally from Ratoath, Co. Meath, and Mary Clinch (née Higgins) from Knockmane, Co. Roscommon. Educated at the Rev. Beragh's academy…...
Cockburn, Sir George
Cockburn, Sir George (1764–1847), soldier, traveller, writer, and antiquary, was born 18 February 1764 in Dublin, only child of George Cockburn (d. 1775), a Scottish businessman who settled in Ireland in 1739 and married Ann (d. 1769), second of two children of Charles Caldwell,…...
Cockran, William Bourke
Cockran, William Bourke (1854–1923), lawyer and US congressman, was born 28 February 1854 in Carrowkeel, Co. Sligo, one of four sons and a daughter of Martin Cockran, landlord and horseman, and Harriet Cockran (née Knight-White). On the death of his father in a fall from a horse (…...
Coghlan, Joseph
Coghlan, Joseph (d. 1697), lawyer and politician, was probably the youngest son of Francis MacCoghlan, a catholic landowner of Kilcolgan, King's Co. Joseph became a protestant and in 1672 he was a student at TCD. The place of his…...
Cohalan, Daniel Florence
Cohalan, Daniel Florence (1867–1946), judge and Irish-American leader, was born 21 December 1867 in Middletown, New York, eldest of five sons of Timothy E. Cohalan and Ellen Cohalan (née O'Leary), both Irish immigrants. Educated at Manhattan College, Cohalan graduated in 1885, took…...
Cole, John Sydney Richard
Cole, John Sydney Richard (1907–89), lawyer, was born 24 January 1907 in Belfast, the only son of R. L. Cole (qv), methodist minister, and Selina McKell Cole (née Kelly), who died at the time of his birth. He was educated at Cork…...
Colgan, Nathaniel
Colgan, Nathaniel (1851–1919), botanist, marine biologist, and traveller, was born 28 May 1851 in Dublin. The identity of his parents is not known with certainty, though they may have been Nathaniel Watson Colgan and Letitia Phair, who married in Dublin in 1846. Colgan was educated…...
Colleary, (James) Gordon
Colleary, (James) Gordon (1941–2014), travel entrepreneur and newspaper publisher, was born on 7 March 1941 in Tuam, Co. Galway, the eldest of five children of Gerald Francis Calleary, headmaster of Tuam Vocational School, and his wife Josephine Margaret Calleary (née Gordon). (The…...
Collier, Michael
Collier, Michael (1780–1849), highwayman, was born at Bellewstown Hill, Co. Meath, son of a small farmer; no other details of his parents are known. Aged 13, he was employed as a farm labourer in Co. Louth, and he later worked as a carman on the Dublin–Drogheda mail coach (where he…...
Collins, Jerome James
Collins, Jerome James (1841–81) meteorologist, Arctic explorer, and founder of Clan na Gael, was born 17 October 1841 in Cork city, the son of Mark Collins, a lime and saltworks owner of South Main Street, Cork, and his wife Ellen (née Ryan). He attended St Vincent's Seminary,…...