Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’)
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’) (1932–2002), legal-aid campaigner, was born 4 May 1932 at 154 Bandon Road, Cork city, one of two daughters and two sons of Michael Lynch , labourer, and Eileen Lynch (née Sullivan). Her parents both died early, leaving her in the care of her grandmother,…...
Anderson, Emily
Anderson, Emily (1891–1962), academic, civil servant, and translator, was born 17 March 1891 at Taylor's Hill, Galway, second daughter of Alexander Anderson (qv), professor of natural philosophy and later president of…...
Andrews, Mary Katherine
This is a co-subject for the entry on Andrews, Thomas. View the original entry....
Atkinson, Sarah
Atkinson, Sarah (1823–93), philanthropist and author, was born 13 October 1823 in Athlone, Co. Roscommon, eldest of five daughters and one son of John Gaynor , gentleman, and Anna Gaynor. The family moved to Dublin for the sake of the children's education, but no details are known…...
Ball, Mary
Ball, Mary (1812–98), entomologist and conchologist, was born in Cobh, Co. Cork, on 15 February 1812, the younger of the two daughters of Robert Stawell Ball and his wife, Mary (née Green). Along with her siblings Robert Ball (qv) and Ann,…...
Bolster, Angela
Bolster, Angela (1925–2005), historian and nun, was born Evelyn Bolster in Mallow, Co. Cork, on 1 April 1925, only daughter of Michael Bolster, railway employee, and his wife Ellen (née Buckley). She had three brothers of whom James remained in Mallow and Pearse became a priest and…...
Boole, Alicia
Boole, Alicia (1860–1940), amateur mathematician, was born 8 June 1860 in Cork into an intellectually gifted family, third of five daughters of English parents: Prof. George Boole (qv) of QCC,…...
Boole, Lucy Everest
This is a co-subject for the entry on Boole, Alicia. View the original entry....
Browne, Kathleen Anne
Browne, Kathleen Anne (1878–1943), agriculturist, writer, and politician, was born 1 October 1878 in Wexford, eldest among five children of Michael Browne, farmer, shopkeeper, and local politician, of Rathronan Castle, Bridgetown, Co. Wexford, and his wife (and cousin) Mary…...
Carroll, Margaret Anna (Sister Mary Teresa Austin)
Carroll, Margaret Anna (Sister Mary Teresa Austin) (1835–1909), Sister of Mercy, educator, historian, and writer, was born 23 February 1835 in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, second eldest daughter and fourth eldest among nine children (four sons and five daughters) of William Carroll,…...
Carroll, Mella Elizabeth Laurie
Carroll, Mella Elizabeth Laurie (1934–2006), judge, was born 6 March 1934 in Dublin, second among four children of Patrick Joseph Carroll (qv) and his wife Agnes Mary (née Caulfield). Her father had been an officer in the national…...
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,…...
Clarke, Maud Violet
Clarke, Maud Violet (1892–1935), historian, was born 7 May 1892 in Belfast, second child and only daughter of Richard James Clarke, rector of Trinity church, Belfast, and Anne Nugent Clarke (née Jessop), of Mount Jessop, Co. Longford. In 1903 the family moved to Coole Glebe,…...
Clerke, Agnes Mary
Clerke, Agnes Mary (1842–1907), historian of astronomy and scientific writer, was born 10 February 1842 in Skibbereen, Co. Cork, second child and younger daughter of John William Clerke, manager of the Provincial Bank, Bridge St., and his wife Catherine Mary, youngest sister of the…...
Clinch, Phyllis E. M.
Clinch, Phyllis E. M. (1901–84), scientist, was born 12 September 1901 in Rathgar, Dublin, the fourth daughter of James and Mary Clinch. She entered UCD in 1919 and graduated B.Sc. (1923) in…...
Concannon, Helena
Concannon, Helena (1878–1952), historian and politician, was born 28 October 1878 in Magherafelt, Co. Londonderry, one of two daughters of Louis Walsh, hotel owner in Maghera, Co. Londonderry, and Elizabeth Walsh (née Donnelly); there were also three sons. Louis Walsh had been a…...
Conlon, Sarah (née Maguire)
Conlon, Sarah (née Maguire) (1926–2008), campaigner, was born 20 January 1926 in the Falls Road area of Belfast, the daughter of Vincent Maguire and Mary Catherine Maguire; she had three brothers and three sisters. Sarah's life was dominated by work, family and religion. On leaving…...
Conway, Anne
Conway, Anne (1631–79), Viscountess Conway , woman of learning, was born in London, youngest child of Heneage Finch (1580–1631) and his second wife, Elizabeth Cradock (d. 1655). Elizabeth, from Staffordshire, brought both sturdy independence and wealth into her second marriage,…...
Conyngham, Elizabeth Emmet Lenox
Conyngham, Elizabeth Emmet Lenox (née Holmes ) (b. 1800), poet and translator, was born in Dublin, the only child of the barrister and orator Robert Holmes (qv), barrister, and his wife…...
Corcoran, Doreen
Corcoran, Doreen (1934–2013), local historian, was born in Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, on 12 July 1934, the eldest child of William Luney and Roberta Luney (née Robinson). Doreen and her two brothers and sister were brought up in Greenisland, Co. Antrim, with visits to grandparents…...
Costigan, Ethna Mary Byrne-
Costigan, Ethna Mary Byrne- (1904–91), academic and writer, was born 24 May 1904 at Upper Leeson Street, Dublin, the eldest daughter of Thomas Joseph Byrne (qv), chief architect to the Office of Public Works, and Mary Ellen Byrne…...
Cotter, Brigid Mary
Cotter, Brigid Mary (1921–78), chemist and barrister, was born 3 January 1921 in Roscommon, the eldest daughter in the family of twelve children of Nicholas Patrick Cotter, the chief agricultural officer for Roscommon, and his wife, Bridie, née O'Brien. Brigid was educated at the…...
Crookshank, Anne Olivia
Crookshank, Anne Olivia (1927–2016), art historian, was born in Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim, on 3 January 1927, the second of three daughters to Henry Crookshank, a geographical surveyor, and his wife Eileen ‘Kitty’ Crookshank (née Somerville-Large). For the first five years of her life Anne…...
Curtayne, Alice
Curtayne, Alice (1901–81), writer and journalist, was born 6 November 1901 in Upper Castle Street, Tralee, Co. Kerry, the youngest child of John Curtayne, founder and proprietor of the Tralee Carriage Works, and Bridget Curtayne (née O'Dwyer). She received her initial education at…...
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’)
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’) (1829–99), nun and author, was born 6 May 1829 at Coolock, Co. Dublin, the elder of two children of Dr Samuel Cusack and his wife, Sarah (née Stoney). Early life and conversion to catholicism She was educated privately, learning informally…...