Ó Riain (O'Ryan), Henry
Ó Riain (O'Ryan), Henry (fl. 1633), Dominican priest and Latin poet, probably received his classical education at Munster and pursued his philosophical and theological studies at Rome or elsewhere in Italy. Resident at Rome in 1633, he was commissioned to compose a…...
O'Sullivan, Cornelius
O'Sullivan, Cornelius (1841–1907), brewer's chemist, was born 20 December 1841 at Bandon, Co. Cork, one of seven children (three boys and four girls) of James O'Sullivan, merchant, and his wife Elizabeth (née Morgan). He attended Denny Holland's private primary school in Bandon,…...
Philbin, Eva Maria
Philbin, Eva Maria (1914–2005), chemist and university professor, was born 3 January 1914 in Ballina, Co. Mayo, the elder of two daughters of George Ryder , a postman and later a publican, and his wife Kate (née Donegan). Eva attended the Convent of Mercy in Ballina, and then went…...
Plunkett, Richard (Risteard Pluincéid)
Plunkett, Richard (Risteard Pluincéid) (fl. 1662), Franciscan friar and dictionary compiler, is of obscure origins. The Plunketts were one of the most prominent Old English families of the Pale, with titles such as ‘lord of Louth’, ‘Lord Dunsany’, and ‘baron of Killeen’.…...
Quinlan, Patrick Michael
Quinlan, Patrick Michael (1919–2001), mathematical physicist and senator, was born 7 December 1919 at Ballinacrana, Kilfinane, Co. Limerick, one of the two sons and a daughter of Jeremiah Quinlan and his wife, Josephine (née Casey), who lived comfortably on a modest farm in the…...
Reilly, Joseph
Reilly, Joseph (1889–1965), chemist, was born 3 September 1889 at 11 Creighton Street, Dublin, the son of Joseph Reilly, a policeman, from Longford, and Margaret Reilly (née Fulham), from Galway. His father died before Joseph's birth. Educated at the Christian Brothers’ School,…...
Renouf, Louis Percy Watt
Renouf, Louis Percy Watt (1887–1968), zoologist, was born 11 December 1887 in Lewisham, London, son of Philip Renouf and Jane Renouf (née Tomlin) of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. His father, a mechanical engineer, worked on the design and manufacturing of bicycles and…...
Ryan, Hugh
Ryan, Hugh (1873–1931), chemist, was born 15 September 1873 in Dolla near Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, second son of John Ryan, small farmer and shopowner at Dolla, and Sarah Ryan (née Quinn) of Ballymackey. His scientific interest may have been influenced by previous members of his…...
Sall, Andrew Fitzjohn
Sall, Andrew Fitzjohn (1624–82), scholar and sometime Jesuit, was born into an Old English family in the city of Cashel, Co. Tipperary; nothing is known of his parents. More than five Jesuits bore the name Sall (Sál, Sale). With such a background it is not surprising to find the young…...
Scannell, Mary J. P. ('Maura')
Scannell, Mary J. P. ('Maura') (1924–2011), botanist, was born on 18 March 1924 in Cork city, one of seven children (five daughters and two sons) of Patrick Scannell, a carrier and contractor, and his wife Margaret (née Murnane). The family was well off, living in a villa on the South…...
Sigerson, George
Sigerson, George (1836–1925), physician, biologist, poet and author, was born 11 January 1836 at Holyhill, Strabane, Co. Tyrone, youngest of William and Nancy Sigerson's eleven children. His parents’ marriage had a romantic background: in the 1820s William Sigerson, a catholic from…...
Stanihurst, Richard
Stanihurst, Richard (1547–1618), scholar and diplomat, was born in Dublin, eldest among three sons and two daughters of James Stanihurst (qv) (or Stanyhurst), lawyer and politician, and Anne Stanihurst (née Fitzsimon), both of the…...
Starkie, William Joseph Myles
Starkie, William Joseph Myles (1860–1920), classical scholar, last resident commissioner of education under British rule in Ireland, and privy councillor, was born 10 December 1860 at Elsinore Lodge, Rosses Point, Co. Sligo, the fifth son (baptised a catholic, in contrast to his older…...
Sullivan, William Kirby
Sullivan, William Kirby (1820/21/2–1890), chemist, Young Irelander, and president of QCC, was born in Cork, the son of James Bartholomew Sullivan (O'Sullivan) (d. 1829), an industrialist in Cork. James Bartholomew, known locally as ‘Jimmy Batt…...
Swan, Jeremy (Harold James Charles)
Swan, Jeremy (Harold James Charles) (1922–2005), cardiologist, inventor of the Swan–Ganz catheter, was born 1 June 1922 in Sligo town, one of four sons of Harold Swan and his wife Marcelle (née Kelly); both his parents were physicians who had met while studying medicine at…...
Tinney, Sheila Christina (née Power)
Tinney, Sheila Christina (née Power) (1918–2010), mathematical physicist, was born on 15 January 1918 in Galway city, fourth daughter of Michael Power (1885–1974), professor of mathematics in UCG (1912–55), and Christina Power (née…...
Wadding, Luke
Wadding, Luke (1588–1657), Franciscan priest, scholar, and churchman, was born 16 October 1588 at Waterford and baptised on 18 October, the son of Walter Wadding, a wealthy merchant, and his wife, Anastasia (née Lombard), a relative of Peter…...
Wade, Walter
Wade, Walter (c.1740–1825), botanist, was born in Dublin, son of John Wade (d. 1799), chemist and apothecary, and Katherine Wade. In 1767 John Wade's proposal, sanctioned by (Royal) King and Queen's College of Physicians Ireland ((R)K&QCPI; forerunner of RCPI), to establish…...
Walsh (Bhailís, Wallis, Uailis), Francis (Proinsias)
Walsh (Bhailís, Wallis, Uailis), Francis (Proinsias) (1654–1724), lexicographer and Franciscan priest, was born in the Fingal area of north Co. Dublin. Nothing is known of his family or early education. He entered the Franciscan order and was ordained (1677) in the Irish Franciscan…...
Walsh, Thomas
Walsh, Thomas (1914–88), scientist and agricultural administrator, was born in Piercestown, Co. Wexford, fourth son of modest farmers. Walsh was educated at Piercestown national school and Wexford CBS before attending…...
Winder, Frank (Francis Gerard Augustine)
Winder, Frank (Francis Gerard Augustine) (1928–2007), biochemist, naturalist and mountaineer, was born 14 April 1928 in Dublin, one of four sons of Percy Winder (d. 1950), secretary of the Scottish Amicable Life Assurance Society and a freeman of the city of Dublin, and his second…...
Zeuss, Johann Kaspar
Zeuss, Johann Kaspar (1806–56), philologist, linguist, and founder of Celtic studies, was born 22 July 1806 in the village of Vogtendorf, near Kronach in Upper Franconia, Germany, fourth among six children of Michael Zeuss, stonemason, and Margaretha Zeuss (neé Hanna). Although he…...