Clark, Wallace
Clark, Wallace (1926–2011), yachtsman, writer and businessman, was born in Upperlands, Co. Derry, on 20 November 1926, one of three children, two boys and a girl, of Harry Francis Clark, of Rockwood in Upperlands, and his wife Sybil Emily (née Stuart). His father was a director and…...
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…...
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…...
Coll, Vincent (‘Mad Dog’)
Coll, Vincent (‘Mad Dog’) (1908–32), gangster, was born 20 July 1908 in Bunbeg, Gweedore, Co. Donegal, seventh child among six sons and two daughters of Tuathall Óg (‘Toaly’) Coll, of Bunbeg, a small farmer, and Anna Mary Coll (née Duncan), of Dublin. His parents had met and married…...
Colmán Bec
Colmán Bec (d. 587), son of Diarmait and prominent Uí Néill dynast, is probably to be identified as ancestor of Clann Cholmáin. His father Diarmait (qv) (d. 565) son of Cerball, king of Tara, descended from…...
Colmán Már
Colmán Már (‘the great’) (d. 555/63), putatively a son of Diarmait and king of Uisnech, is accepted in some sources as eponymous ancestor of Clann Cholmáin, a dynasty of the Uí Néill. His father is identified as Diarmait (qv) (d. 565) son…...
Colmán Rímid
Colmán Rímid (‘the counter/computist?’) (d. 604), son of Báetán and overking of the Uí Néill, belonged to the dynasty of Cenél nÉogain. His father Báetán (qv) son of Muirchertach/Mac Ercae (qv…...
Colthurst, John Colthurst Bowen-
Colthurst, John Colthurst Bowen- (1880–1965), army officer and murderer, was born John Colthurst Bowen in Cork on 12 August 1880, eldest son of Robert Walter Travers Bowen JP (who changed the family name to Bowen-Colthurst in 1882 to meet the…...
Conall Cóel (‘the slender’)
Conall Cremthainne
Conall Cremthainne (d. 480?), an early dynast of Uí Néill and putatively king of Uisnech, was regarded by the pre-Norman genealogists as the common ancestor of Síl nÁedo Sláine and Clann Cholmáin. Conall (also called Conall Err Breg) is included among the fourteen sons credited to…...
Conall Gulban
Conall Gulban (5th cent.?), an early Uí Néill figure, is eponymous ancestor of the dynasty of Cenél Conaill. He is claimed as a son of Niall Noígiallach (qv), along with thirteen alleged brothers including…...
Conchobar
Conchobar (d. 833), son of Donnchad and king of Tara, belonged to the Clann Cholmáin dynasty of the Southern Uí Néill. His father Donnchad Midi (qv) had retained the kingship of Tara till his death (797). His mother was Fuirseach,…...
Conchobar
Conchobar (d. 973), son of Tadc and overking of Connacht, belonged to Síl Muiredaig, a lineage of the Uí Briúin Aí dynasty. His father, known as Tadc in Túir (of the tower), had held the overkingship, but died in 956 leaving a province wracked by internal strife. Supremacy…...
Conefrey, Peter
Conefrey, Peter (1880–1939), catholic priest and social critic, was born 9 June 1880 in Mohill, Co. Leitrim, son of James Conefrey, publican, and his wife Mary McGivney. There were many priests on both sides of the family. His uncle, Fr Thomas Conefrey, parish priest of Drumlish,…...
Congalach Cnogba
Congalach Cnogba (d. 956), son of Máel-mithig and king of Tara, belonged to Síl nÁedo Sláine, a Southern Uí Néill dynasty. His achievement is noteworthy not only in that he was the last of his dynasty to reign as overking of Uí Néill but also because he claimed sway over Leinster…...
Congal Cennfhota
Congal Cennfhota (‘longheaded’) (d. 674), son of Dúnchad and overking of Ulaid, belonged to the dynasty of Dál Fiatach. His father and uncle, Dúnchad and Máel-Cobo, held the overkingship of Ulaid in turn, marking a revival of Dál Fiatach fortunes after the slaying in 637 of…...
Congal Cennmagair
Congal Cennmagair (d. 710), son of Fergus Fánat and king of Tara, belonged to the dynasty of Cenél Conaill. Although his father did not, it seems, achieve political prominence, his grandfather Domnall (qv) (d. 642) son of…...
Congal Cloen (Cáech)
Congal Cloen (Cáech) (d. 637/9), son of Scandal Sciathlethan and overking of Ulaid, belonged to the Síl Fiachnai lineage of the Dál nAraide (Cruthin) dynasty. Although misplaced in the pre-Norman genealogies (he is attached to a parallel line as a son of Scandal son of Bécc), Congal…...
Connolly, Patrick Joseph
Connolly, Patrick Joseph (1927–2016), barrister and attorney general of Ireland, was born 25 May 1927 at 70 Botanic Road, Glasnevin, Dublin. He was the elder of two sons born to Patrick Joseph Connolly, principal of Ballyboughal national school, and his wife Ellen (‘Nellie’; née O’Hara…...
Cooke, Adolphus
Cooke, Adolphus (1792–1876), eccentric, was born in Cookesborough near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, illegitimate son of Robert Cooke, landowner, and an unnamed servant. Adolphus's mother was sent away, and he was raised by a nurse, Mary Kelly, in a two-room thatched cottage, forbidden…...
Cook, Robert
Cook, Robert (1646?–c.1726), eccentric, was the son of Robert Cook of Cappoquin, Co. Waterford. During the reign of James II (qv) he fled to England and lived at Ipswich. In its act of attainder the 1689 Jacobite parliament…...
Coppinger, Richard William
Coppinger, Richard William (1847–1910), naval surgeon, naturalist, and explorer, was born 11 October 1847 in Dublin, youngest among six sons of Joseph William Coppinger, solicitor, of Farmley, Dundrum, Co. Dublin, and Agnes Mary Coppinger (née Cooke), a native of Co. Tipperary. He…...
Coppin, Louisa (Little Weesy)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Coppin, William. View the original entry....
Coppin, William
Coppin, William (1805–95), sailor, shipbuilder, and inventor, was born 9 October 1805 in Kinsale, Co. Cork; no details of his parents are known. From his childhood he displayed a strong affinity to the sea, and at the age of 15 was involved in the rescue of six customs men from a…...
Cormac
Cormac (fl. 6th cent.) of the Uí Liatháin was a pilgrim monk mentioned several times by Adomnán (qv) in his ‘Vita Columbae’. He appears in the genealogies as ‘priest’, son of Dímma, grandson of Commán, and belonging to the tribe of…...