Arkless, Brede (née Boyle)
Arkless, Brede (née Boyle) (1939–2006), rock climber and mountain guide, was born 10 August 1939 in Moston, Manchester, England, the daughter of James Boyle, a fitter, and his wife Mary (née Harrison). Born prematurely while her Dublin-resident parents were visiting family in Manchester…...
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…...
Bates, Daisy May
Bates, Daisy May (1859–1951), welfare worker for Aborigines, anthropologist, and eccentric, was born 21 October 1859 in Roscrea, Co. Tipperay, third among six children of James Dwyer , catholic tradesman and blacksmith, and Bridget Dwyer (née Hunt). Her twin brother, Francis, died…...
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…...
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…...
Burke, Honora
Burke, Honora (1674–1698), was the youngest daughter of William Burke (qv), 7th earl of Clanricarde, and his second wife, Helen, daughter of Donough MacCarthy (qv), 1st earl of Clancarty…...
Cahill, Mabel Esmonde
Cahill, Mabel (1863–1905), tennis player, was born 2 April 1863 in Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny, twelfth of thirteen children of Michael Cahill, gentleman landowner and barrister-at-law, of Ballyconra House, Ballyragget, and his first wife, Margaret (née Magan), Ballymore, Co. Westmeath (…...
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,…...
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…...
Courtenay, Ellen
Courtenay, Ellen (1802–c.1837), accuser of Daniel O'Connell (qv), was born in Co. Cork, daughter of a native of the county. In 1817, at the age of 15, she moved to Dublin, and the catholic bishop of Cork,…...
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…...
Daly, Miriam
Daly, Miriam (1928–80), historian and political activist, was born Miriam Annette McDonnell at the Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare, on 16 May 1928, daughter of Commandant Daniel McDonnell (d. 1972) and his wife Anne McDonnell (née Cummins); she had one sister. Her father came from a Dublin…...
De Paor, Máire
De Paor, Máire (1925–94), archaeologist, was born 6 May 1925 in Buncrana, Co. Donegal, second child among four children (one son and three daughters) of Eamonn (Ned) McDermott, grocer, and Delia McDermott (née McVeigh), teacher; both parents were veterans of the republican movement, who…...
Dillon, Elizabeth
Dillon, Elizabeth (1865–1907), diarist, was born 2 March 1865 in England, eldest among five children of Sir James Charles Mathew (qv) (1830–1908) and his wife Elizabeth Blackmore Mathew (d. 1933), daughter of the Rev. Edwin…...
Fitzgibbon, Theodora
Fitzgibbon, Theodora (1916–91), cookery expert and writer, was born Joan Eileen Rosling on 21 October 1916 in London, the only child of Adam Rosling, motor engineer with the Royal Naval Air Service, and Alice Winifred Rosling (née Hodgkins). Her parents were divorced soon after…...
Gardiner, Marguerite (Margaret)
Gardiner, Marguerite (Margaret) (1789–1849), countess of Blessington , writer, journalist, and society hostess, was born 1 September 1789 at Knockbrit, Co. Tipperary, the second daughter and fourth child of Edmund Power and his wife Ellen (née Sheehy), both from well-established…...
Garvey, Philomena Kathleen
Garvey, Philomena Kathleen (1926–2009), amateur golfer, was born on 26 April 1926 in the village of Baltray, Co. Louth, the youngest of six children (four sons and two daughters) of James Garvey, a seaman, and his wife Kathleen (née Owens), whose father had been a ship's captain.…...
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…...
Harbison, Sheelagh Helen
Harbison, Sheelagh Helen (1914–2012), medieval historian, was born in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, on 2 September 1912, the only daughter and youngest of three surviving children, to Frederick William MacSherry , bank manager, and his wife Helen (née MacDermott). After Sheelagh was born…...
Hayden, Mary Teresa
Hayden, Mary Teresa (1862–1942), historian and women's rights campaigner, was born 19 May 1862 in Merrion Square, Dublin, only daughter of Thomas Hayden (qv), physician and later vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons, and Mary…...
Henry, Françoise
Henry, Françoise (1902–82), specialist in early Irish art, archaeologist, and art historian, was born 16 June 1902 in Paris, the only child of René Henry, deputy chef de cabinet to the president of the French chamber of deputies, professor at L'École des Sciences…...
Hogg, Margaret Mary ('Peggy')
Hogg, Margaret Mary ('Peggy') (1919–94), camogie player, was born 7 July 1919 in Tralee, Co. Kerry, the only child of John Hogg, a commercial traveller, and Margaret Hogg (née McCarthy). The family moved to Cork city shortly afterwards and resided at Highfield West, College Road.…...
Horan, Joan
Horan, Joan (1918–65), paralympian, was born 26 February 1918 at 7 Merrion Square, Dublin, the home of her father Dr Patrick Dempsey , an ear, nose and throat surgeon at the Mater Hospital, and his wife Monica (née Plunkett); Joan was the second of their two children, both daughters.…...
Kavanagh, Julia
Kavanagh, Julia (1824–77), novelist, short-story writer, and biographer, was born 7 January 1824 in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the only child of Bridget Fitzpatrick (d. 1887) and Morgan Peter Kavanagh (d. 1874), writer and philologist. She spent much of her childhood in Normandy and…...