O'Flynn, James Christopher
O'Flynn, James Christopher (1881–1962), priest and Irish language activist, was born 12 December 1881 in Mallow Lane, Cork, son of Cornelius O'Flynn who was employed in the butter market and his wife, Catherine Uppington, who was of protestant stock. O'Flynn was from a musical…...
Ó Foghludha, Risteard (Richard Foley)
Ó Foghludha, Risteard (Richard Foley) (1871–1957), teacher, journalist and editor, was born 5 March 1871 in Knockmonlea between Youghal and Killeagh, Co. Cork, son of farmer Richard Ó Foghludha and his wife, Peg Long. He was the eldest of seven girls and five boys and attended the…...
Ó Gealacáin, Peadar
Ó Gealacáin, Peadar (c.1792–1860), scribe and schoolmaster, was born in the parish of Moynalty, Co. Meath, son of Pádraig Ó Gealacáin and his wife, Margaret Williams. The year of his birth is uncertain and may have been 1792 or 1793 and his parents' occupations are unknown.…...
Ó Gnímh, Fearflatha
Ó Gnímh, Fearflatha (fl. 1580–1640) bardic poet, seems to have been born around 1580, in Co. Antrim, and may have been the son of Brian Ó Gnímh, who was also a professional poet. Members of the Ó Gnímh family were traditionally hereditary poets (ollamhs) to the O'Neills…...
Ó Gormáin (Mac Gormáin, O'Gorman, Gorman), Muiris (Maurice)
Ó Gormáin (Mac Gormáin, O'Gorman, Gorman), Muiris (Maurice) (c.1700/20–c.1794), scribe, poet, and schoolteacher, was born probably in Co. Monaghan, though a case has been made for a birthplace in Co. Louth. The oldest manuscript known in his hand has been dated to 1734…...
Ó Grianna, Séamus (‘Máire’)
Ó Grianna, Séamus (‘Máire’) (1889–1969), writer, known locally as ‘Jimmy Fheilimidh’ and publishing under the pseudonym ‘Máire’, was born 17 November 1889 in Ranafast, Co. Donegal, eldest son and fourth child among five sons and six daughters of Feidhlimidh Mac Grianna (Feidhlimidh…...
O'Growney, Eugene (Ó Gramhnaigh, Eoghan)
O'Growney, Eugene (Ó Gramhnaigh, Eoghan) (1863–99), priest, Gaelic Leaguer, and Irish-language scholar, was born 24 September 1863 in Ballyfallon, Athboy, Co. Meath, second among six children of Séamas Ó Gramhnaigh, steward, and his wife Máiréad (née Nic Gabhann) from Kilskeer, Co…...
Ó hAnluain, Eoghan
Ó hAnluain, Eoghan (1926–2012), writer, lecturer, editor, broadcaster and Irish language specialist, was born in Dublin on 18 January 1926, the third of four sons, to William Hanlon, an asphalt spreader and carpenter, and his wife Mary (née Kelly). The family lived on Parnell Square…...
Ó hAodha, Séamus
Ó hAodha, Séamus (1886–1967), poet and playwright, was born 20 January 1886 in Cork, son of Christopher Hayes, a carpenter, and his wife Ansty Morley. He received his education in the Christian Brothers' School, North Monastery, Cork, and subsequently University College Cork (UCC) where…...
Ó hEódhasa, Giolla Brighde
Ó hEódhasa, Giolla Brighde (Bonaventura, Bonaventure O’Hussey (O'Hosey)) (d. 1614), poet, grammarian, and counter-reformation Franciscan, was from somewhere in Clogher diocese, probably Baile Uí Eódhasa in Co. Fermanagh. Poetry was the hereditary profession of his family. It is likely…...
O'Hickey, Michael (Ó Hiceadha, Micheál)
O'Hickey, Michael (Ó Hiceadha, Micheál) (1861–1916), catholic priest and Gaelic Leaguer, was baptised on 12 March 1861 at Carrickbeg, Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Waterford, though he may have been born in 1860. He was the son of Thomas Hickey and his wife Brigid (née Quinlan). O'Hickey's…...
Ó hIfearnáin, Liam ‘Dall’
Ó hIfearnáin, Liam ‘Dall’ (1720?–c.1803), poet, was born in the parish of Lattin, about five miles (8 km) west of Tipperary town. The Heffernans were a learned family and retainers of the earls of Desmond in the sixteenth century, and the contributors to ‘Iomarbhágh na…...
Ó hUadhaigh, Seán
Ó hUadhaigh, Seán (1886–1959), solicitor, republican, Irish-language enthusiast and aviation pioneer, was born John Kirwan Woods 20 May 1886 in 2 Brookline, Terenure Road, Dublin, son of Robert Hewitt Woods (d. 1891), barrister, originally from Co. Down, and Mary Katherine Woods (née…...
Ó hUaithnín, Seon
Ó hUaithnín, Seon (b. c.1688), poet, was born in Kilshanny, north of Ennistymon, Co. Clare, eldest son of Walter Huonyn (the name took many anglicised forms) of Tullamore in the parish of Killaspuglonane; nothing is known of his mother. Little is known of him, apart from…...
Ó hUallacháin, Colmán
Ó hUallacháin, Colmán (1922–79), educator, linguist, Irish-language activist and priest, was born Liam Holohan on 8 December 1922 in Dublin, eldest among four sons and two daughters of Garry Holohan (Gearóid Ó hUallacháin) (1894–1967), imprisoned republican soldier, and latterly an…...
Ó hUid, Tarlach
Ó hUid, Tarlach (1917–90), Irish-language writer and journalist, was born Augustus Walter Hood on 13 January 1917 in south Deptford, London, one of three sons and two daughters of munitions worker and later carpenter, Augustus Walter Hood, and his wife, Ada Brockwell. He changed his…...
Ó hUigínn, Maol Muire
Ó hUigínn, Maol Muire (Miler O'Higgins) (d. 1590), Franciscan, poet, archbishop of Tuam, was born some time in the early to mid-sixteenth century in the territory of Leyney, Co. Sligo. His father was the bardic poet Mathghamhain, son of Maol Muire Ó hUigínn, of…...
Ó hUiginn, Pilib Bocht
Ó hUiginn, Pilib Bocht (d. 1487), ‘bardic’ poet, was the son of Conn Crosach. Nothing more is known of his line of descent, nor of where he lived. His obituary is found in the Annals of Ulster, where he is described as an observantine Franciscan brother and as the best and most…...
Ó hUigínn, Pól (Paul Higgins)
Ó hUigínn, Pól (Paul Higgins) (1628?–1724), Irish scholar, preacher and convert to protestantism, was probably born in Co. Sligo, the son of Pól Ó hUigínn and Cecilia Jordan. His grandfather, Tadhg Óg Ó hUigínn, was a bardic poet and a son of the famous bardic poet…...
O'Kelly, John Joseph (‘Sceilg’; Ua Ceallaigh, Seán)
O'Kelly, John Joseph (‘Sceilg’; Ua Ceallaigh, Seán) (1872–1957), writer, journalist, republican, Irish-language activist, and member of the first and second dáils, was born 7 July 1874 on Valentia Island, Co. Kerry, and later took his most well-known pen name, ‘Sceilg’, from the nearby…...
Ó Laoghaire, Diarmuid
Ó Laoghaire, Diarmuid (1915–2001), writer and lecturer on Celtic spirituality, and Irish-language enthusiast, was born 1 August 1915 in Dublin, one of three children of Michael O'Leary from Doneraile, Co. Cork, and Mary O'Leary (née Flood), from Co. Meath; his father was manager of…...
Ó Laoghaire, Peadar (An tAthair Peadar; O'Leary, Peter)
Ó Laoghaire, Peadar (An tAthair Peadar; O'Leary, Peter) (1839–1920), pioneering writer in modern Irish, was born 30 April 1839 at Lios Carragáin, in an Irish-speaking district some miles west of Macroom, Co. Cork, one of six children of Diarmuid Ó Laoghaire, small farmer, and Siobhán Ní…...
Ó Liatháin, Annraoi
Ó Liatháin, Annraoi (1917–81), Irish-language writer, was born 15 October 1917 near Portumna, Co. Galway, son of gamekeeper Michael Lyons and his wife, Annie McKee. By 1922, the family had moved to Gleann Doimhin, Lismore, Co. Waterford. Between 1922 and 1931 Annraoi attended the local…...
Ó Lochlainn, Colm
Ó Lochlainn, Colm (1892–1972), printer, publisher and Gaelic scholar, was born William Gerard O'Loughlin at Drumcondra, Dublin, on 11 October 1892, the second of four surviving children (from six) of John O'Loughlin, publisher, and his wife Delia Bridget (née Carr), whose family were…...
Ó Lúing, Seán
Ó Lúing, Seán (1917–2000), translator and author, was born 16 May 1917 in Ballyferriter, Co. Kerry, youngest among three sons of Séamas Ó Lúing, farmer, and his wife, whose maiden name was Ní Mhainnín. Seán was brought up bilingually and received his earliest education in the local…...