Owens, Evelyn
Owens, Evelyn (1931–2010), trade unionist and women's rights advocate, was born on 22 January 1931 at 23 Vernon Gardens, Clontarf, Dublin, the fourth of six children of William Owens, a civil servant of Clontarf, originally from Co. Roscommon, and his wife Ellen (née Monaghan), from…...
Plunkett, Elizabeth Mary Margaret (‘Daisy’) (née Burke)
Plunkett, Elizabeth Mary Margaret (‘Daisy’) (née Burke) (1862–1944), countess of Fingall , socialite and cooperationist, was born at Danesfield, near Moycullen, Co. Galway, eldest among three daughters and one son of George Burke, farmer and magistrate; her two youngest siblings…...
Porter, Margaret Lavinia
Porter, Margaret Lavinia (d. 1881), philanthropist, was eldest daughter among three sons and five daughters of Thomas Lindsey , gentleman, of Hollymount, Co. Mayo, and his wife (m. 1784) Lady Margaret, daughter of Charles Bingham…...
Redmond, Mary
Redmond, Mary (1950–2015), solicitor and founder of the Irish Hospice Foundation, was born on 25 August 1950, third in a family of six girls and a boy, to Dr John Redmond, civil servant, and his wife Mary (Máire) (née Lannin). She described her childhood in the family home on Mount Eden…...
Russell, Mary Baptist (Katherine, Kate)
Russell, Mary Baptist (Katherine, Kate) (1829–98), nun, philanthropist, and educator, was born 18 April 1829 at Seafield, Ballybot, Newry, Co. Down, the third daughter and third child among the six children of Arthur Russell, ship's captain turned brewer, and his wife, Margaret (…...
Ryan, Agnes
This is a co-subject for the entry on Ryan, Mary Kate ('Kit', 'Cáit'). View the original entry....
Simms, Mercy Felicia
Simms, Mercy Felicia (1915–98), social crusader, was born 3 March 1915 in a nursing home at 89 Lower Baggot St., Dublin, only child of Brian James Gwynn (1883–1972) of 48 Hollybrook Road, Clontarf, civil servant employed as assistant secretary in the labour exchange, and his wife…...
Smyly, Ellen
Smyly, Ellen (1814–1901), philanthropist, was born 14 November 1814, third daughter among seven children of Mathew Franks (1768–1853) of Jerpoint, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, and 28 Merrion Square, Dublin, and Mary Franks (née Fergusson; d. 1856). Ellen began her charity work in…...
Snow, Carmel
Snow, Carmel (1887–1961), magazine editor, was born on 27 August 1887 in Dalkey, Co. Dublin, one of six children to Peter White (1850–93), businessman, and his wife Anne (née Mayne), daughter of Thomas Mayne, an MP for the Irish Home Rule Party from 1883–90. Snow’s father was managing…...
Steevens, Grizel
This is a co-subject for the entry on Steevens, Richard. View the original entry....
Stokes, Barbara Maive
Stokes, Barbara Maive (1922–2009), paediatrician and disability campaigner, was born 20 December 1922 in London to Brigadier William Noel Stokes (d. 1969) and his wife Pauline Mary (née Reynolds). As a child she often spent summers in Ireland, and in her teens played in the Irish junior…...
Sugrue, Elizabeth (‘Lady Betty’)
Sugrue, Elizabeth (‘Lady Betty’) (1740/50–1807), executioner, is thought to have been born in Co. Kerry into a tenant farming family between 1740 and 1750. The location of her birth and names of her parents are not known, and available details of her life are largely anecdotal or…...
Sullivan, Lucinda
Sullivan, Lucinda (1831–1881), philanthropist, writer and promoter of children's welfare, was born in 1831, probably in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick, to Captain William Edward Brady , formerly a lieutenant in the 2nd West India Regiment, and subsequently chief constable of police in…...
Tighe, Joan
Tighe, Joan (1922–2014), journalist, editor and historian, was born on 28 June 1922 in Dublin, the second eldest of six children of Robert Tighe and his wife Catherine Angela (née Moloney). Robert Tighe served as a British army lieutenant during the first world war and was later…...
Tonna, Charlotte Elizabeth
Tonna, Charlotte Elizabeth (1790-1846), evangelical journalist and novelist, was born Charlotte Elizabeth Browne on 1 October 1790 in Norwich, England, daughter of Michael Browne, a minor canon of the cathedral, and his wife (probably a Murray). Her maternal grandmother, of Scots…...
Verschoyle, Barbara
Verschoyle, Barbara (1750/53–1837), land agent and philanthropist, was born in Dublin, the sixth of eight daughters of Bryan Fagan (d. 1761), land agent for the Fitzwilliam estate in Dublin and brewer, and Elizabeth Fagan (d. 1788), both of Dublin. Bryan Fagan's brewery was on…...
Walsh, Sr Patricia
Walsh, Sr Patricia (1942–2015), missionary nurse, was born Anna Maria Catherine Walsh on 23 September 1942 in Portlick, Glasson, Co. Westmeath, the eldest of three girls and a boy, to Michael Walsh, a fisherman, and his wife Bridget (née Nolan). Having attended Glasson primary school (…...
White, Henrietta Margaret
White, Henrietta Margaret (1856–1936), principal of Alexandra College, Dublin, horticulturist, and social activist, was eldest child among three daughters and one son of Henry Charles White (1818–1903), of Charleville, Queen's Co. (Laois), JP…...
Whitton, Eleanor Constance
Whitton, Eleanor Constance (1879–1956), campaigner for animal welfare, was born in Co. Longford, the daughter of the Rev. Alexander Beatty, Church of Ireland minister. She appears to have been educated locally. In 1902 she married Henry M. Whitton, registrar of the court of appeal…...
Wilmot, Katherine
Wilmot, Katherine (c.1773–1824), traveller and diarist, was eldest daughter among three sons and six daughters of Edward Wilmot (1747–1815), army captain in the 40th Regiment of Foot, stationed in Cork, and his wife Martha, daughter of the Rev. Charles Moore, rector of…...
Woodlock, Ellen
Woodlock, Ellen (1811–84), philanthropist and social worker, was born 27 January 1811, second daughter among seven sons and four daughters of Martin Mahony (1764–1834) of Cork, woollen manufacturer, and his second wife, Maria (née Reynolds), of Roscreg. The Rev.…...
Young, Mary ('Jenny Diver')
Young, Mary ('Jenny Diver') (c.1704–41), notorious pickpocket and head of a criminal gang, was born c.1704 in the north of Ireland. There are no extant records relating to Young's early life so most accounts rely on the text published by James Guthrie, The…...