Chatterton, (Henrietta) Georgiana
Chatterton, (Henrietta) Georgiana (1806–76), writer, was born 11 November 1806 at 24 Arlington Street, Piccadilly, London, the only child of the Rev. Lascelles Iremonger , prebendary of Winchester cathedral, and Harriet, sister of Admiral Lord Gambier. Educated primarily by a…...
Chetwood, Anna Maria
Chetwood, Anna Maria (1774–1870), writer, was born on 7 February 1774, a daughter of the Rev. John Chetwood of Glanmire, Co. Cork (1742–1814), and Elizabeth Chetwood (née Hamilton) (d. 1826?), and great-granddaughter of Knightley Chetwood of Woodbrook, Portarlington, a friend of…...
Clarke, Maud Violet
Clarke, Maud Violet (1892–1935), historian, was born 7 May 1892 in Belfast, second child and only daughter of Richard James Clarke, rector of Trinity church, Belfast, and Anne Nugent Clarke (née Jessop), of Mount Jessop, Co. Longford. In 1903 the family moved to Coole Glebe,…...
Clerke, Ellen Mary
Clerke, Ellen Mary (1840–1906), journalist and writer, was born 26 September 1840 in Skibbereen, Co. Cork, elder daughter among three children of John William Clerke (1814–90), manager of the Provincial Bank, and his wife Catherine Mary, sister of lawyer…...
Colum, Mary Catherine (‘Molly’)
Colum, Mary Catherine (‘Molly’) (1887–1957), critic, editor, and teacher, was born 13 June 1887 in Co. Sligo, daughter of Charles Maguire of Derryhawlagh, Killesher parish, Co. Fermanagh, and Maria Maguire (née Gunning). After the death of her parents, she was raised by her…...
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…...
Conroy, Sheila (née Williams)
Conroy, Sheila (née Williams) (1918–2012), trade unionist, social activist and administrator, was born on 22 April 1918 (or 4 April 1917) in Bantry, Co. Cork, only child of Harry and Jane Williams. A Welsh petty officer in the Royal Navy, Harry Williams was stationed at Bantry (1914–…...
Conyngham, Melosina Anne Lenox-
Conyngham, Melosina Anne Lenox- (1941–2011), traveller and writer, was born on 22 February 1941 in Ceylon (latterly, Sri Lanka). Her father, Gerald Hamilton Lenox-Conyngham, a tea planter in Wattegoda, in the south of the island, was descended from an Ulster ascendancy family and…...
Croker, Bithia Mary (‘B. M.’)
Croker, Bithia Mary (‘B. M.’) (née Sheppard ) (c.1849–1920), novelist and short-story writer, was born in Roscommon, the youngest daughter of the Rev. William Sheppard (d. 1856), Church of Ireland clergyman for the parish of Kilgeffin, Co. Roscommon. She was educated in…...
Crookshank, Anne Olivia
Crookshank, Anne Olivia (1927–2016), art historian, was born in Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim, on 3 January 1927, the second of three daughters to Henry Crookshank, a geographical surveyor, and his wife Eileen ‘Kitty’ Crookshank (née Somerville-Large). For the first five years of her life Anne…...
Crottie, Julia M.
Crottie, Julia M. (1853–1930), novelist, was born in Lismore, Co. Waterford. Educated privately by Miss Lizzie Fitzsimon, and by the Presentation nuns in Lismore, she emigrated to America but returned and lived in Ramsey, Isle of Man, for many years. She was a regular contributor…...
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, Maureen Patricia
Daly, Maureen Patricia (1921–2006), journalist and novelist, was born 15 March 1921 in Castlecaulfield, Co. Tyrone, daughter of Joseph Daly (d. 1944), owner of a bicycle shop in Castlecaulfield, and his wife Margaret Mellon (née Kelly), who had been born in Glasgow to an Irish…...
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…...
Deevy, Teresa
Deevy, Teresa (1894–1963), playwright, was born 21 January 1894 at her parents' residence in Passage Road, Waterford, youngest of thirteen children of Edward Deevy, a successful draper, originally from Ballycloyne, Co. Kilkenny, and Mary Deevy (née Feehan), also of Co. Kilkenny. Her…...
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…...
Despard, Charlotte
Despard, Charlotte (1844–1939), suffragist, nationalist, socialist, and writer, was born 15 June 1844 in Ripple Vale, Kent, the third daughter of Captain John Tracey William French RN, a relative of the Frenches of Co. Roscommon, and Margaret French…...
Devlin, Edith Florence Newman
Devlin, Edith Florence Newman (1926–2012), lecturer in English, was born on 21 September 1926, in Swords, Co. Dublin, the youngest among three sons and two daughters of Hugh Gaw and Eva Gaw (née Newman). Her mother was a teacher in a Church of Ireland primary school, and her father, who…...
Dillon, Eilís
Dillon, Eilís (1920–94), writer, was born 7 March 1920 in Galway city, third among five children of Thomas Dillon (qv), professor of chemistry at University College Galway (UCG), and his wife Geraldine (1891–1986), daughter of…...
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…...
Dirrane, Bridget (née Gillan)
Dirrane, Bridget (née Gillan) (1894–2003), nurse, centenarian and memoirist, was born 15 November 1894 in Oatquarter in the townland of Kilmurvey on Inishmore, one of the Aran islands, Co. Galway, the youngest of four boys and four girls born to Joseph Gillan, who wove flannel cloth…...
Donnellan, Anne
Donnellan, Anne (c.1700–62), literary critic, and promoter of literature, learning, and the arts, was the daughter of Nehemiah Donnellan (qv), MP and chief baron of the Irish exchequer (c.1702–05), by his…...
Downing, Ellen Mary Patrick
Downing, Ellen Mary Patrick (1828–69), poet, was born 19 March 1828 in Cork, the daughter of J. B. Downing, resident medical officer at the Cork Fever Hospital, where her mother served as matron. After making her first communion in St Patrick's church, Cork, she added Patrick to…...
Drew, Catherine
Drew, Catherine (1832–1910), journalist and writer, was born 27 May 1832 in Broughshane, Co. Antrim, the third of eight daughters of the Rev. Thomas Drew (qv), DD, curate of the joint parish of St Patricks, Skerry and Racavan in Broughshane (…...