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…...
Bailey, Mary (‘Lady Bailey’) (née Westenra)
Bailey, Mary (‘Lady Bailey’) (née Westenra) (1890–1960), aviator, was born on 1 December 1890 at 30 Grosvenor Square, London, to Derrick (Derry) Warner William Westenra (1853–1921), the fifth Baron Rossmore, and his wife Mittie (née Naylor) (d. 1953), the daughter of a wealthy English…...
Booth, Eva Selina Gore-
Booth, Eva Selina Gore- (1870–1926), poet, mystic, trade unionist and suffragist, was born on 22 May 1870 at Lissadell, Co. Sligo, the second of three daughters (and two sons) of Sir Henry Gore-Booth, 5th baronet and Arctic explorer, and his wife, Georgina (née Hill) of Tickhill castle…...
Carney, Winifred (‘Winnie’)
Carney, Winifred (‘Winnie’) (1887–1943), trade unionist, feminist, and republican, was born Maria Winifred Carney 4 December 1887 at Fisher's Hill, Bangor, Co. Down, youngest child among three sons and three daughters of Alfred Carney, commercial traveller, and Sarah Carney (née Cassidy…...
Conolly, Violet
Conolly, Violet (1899–1988), authority on Soviet Russia and traveller, was born 11 May 1899 at Fernville, Glasnevin, Co. Dublin, the eldest of six children, five daughters and one son, of Thomas Conolly, a master builder, and his wife, Teresa (née McQuaid), of Stormanstown, Co.…...
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…...
Gallagher, Eileen Helen Mary
This is a co-subject for the entry on Gallagher, Redmond. View the original entry....
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…...
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel (1870–1953), author and traveller, was born 3 February 1870 at Cloona House, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim, fourth child among two sons and four daughters of Nicholas William Grimshaw of Belfast, former director of the Ulster Spinning Company turned wine-and-oil merchant…...
Hackett, Rosanna ('Rosie')
Hackett, Rosanna ('Rosie') (1893–1976), trade unionist, was born 25 July 1893 at 14 Prebend Street, off Constitution Hill in the Dublin north city centre, elder of two daughters of John Hackett, described as a labourer at his marriage (October 1891) but working by Rosie's birth as a…...
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn)
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn) (1896–1939), athlete and aviator, was born Sophie Catherine Theresa Mary Peirce-Evans on 17 November 1896 in Knockaderry, Co. Limerick, the only child of Jackie Peirce-Evans and his wife and former…...
Jones, Mary Harris (‘Mother Jones’)
Jones, Mary Harris (‘Mother Jones’) (1837?–1930), union organiser, was (according to baptismal records) born in July 1837 in Cork city; however, the year is disputed. Many details of her life come from The autobiography of Mother Jones (1925; 1974). She emigrated to North…...
Kavanagh, Lady Harriet Margaret
Kavanagh, Lady Harriet Margaret (1800–85), artist, traveller, and antiquarian, was second daughter among three sons and four daughters of Richard Le Poer Trench (qv), later 2nd earl of Clancarty, and Henrietta Margaret Le Poer Trench…...
Kelly, Rosaline
Kelly, Rosaline (1922–2013), union official and media professional, was born on 27 November 1922 to Laurence Kelly, an insurance agent, and Ellen Kelly (née Fogarty) of 2 Sandyford Terrace, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Rosaline attended primary school at St Patrick's and St Philomena's in…...
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main)
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main) (1860–1934), mountaineer, author and photographer, was born 26 June 1860 in Dublin, the only child of Sir St Vincent Bentinck Hawkins-Whitshed, 3rd (and last) baronet of Killincarrick…...
Leeson, Margaret (‘Peg’)
Leeson, Margaret (‘Peg’) (1727–97), prostitute, brothel-keeper, and memoirist, was born Margaret Plunket at Killough, Co. Westmeath, one of eight surviving children of Matthew Plunket, a wealthy farmer, and his wife, whose maiden name was O'Reilly. Most of what is known about Margaret…...
Locke, Mary Anne Theresa
This is a co-subject for the entry on Locke, John. View the original entry....
Longfield, Cynthia Evelyn
Longfield, Cynthia Evelyn (1896–1991), entomologist and traveller, was born 16 August 1896 at 20 Pont St., Belgravia, London, youngest of three daughters of Lt-col. Mountifort John Courtenay Longfield and his wife Alice Elizabeth (née Mason) of Castle Mary, Cloyne, Co. Cork, the…...
MacDonagh, Maire (Mary McDonagh)
MacDonagh, Maire (Mary McDonagh) (1918–97), trade unionist, was born 20 March 1918 in Kilconnell, Co. Galway, the second of three daughters who lived into adulthood of Michael MacDonagh, customs official, and his wife, Caroline, née Keary, both of Co. Galway. She appears to have…...
Mahon, Catherine
Mahon, Catherine (1869–1948), president of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, was born 15 May 1869 in Laccah, north Co. Tipperary, eldest among seven children of James Mahon, labourer, and Winifred Mahon (née O'Meara). She was educated locally and at the Convent of Mercy in…...
Markievicz, Constance Georgine
Markievicz, Constance Georgine (1868–1927), Countess Markievicz, republican and labour activist, was born 4 February 1868 at Buckingham Gate, London, eldest of the three daughters and two sons of Sir Henry Gore-Booth of Lissadell, Co. Sligo, philanthropist and explorer, and Georgina…...
McCormack, Inez Jane Mary (née Murphy)
McCormack, Inez Jane Mary (née Murphy) (1943–2013), human rights activist and trade unionist, was born on 28 September 1943 in Belfast to Francis Cecil Murphy, a printer, and his wife, Margaret Murphy (née Sterritt), a nurse. She had one older brother, Terence (b. 1942). When Inez was…...
McDowell, Kathleen Mary (‘Kay’)
McDowell, Kathleen Mary (‘Kay’) (1897–1975), trade union leader, was born 16 August 1897 at 20 Connaught St., Phibsborough, Dublin, daughter of William McDowell, wine merchant, of that address, and Mary McDowell (née Kirwan). Her father's family, which had roots in the north of…...
Molony, Helena
Molony, Helena (1883–1967), actress, republican, trade unionist, and feminist, was born 15 January 1883 at 8 Coles Lane, off Henry St., Dublin, the younger of one daughter and one son of Michael Moloney, grocer, of that address, and Catherine Moloney (née McGrath). Orphaned at an early…...