Devine, William
Devine, William (1887–1959), priest and military chaplain, was born 5 October 1887 at Castlederg, Co. Tyrone, son of George Devine, draper, and Catherine Devine (née McGlinchy). Educated at St Columb's College, Derry, and St Patrick's College, Maynooth, he was ordained for the diocese…...
Dillon, Arthur
Dillon, Arthur (1670–1733), Jacobite general in the French service, was born in Co. Roscommon, the third son of Theobald Dillon (qv), 7th Viscount Dillon of Loughglinn, Co. Roscommon, and lieutenant-colonel in the army of…...
Dillon, Comte Theobald
Dillon, Comte Theobald (1745–92), general in French service, was born in Dublin, son of Thomas Dillon, banker, and Marie Dillon, daughter of Edward Hussey of Donore, Co. Kildare. His father took the family to France in 1746 and, as a distant relative of the 7th Viscount…...
Dillon, Sir James
Dillon, Sir James (c.1600–c.1667), army officer, was the eighth son of Theobald, 1st Viscount Dillon (qv) of Costello-Gallen (d. 1624/5) and Eleanor (d. 1638), the daughter of Sir Edward Tuite of Tuitestown…...
Dillon, Theobald
Dillon, Theobald (d. 1691), 7th Viscount Dillon , Jacobite officer, was born at Lough Glynn, Co. Roscommon, eldest son of Capt. Robert Dillon and his wife Rose, one of the Dillon family of Streamstown, Co. Galway. In 1682 he succeeded as 7th Viscount Dillon on the death without…...
Dillon, Thomas
Dillon, Thomas (1615–1673/4), 4th Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen, army officer, was born in March 1615, second son of Sir Christopher Dillon of Ballylagham, Co. Mayo, lord president of Connacht, and Lady Jane, eldest daughter of James Dillon, 1st earl of Roscommon. He was a…...
Dolan, Joseph Francis Robert ('Joe')
Dolan, Joseph Francis Robert ('Joe') (1939–2007), pop singer, was born 16 October 1939 in the county hospital, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, youngest of eight surviving children (five boys and three girls; another boy had died in early childhood) of Patrick Dolan (c.1890–1950) and…...
Donaldson, Denis Martin
Donaldson, Denis Martin (1950–2006), republican and informer, was born in Seaforde Street, Belfast; he had at least three brothers and one sister. Educated at St Malachy's grammar school in north Belfast, he grew up in the Short Strand, a small catholic enclave in (overwhelmingly…...
Dongan (D'Unguent), Thomas
Dongan (D'Unguent), Thomas (1634–1715), 2nd earl of Limerick , soldier and first governor of New York, was third son of Sir John Dongan, baronet, of Castletown Kildrought (Celbridge), Co. Kildare, and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir William Talbot, baronet, of Carton, and niece of…...
Dongan, William
Dongan, William (1630–98), Viscount Dongan of Clane and 1st earl of Limerick , soldier and Jacobite governor of Munster, was second son of Sir John Dongan, 2nd baronet, of Castletown, Co. Kildare, and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir William Talbot, 1st baronet, of Carton. His elder…...
Donnelly, Nicholas
Donnelly, Nicholas (1837–1920), catholic bishop, church musician, and local historian, was born 23 November 1837, in St Paul's parish, Dublin, eldest son of John Donnelly, a merchant. He was educated at Castleknock College and the Irish College, Rome, where he was ordained priest…...
Doonican, Val
Doonican, Val (1927–2015), singer and musician, was born Michael Valentine Doonican on 3 February 1927 at 10 Passage Road in Waterford, the youngest of eight children (four boys and four girls) of John Doonican, a metal worker, and his wife Agnes (née Kavanagh). To distinguish him from…...
Doyle, Jack
Doyle, Jack (1913–78), boxer, actor, singer and playboy, was born Joseph Alphonsus Doyle, 31 August 1913 at 12 Queen Street, Queenstown, Co. Cork, eldest son among four sons and two daughters of Michael Doyle, sailor, of Queenstown, and Anastasia Doyle. His schooling, at St Joseph's…...
Doyle, William Joseph Gabriel
Doyle, William Joseph Gabriel (1873–1917), Jesuit priest and military chaplain, was born 3 March 1873 at Melrose, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, youngest child of Hugh Doyle, registrar of the insolvency court, and Christine Doyle (née Byrne). He was educated by the Rosminian Fathers at…...
Drew, Ronnie (Joseph Ronald Augustine)
Drew, Ronnie (Joseph Ronald Augustine) (1934–2008), folk singer, was born 16 September 1934 in 'Beaufort', Glasthule (Sandycove), Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, eldest of three sons and two daughters of Patrick ('Paddy') Drew, carpenter, and Margaret ('Peg') Drew (née Maher), a seamstress…...
Duckett, William
Duckett, William (1768–1841), French agent, was born at Killarney, Co. Kerry, in 1768. Nothing is known of his family other than that he had a brother, Sidney, who in the 1790s lived in Paris and Hamburg. Duckett went to France and may already have been there before 1784, in which…...
Duggan, Thomas Francis ('Tom')
Duggan, Thomas Francis ('Tom') (1890–1961), priest and military chaplain, was born 7 May 1890 in the Half Way, a small village in the parish of Ballinhassig, Co. Cork, the eldest of four surviving children (three boys and a girl) of Thomas Duggan (d. 1909) and his wife Hannah (née…...
Dunphy, Sean
Dunphy, Sean (1937–2011), showband and cabaret singer, was born John Michael Dunphy on 30 November 1937 in the family home at 17 London Bridge Road, Irishtown, Dublin, son of Patrick Dunphy, a plasterer, and Mary Dunphy (née Farrell). Following his father into a building trade, he…...
Esmond, Sir Thomas
Esmond, Sir Thomas (d. 1674), soldier and confederate, was the only son of Lawrence, Lord Esmond (qv) (d. 1646), of Limerick, Co. Wexford, and Margaret, daughter of Murrough O'Flaherty of Connacht. His parents separated over…...
Fahy, Francis Arthur
Fahy, Francis Arthur (1854–1935), songwriter and Irish-language activist, was born 27 September 1854 at Kinvara, Co. Galway, one of eight children of Thomas Fahy, shopkeeper, of Co. Clare, and Celia Fahy (née Marlborough) of Gort, Co. Galway. Educated at Kinvara national school, he…...
Feehan, Matthew (‘Matt’)
Feehan, Matthew (‘Matt’) (1913–90), soldier and newspaper editor, was born 11 November 1913 at 4 Great Denmark St., north-east of Rutland (later Parnell) Square, Dublin, youngest son of Matthew Feehan, grocer, and Aileen Feehan (née Boland), of Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. He was educated at…...
Feeney, John (‘Jack’)
Feeney, John (‘Jack’) (1903–67), singer, was born 9 August 1903 in Swinford, Co. Mayo, fourth of seven surviving children (five sons and two daughters) of Patrick Feeney (1865–1914/15), grocer, originally from Co. Leitrim, and Mary Feeney (née Kelly) (1875–1925), a daughter of the…...
Fenton, Tony
Fenton, Tony (Anthony Fagan, ‘the Dude’) (1961–2015), music broadcaster and disc jockey (DJ), was born Anthony James Fagan in Donnycarney, Co. Dublin, on 25 March 1961, the second of four sons and one daughter to Brendan Fagan, a carpenter with his own business, and his…...
Finucane, Brendan Eamonn (‘Paddy’)
Finucane, Brendan Eamonn (‘Paddy’) (1920–42), airman, was born 16 October 1920 at 13 Rathmines Road, Dublin, eldest among three sons and two daughters of Thomas Andrew Finucane, businessman, and Florence Louise Finucane (née Robinson) of Leicester, England. He was educated in…...
Fitzgerald, Maurice
Fitzgerald, Maurice (1590–1649), catholic landowner and soldier, was eldest son of Gerald fitz Philip Fitzgerald and his second wife, Joan Walsh of Shanganagh, Dublin. Born into a junior branch of the family of the earls of Kildare, he held an estate of 5,000 acres in the parish…...