Murphy, Edmund
Murphy, Edmund (d. p.1682), priest and informer, was a native of Co. Armagh. Nothing is known of his early life. In 1670, when Oliver Plunkett (qv) took up his duties as archbishop of Armagh, Murphy was parish priest of…...
Murphy, Patrick
Murphy, Patrick (1834–62), ‘world's tallest man’ and fairground performer, was born 15 June 1834 in Killowen, Co. Down, son of James Murphy (d. c.1850), smallholder, and Peggy Murphy (née Cunningham). There was nothing exceptional about his physique as a child. An…...
Nedley, Thomas
Nedley, Thomas (1819–99), surgeon and wit, was born in Dublin; nothing is known of his family background. Educated at Castleknock College, he then went to Scotland to study medicine and was made a licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh (1851). In August 1856 he…...
Nicholson, Asenath
Nicholson, Asenath (1792–1855), traveller and social reformer, was born 24 February 1792, youngest child and only daughter among three children of Michael Hatch (c.1747–1830), farmer, and his wife, Martha (maiden name unknown; 1745–1837), in Chelsea, Vermont, USA. Educated at…...
Norcott, William
Norcott, William (1773?–1820), barrister, satirist, and bon vivant, was eldest son of William Norcott of Charleville, Co. Cork, and Mary Norcott (née Knight). He entered TCD in July 1790, graduating BA…...
Ó Caiside, Tomás Bán
Ó Caiside, Tomás Bán (c.1700–d. p. 1749), renegade Augustinian, rake, and folklore persona, was the son of Eoghan son of Éamann Odhar, and brought up in Leacht an Driseacháin, Co. Roscommon, about halfway between Castlerea and Tulsk. Ó Muraíle suggests…...
O'Connell, Mary
O'Connell, Mary (1778–1836), wife of Daniel O'Connell (qv), was born 25 September 1778 in Tralee, Co. Kerry. Her father Thomas O'Connell, prominent physician and member of the Church of Ireland, was a widower with three children…...
O'Doherty, Rosa
O'Doherty, Rosa (c.1588–1660), refugee and political activist, was born on the Inishowen Peninsula in northern Co. Donegal, daughter of Sir John O'Doherty (d. 1601) and his first wife, a daughter of Shane O'Neill (qv). Rosa…...
O'Donnell, Nuala
O'Donnell, Nuala (c.1575–c.1630), refugee, was born in Tir Conaill, daughter of Hugh O'Donnell (qv) (d. 1600), lord of Tyrconnell and his second wife,…...
O'Shea, William Henry
O'Shea, William Henry (1840–1905), politician and adventurer, was born in Dublin, son of Henry O'Shea (pronounced ‘O'Shee’), a catholic solicitor from an indebted Limerick gentry family, and his wife Catherine, a papal countess and daughter of Edward Craneach Quinlan of Rosana, Co…...
Palmer (Ambrose), Eleanor
Palmer (Ambrose), Eleanor (c.1720–1818), celebrated beauty, was born Eleanor Ambrose , daughter and heiress of Michael Ambrose, a wealthy Roman catholic brewer and merchant, and his wife, the daughter of Richard Archbold, a Dublin brewer; nothing is known of her mother.…...
Phillips, Michael
Phillips, Michael (d. 1796), Franciscan friar and government spy, was probably brought up in north-east Connacht, and in 1795 was described as ‘from French Park’ or from ‘Killfree, near Boyle’, Co. Roscommon. His parents cannot be identified, although it is possible that he was a…...
Quin, Michael Joseph
Quin, Michael Joseph (1796–1843), journalist and travel writer, was born in Co. Tipperary, the son of Morty Quin, a catholic distiller from Thurles. He entered TCD in 1811, but there is no record of his graduation. Called to the bar at…...
Rice, James Louis
Rice, James Louis (1730–p. 1793), soldier and duellist, was son of Thomas Rice, count of the Holy Roman Empire and merchant, of Baile Mhic an Daill, Dingle, Co. Kerry, and Alicia Rice (née Meade). Educated at the Irish College at Louvain, he was initially destined for the…...
Rogers, John Cecil Kelly-
Rogers, John Cecil Kelly- (1905–81), aviation pioneer, was born 8 February 1905 at Raven Lodge, Sandycove, Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire), Co. Dublin, second child of Capt. Theodore Rogers, RN (later of the Dublin–Liverpool passenger service), and Violet…...
Sadleir, John
Sadleir, John (1813–56), banker, politician, speculator, and swindler, was born 17 November 1813 at Shronell House in the parish of Shronell near Tipperary town, fifth of seven children born to Clement William Sadleir, a protestant farmer and middleman, whose earliest known…...
Sheehy, Edmund
Sheehy, Edmund (1733–66), farmer executed for murder, of Lodge (parish of Ardfinnan, Co. Tipperary), was the son of Ellin Fitzpatrick. He was otherwise known as ‘Buck’ Sheehy, a term indicative of semi-gentleman status, as he had an income of £300 or £400 a year, and was a person…...
Smyth, Brendan
Smyth, Brendan (1927–97), catholic priest and paedophile, was born John Gerard Smyth in Nansen Street, off the Falls Road, west Belfast, on 6 June 1927. He was educated at Barracks Street CBS, Belfast. In 1945 he joined the Norbertine…...
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…...
Tullio, Paolo Luigi Mario
Tullio, Paolo Luigi Mario (1949–2015), restaurant owner, writer and food critic, was born on 20 August 1949 in Falkirk, Scotland, the only child of Dionisio Tullio, a restaurant owner and his wife Irene (née Fusco). Although Tullio’s parents were Italian, his mother was raised between…...
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…...
Wyse, Sir Thomas
Wyse, Sir Thomas (1791–1862), traveller, politician, educational reformer, and diplomat, was born 24 December 1791 in Waterford, the first child in the family of three sons and three daughters of Thomas Wyse (d. 1835) and his wife Frances Maria, only daughter and heiress of George…...