Hudson, Henry
Hudson, Henry (1798–1889), collector of traditional music, was born 23 March 1798, probably in Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, third son of Edward Hudson and Frances Hudson (née Barton). Family tradition states that he was given the middle name ‘Philerin’ (‘love of Ireland’), which suggests…...
Hughes, Anthony George ('Tony')
Hughes, Anthony George ('Tony') (1928–2007), musician and university professor, was born 6 July 1928, in south Dublin, the son of George Hughes, an optical technician, and his wife Lilian (née Jones); he had three younger sisters. Brought up in Donore Road, off the South Circular…...
Hughes, Herbert
Hughes, Herbert (1882–1937), musician, critic, and folksong arranger, was born 16 March 1882 at 23 Vicinage Park, Belfast, son of Frederick Patrick Hughes, commercial traveller (later senior partner in Hughes, Dickson & Co, flour millers), and Mary Hughes (née McClean). Both…...
Hynes, (Oliver) Jerome (Morley)
Hynes, (Oliver) Jerome (Morley) (1959–2005), theatre and festival manager, and arts administrator, was born 30 September 1959 at St John of God nursing home, Ballymote, Co. Sligo, one of two sons and two daughters of Oliver P. Hynes (c.1920–2004), vocational teacher, and his…...
Ireland (Hutcheson), Francis
Ireland (Hutcheson), Francis (1721–84), composer, was born in Dublin 13 August 1721, the son of Francis Hutcheson (d. 1746), a presbyterian minister who ran a private school in Dublin between about 1716 and 1730 before serving as professor of moral philosophy at Glasgow University (1730…...
Johnstone, John Henry
Johnstone, John Henry (1749–1828), actor and singer, was born 1 August 1749 in Co. Kilkenny, son of a quartermaster in an Irish regiment of horse; there are few details about the rest of his family. His father died when he was a child and he was supported by his mother, who sold…...
Johnston, James
Johnston, James (1903–91), tenor, was born 13 August 1903 at 74 York Road, Belfast, where his father owned a butcher's shop. He was the third child and the first son among seven children of Thomas Johnston and his wife Margaret (née Chapman). The children all attended Duncairn…...
Joyce, Margaret Alice (‘Poppie’; Sister Mary Gertrude)
Joyce, Margaret Alice (‘Poppie’; Sister Mary Gertrude) (1884–1964), Sister of Mercy and musician, was born 18 January 1884 at 41 Brighton Square West, Rathgar, Dublin, second eldest of ten surviving children (four sons and six daughters) of…...
Joyce, Myles
Joyce, Myles (1837?–1882), victim of a miscarriage of justice, was the second of three sons of Shaun Joyce of Cappanacreha, Co. Galway, a desolate and isolated townland in the parish of Ross in the Joyce Country bordering Co. Mayo. Myles Joyce, a small farmer at Cappanacreha, who…...
Joyce, Patrick Weston
Joyce, Patrick Weston (1827–1914), educationalist, historian, linguist, translator and collector of folk music, was born in Ballyorgan, Co. Limerick, one of the eight sons of Garrett Joyce, a shoemaker known locally as ‘Garrett the Scholar’ for his knowledge of poetry and religion, and…...
Karl, Tom
Karl, Tom (1846–1916), tenor, was born Thomas Carroll on 19 January 1846 in Dublin. He studied in England under Henry Phillips and, on the recommendation of the great English tenor Sims Reeves, went to Italy (1868), where he studied under Sangiovanni and Trivulzi. It was as ‘Tom…...
Keane, Rita
Keane, Rita (1923–2009), traditional singer and musician, was born on 31 December 1923 in the townland of Carragh, Caherlistrane, Co. Galway, one of eight children (four daughters and four sons) of Matt Keane and his wife May (née Costello; d. 1978), who were farmers. Rita attended…...
Kearney, Peadar
Kearney, Peadar (1883–1942), revolutionary and song-writer, was born 12 December 1883 in Dorset St., Dublin, eldest of three sons and three daughters of John Kearney, grocer and businessman, and Katie Kearney (née McGuinness). Christened Peter Paul Kearney, he was educated at the…...
Kelehan, John William ('Noel')
Kelehan, John William ('Noel') (1935–2012), musician, conductor, composer and arranger, was born on 26 December 1935 in the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin, son of Patrick Kelehan, a railway fireman and engine driver, of 6 Great Western Avenue, Phibsborough, Dublin,…...
Kelly, John
Kelly, John (1912–89), fiddle and concertina player, was one of eight children born to Michael Kelly and Elizabeth Kelly (née Keane) of Rehy, Carrigaholt, in the parish of Kilballyowen on the Loop Head peninsula in west Clare. He began to play the concertina at the age of seven,…...
Kelly, Luke
Kelly, Luke (1940–84), folk singer, was born 17 November 1940 in Lattimore Cottages, Sheriff Street, Dublin, second child (and second son) among four sons and two daughters of Luke Kelly (1904–67), a factory worker with Jacob's biscuit manufacturers, and Julia Kelly (née Fleming). In…...
Kelly, Margaret ('Miss Bluebell')
Kelly, Margaret ('Miss Bluebell') (1910–2004), show dancer, choreographer, and impresario, was born 24 June 1910 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, daughter (according to the birth certificate) of James Kelly, a tram conductor, of 14 Marlborough Street, and Margaret Kelly (née Ryan…...
Kelly, Michael
Kelly, Michael (1762–1826), actor, singer, and composer, was born 25 December 1762 in Dublin, eldest of the fourteen children of Thomas Kelly, wine merchant and deputy master of ceremonies at Dublin castle, and his wife, formerly a Miss McCabe, from Co. Westmeath. Displaying an…...
Kelly, Thomas Christopher (‘T. C.’)
Kelly, Thomas Christopher (‘T. C.’) (1917–85), composer and music teacher, was born in December 1917 in Wexford town, the fifth of six children of James Kelly, baker, and Margaret Kelly (née Redmond). His schooling took place at the local …...
Kennedy, Frank (‘Frankie’)
Kennedy, Frank (‘Frankie’) (1955–94), flute player, was born 30 September 1955 into the family of three girls and two boys of Bill and Agnes Kennedy, of Andersonstown, Belfast. He became interested in traditional music when he was around eighteen and was influenced initially by groups…...
Kennedy, James (‘Jimmy’)
Kennedy, James (‘Jimmy’) (1902–84), songwriter, was born 20 July 1902 in Pretoria Terrace, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, one among two sons and two daughters of Joseph Hamilton Kennedy, RIC sergeant, and his wife Annie, née Baskin. The family…...
Kennedy, William
Kennedy, William (1768–1834), uilleann piper and pipemaker, was born near Banbridge, Co. Down. He was blind from the age of four because of smallpox. When he was thirteen he was sent to learn the fiddle and was taught by the Armagh fiddle player and piper John Moorehead. While there…...
Keogh, Doris (neé Cleary)
Keogh, Doris (neé Cleary) (1922–2012), flautist and teacher, was born on 16 April 1922 on Leeson Street, Dublin, the daughter of Victor-Louis Cleary, an insurance agent and sometime professional flute player of Rathgar, Dublin, and his wife Mary Elizabeth (née Hughes), who also had a…...
Kirwan, William Bourke
Kirwan, William Bourke (c.1814–1880?), convicted murderer, was born in Dublin the son of Patrick Kirwan, picture dealer, originally from Co. Fermanagh, and his wife. He studied art with Richard Downes Bowyer and became a skilled miniature painter. Between 1836 and 1846 he…...
Kyteler (Kettle, Keyetler), Dame Alice
Kyteler (Kettle, Keyetler), Dame Alice (fl. 1324), accused of witchcraft and sorcery, was probably from a Kilkenny family, though nothing is known of her life prior to marriage. The Kytelers were a family of Flemish merchants who came to Ireland some time in the mid to late…...