Colmán Rímid
Colmán Rímid (‘the counter/computist?’) (d. 604), son of Báetán and overking of the Uí Néill, belonged to the dynasty of Cenél nÉogain. His father Báetán (qv) son of Muirchertach/Mac Ercae (qv…...
Conall Cóel (‘the slender’)
Conall Cremthainne
Conall Cremthainne (d. 480?), an early dynast of Uí Néill and putatively king of Uisnech, was regarded by the pre-Norman genealogists as the common ancestor of Síl nÁedo Sláine and Clann Cholmáin. Conall (also called Conall Err Breg) is included among the fourteen sons credited to…...
Conall Gulban
Conall Gulban (5th cent.?), an early Uí Néill figure, is eponymous ancestor of the dynasty of Cenél Conaill. He is claimed as a son of Niall Noígiallach (qv), along with thirteen alleged brothers including…...
Conchobar
Conchobar (d. 833), son of Donnchad and king of Tara, belonged to the Clann Cholmáin dynasty of the Southern Uí Néill. His father Donnchad Midi (qv) had retained the kingship of Tara till his death (797). His mother was Fuirseach,…...
Conchobar
Conchobar (d. 973), son of Tadc and overking of Connacht, belonged to Síl Muiredaig, a lineage of the Uí Briúin Aí dynasty. His father, known as Tadc in Túir (of the tower), had held the overkingship, but died in 956 leaving a province wracked by internal strife. Supremacy…...
Conefrey, Peter
Conefrey, Peter (1880–1939), catholic priest and social critic, was born 9 June 1880 in Mohill, Co. Leitrim, son of James Conefrey, publican, and his wife Mary McGivney. There were many priests on both sides of the family. His uncle, Fr Thomas Conefrey, parish priest of Drumlish,…...
Congalach Cnogba
Congalach Cnogba (d. 956), son of Máel-mithig and king of Tara, belonged to Síl nÁedo Sláine, a Southern Uí Néill dynasty. His achievement is noteworthy not only in that he was the last of his dynasty to reign as overking of Uí Néill but also because he claimed sway over Leinster…...
Congal Cennfhota
Congal Cennfhota (‘longheaded’) (d. 674), son of Dúnchad and overking of Ulaid, belonged to the dynasty of Dál Fiatach. His father and uncle, Dúnchad and Máel-Cobo, held the overkingship of Ulaid in turn, marking a revival of Dál Fiatach fortunes after the slaying in 637 of…...
Congal Cennmagair
Congal Cennmagair (d. 710), son of Fergus Fánat and king of Tara, belonged to the dynasty of Cenél Conaill. Although his father did not, it seems, achieve political prominence, his grandfather Domnall (qv) (d. 642) son of…...
Congal Cloen (Cáech)
Congal Cloen (Cáech) (d. 637/9), son of Scandal Sciathlethan and overking of Ulaid, belonged to the Síl Fiachnai lineage of the Dál nAraide (Cruthin) dynasty. Although misplaced in the pre-Norman genealogies (he is attached to a parallel line as a son of Scandal son of Bécc), Congal…...
Cooke, Adolphus
Cooke, Adolphus (1792–1876), eccentric, was born in Cookesborough near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, illegitimate son of Robert Cooke, landowner, and an unnamed servant. Adolphus's mother was sent away, and he was raised by a nurse, Mary Kelly, in a two-room thatched cottage, forbidden…...
Cook, Robert
Cook, Robert (1646?–c.1726), eccentric, was the son of Robert Cook of Cappoquin, Co. Waterford. During the reign of James II (qv) he fled to England and lived at Ipswich. In its act of attainder the 1689 Jacobite parliament…...
Coppinger, Richard William
Coppinger, Richard William (1847–1910), naval surgeon, naturalist, and explorer, was born 11 October 1847 in Dublin, youngest among six sons of Joseph William Coppinger, solicitor, of Farmley, Dundrum, Co. Dublin, and Agnes Mary Coppinger (née Cooke), a native of Co. Tipperary. He…...
Coppin, Louisa (Little Weesy)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Coppin, William. View the original entry....
Coppin, William
Coppin, William (1805–95), sailor, shipbuilder, and inventor, was born 9 October 1805 in Kinsale, Co. Cork; no details of his parents are known. From his childhood he displayed a strong affinity to the sea, and at the age of 15 was involved in the rescue of six customs men from a…...
Cormac
Cormac (fl. 6th cent.) of the Uí Liatháin was a pilgrim monk mentioned several times by Adomnán (qv) in his ‘Vita Columbae’. He appears in the genealogies as ‘priest’, son of Dímma, grandson of Commán, and belonging to the tribe of…...
Cormac
Cormac (846–908), son of Cuilennán and king of Cashel (seat of the Éoganacht kings of Munser), was according to the genealogies son of Sealbach, grandson of Dub-dá-chrích, and descendant of Óengus (qv) son of Nad-fraích. He was the chief…...
Coulter, William Alexander
Coulter, William Alexander (1849–1936), painter, was born on 7 March 1849 in Glenariff, Co. Antrim, the son of James Coulter, a coastguard, originally from Co. Down, and his wife Sarah, an Irish-speaker from the glens of Antrim. He grew up in a catholic family along the east Antrim…...
Crean, Thomas (‘Tom’)
Crean, Thomas (‘Tom’) (1877–1938), sailor and Antarctic explorer, was born either on or shortly before 16 February 1877 at Gurtuchrane, near Anascaul, Co. Kerry, one of eight sons and three daughters of Patrick Crean, farmer, and Catherine Crean (née Courtney). (His birth certificate…...
Crimthann Cualann
Crimthann Cualann (d. 633), son of Áed Dibchíne and overking of Leinster, belonged to the dynasty of Uí Máil. His sobriquet associates him with Cualu, the Bray area in north Wicklow. He had at least six brothers, including Toca king of Cualu, and Rónán who was apparently a bishop.…...
Croker, Thomas Crofton
Croker, Thomas Crofton (1798–1854), antiquary and folklorist, was born 15 January 1798 in Buckingham Square, Cork city, the only son of Thomas Croker, major in the army, and his wife Maria, widow of a Mr Fitton; she was daughter and co-heir of Croker Dillon of Baltidaniel, Co. Cork, a…...
Cronin, Elizabeth (‘Bess’)
Cronin, Elizabeth (‘Bess’) (1879–1956), folk singer, was born 30 May 1879, the eldest of the five children of Seán ‘Máistir’ Ó hIarfhlaithe and Maighréad Ní Thuama. Her father was headmaster in the school of Barr d'Ínse in the Fuhirees area of West Cork, near the Cork–Kerry border.…...
Crozier, Francis Rawdon Moira
Crozier, Francis Rawdon Moira (1796–1848), Royal Navy captain and polar explorer, was born in September 1796 in Banbridge, Co. Down, one of thirteen children of George Crozier, attorney-at-law, and his wife Jane Elliot Crozier (née Graham). He joined the RN…...
Cullen, Luke
Cullen, Luke (1793–1859), Carmelite brother and collector of reminiscences of the rebellions of 1798 and 1803, was born at Little Bray in the parish of Cabinteely, Co. Dublin, and spent much of his youth at his grandfather's house at Glenbrien, near Gorey, Co. Wexford. At the age…...