Foley, Daniel (Ó Foghludha, Domhnall)
Foley, Daniel (Ó Foghludha, Domhnall) (1815–74), anglican minister and Irish-language scholar, grew up in a poor Irish-speaking family in Tralee, Co. Kerry. He worked for a time in the shop of Patrick Grey in Tralee. Influenced by a local clergyman, he left the Roman Catholic Church and…...
Forbes, George
Forbes, George (1685–1765), 3rd earl of Granard , diplomat, and admiral, was born 21 October 1685, third but eldest surviving son of Arthur Forbes (qv), 2nd earl, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Sir…...
Fournier d'Albe, Edmund Edward
Fournier d'Albe, Edmund Edward (1868–1933), physicist, inventor, and Celtic enthusiast, was born 25 October 1868 at 46 Hunter Street, Bloomsbury, London, son of Edward Hermann Fournier, student and later engineer, and his wife Ellen Maria (née Beauchamp), who was wealthy and was…...
Fox, Charlotte Olivia (née Milligan)
Fox, Charlotte Olivia (née Milligan) (1864–1916), ethnomusicologist, was born 17 March 1864 in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, the eldest child among five daughters and six sons (two of whom did not reach adulthood) of Seaton Forrest Milligan (1836–1916) of Glencar, Omagh, businessman,…...
Gailey, Robert Alan
Gailey, Robert Alan (1935–2013), folklife scholar and museum director, was born on 4 October 1935 in Galway. Known by his middle name, Alan was the second child of Andrew J. Gailey (d. 1963), a presbyterian minister in Galway, and Mary Gailey (née Porter). He had two sisters. From…...
Gallagher, James (Ó Gallchobhair, Séamus)
Gallagher, James (Ó Gallchobhair, Séamus) (c.1684–1751), catholic bishop and author of published sermons in Irish, was born in the diocese of Kilmore; nothing is known of his parents. He was most likely ordained in Ireland around 1709 before being sent to the Continent to…...
Gibson, William (Mac Giolla Bhríde, Liam)
Gibson, William (Mac Giolla Bhríde, Liam) (1868–1942), 2nd Baron Ashbourne , Irish-language activist, was born 16 December 1868 in Dublin, eldest child of Edward Gibson (qv), 1st Baron Ashbourne, and Frances Maria Adelaide Gibson (née Colles…...
Gógan, Liam Seosamh
Gógan, Liam Seosamh (1891–1979), Irish-language poet, was born 24 October 1891 at 391 North Circular Road, Dublin, son of William J. Gogan, sweet merchant and Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) member, and Ellen Gogan (née Hendrick). He was educated in O'Connell's Christian Brothers'…...
Goodman, James (Séamus Gudman)
Goodman, James (Séamus Gudman) (1828–96), clergyman, Irish-language scholar, and music collector, was born 22 September 1828 at Ballyameen near Dingle, Co. Kerry, second son among five sons and four daughters of Thomas Chute Goodman, clergyman, and Mary Goodman (née Gorham). Brought up…...
Graves, Alfred Perceval
Graves, Alfred Perceval (1846–1931), writer, folklorist, and schools inspector, was born 22 July 1846 at 12 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin, the second son of nine children of Charles Graves (qv), clergyman and mathematician, and Selina…...
Gray, Elizabeth (‘Betsy’)
Gray, Elizabeth (‘Betsy’) (d. 1798), heroine of the 1798 rebellion, may have been the daughter of the widowed farmer Hans Gray (d. 1807) of Six Roads Ends, Gransha, Co. Down. However, as her story quickly lent itself to myth-making, establishing precise facts is not easy. The…...
Greene, David William
Greene, David William (1915–81), Celtic scholar, was born 22 October 1915 in Denmark House, Dublin, son of David Wilson Greene, salesman, and Edith Greene (née Young). After the death of his father from influenza during the first world war and the premature death of his mother, he was…...
Green, William Spotswood
Green, William Spotswood (1847–1919), marine scientist, was born 10 September 1847 in Youghal, Co. Cork, the only son and eldest of six children of Charles Green, JP, merchant of Youghal, and his wife Catherine Frances, daughter of Walter…...
Gregory, (Isabella) Augusta
Gregory, (Isabella) Augusta (1852–1932), Lady Gregory, writer, folklorist and patron of the arts, was born Isabella Augusta Persse at Roxborough House, Co. Galway, on 15 March 1852. She was the ninth of thirteen children (eight boys and five girls) of Dudley Persse and his second wife…...
Gwynn, Edward John
Gwynn, Edward John (1868–1941), Celticist and provost of TCD, was born 1 April 1868 at Aughnagaddy, Ramelton, Co. Donegal, the second son of Rev. John Gwynn (qv), DD, fellow of…...
Haicéad (Hackett), Pádraigín
Haicéad (Hackett), Pádraigín (1610s?–1654), Dominican priest and Gaelic poet, was probably born in the second decade of the seventeenth century, second son of James Hackett FitzPiers and his wife Margaret Kearney, of Baltarsna in the parish of Ballysheehan, Co. Tipperary. ‘Pádraigín’…...
Haliday, William
Haliday, William (1788–1812), Irish–language scholar and linguist, was born at 32 Arran Quay, Dublin, eldest among four sons of Dr William Haliday, apothecary, originally of Carrick–on–Suir, Co. Tipperary. His father encouraged him to pursue law, and on his qualifying as a solicitor his…...
Halpin, George
Halpin, George (1774×1779–1854), civil engineer and lighthouse designer, was probably born in Leinster. Little is known of his life before his appointment (1800) by the ballast board (Dublin's port authority, which replaced the ballast office in 1786) as its engineer or inspector of…...
Halpin, Robert Charles
Halpin, Robert Charles (1836–94), sea captain, was born 16 February 1836 at Wicklow town, the youngest of thirteen children of James Halpin, tavern owner, and his wife, Anne Halpin (née Halbert). Educated locally at Leitrim Place, he left school at the age of eleven, with the…...
Hammond, David Andrew ('Davy')
Hammond, David Andrew ('Davy') (1928–2008), singer, folklorist, television producer and documentary maker, was born on 5 December 1928 in Miss Kells's nursing home on the Castlereagh Road in Belfast, the son of Leslie Hammond, a tram driver, and his wife Annie (née Lamont). His parents…...
Hanger, George
Hanger, George (1751–1824), army officer, author, and eccentric, was born 13 October 1751 in Co. Londonderry, third son of Gabriel Hanger, 1st Lord Coleraine, MP and merchant, and Elizabeth Hanger (née Bond) of Cowbury, Hereford, England. Educated at Reading School and Eton, he…...
Hardebeck, Carl Gilbert
Hardebeck, Carl Gilbert (1869–1945), collector and arranger of traditional songs, teacher of music, and composer, was born 10 December 1869 in Clerkenwell, London, son of Carl Joseph Hardebeck, an expatriate German and a successful jeweller, and Catherine Hardebeck (née Jones), who was…...
Hardy, Philip Dixon
Hardy, Philip Dixon (1794–1875), printer, bookseller, and author, was probably born in Dublin of protestant parents; nothing else is known of his origins. In 1818 a Philip Dixon Hardy was a wine merchant at 20 Great Longford St.; this was probably either the subject or his father.…...
Harte, Francis ('Frank')
Harte, Francis ('Frank') (1933–2005), architect, lecturer, singer, and collector of traditional songs, was born 14 May 1933 in Dublin. His father, Peter Harte (d. 1977), was originally from a farm in Co. Sligo, but moved to Dublin and bought a pub, The Tap, in Chapelizod, then still…...
Hayden, Father Augustine
Hayden, Father Augustine (1870–1954), Capuchin priest, nationalist and Irish language advocate, was born John Hayden in November 1870, to William Hayden and Mary Hayden (née Morrisey) in Gowran, Kilkenny, and grew up in Blarney, Co. Cork, where his father was appointed railway station…...