Coghlan, Joseph
Coghlan, Joseph (d. 1697), lawyer and politician, was probably the youngest son of Francis MacCoghlan, a catholic landowner of Kilcolgan, King's Co. Joseph became a protestant and in 1672 he was a student at TCD. The place of his…...
Cohalan, Daniel Florence
Cohalan, Daniel Florence (1867–1946), judge and Irish-American leader, was born 21 December 1867 in Middletown, New York, eldest of five sons of Timothy E. Cohalan and Ellen Cohalan (née O'Leary), both Irish immigrants. Educated at Manhattan College, Cohalan graduated in 1885, took…...
Cole, John Sydney Richard
Cole, John Sydney Richard (1907–89), lawyer, was born 24 January 1907 in Belfast, the only son of R. L. Cole (qv), methodist minister, and Selina McKell Cole (née Kelly), who died at the time of his birth. He was educated at Cork…...
Colgan, Nathaniel
Colgan, Nathaniel (1851–1919), botanist, marine biologist, and traveller, was born 28 May 1851 in Dublin. The identity of his parents is not known with certainty, though they may have been Nathaniel Watson Colgan and Letitia Phair, who married in Dublin in 1846. Colgan was educated…...
Collins, John Henry
Collins, John Henry (1880–1952), lawyer and politician, was born 3 March 1880 in Newry, Co. Down, elder son of Henry Patrick Collins, auctioneer of Derrybeg, Newry, Co. Down, and Kate Collins, daughter of Frank McDonald, farmer, of Carrickredmond, Dundalk, Co. Louth. The family…...
Collins, Sir Richard Henn
Collins, Sir Richard Henn (1842–1911), barrister and judge, was born 1 January 1842, third son of Stephen Collins (d. 1843), QC, of Merrion Square, Dublin, and his wife Frances, daughter of William Henn, a master-in-chancery. He attended the…...
Comerford, Gerard (Gerald, Garret)
Comerford, Gerard (Gerald, Garret) (d. 1604), attorney and judge, was a younger son of Fowke (Fulke) Comerford of Callan, Co. Kilkenny, and his wife Rosina Rothe. His father was a loyal adherent of Thomas Butler (qv), 10th earl of…...
Comerford, James ('Jim') Joseph
Comerford, James ('Jim') Joseph (1901–88), nationalist, judge and parade organiser, was born on 7 January 1901 in the family home at Coolraheen, Muckalee, Co. Kilkenny, the only child of John Comerford, farmer, of Coolraheen, and his wife Julia (née Kavanagh), schoolteacher, from…...
Commins, Andrew
Commins, Andrew (1832–1916), barrister and politician, was born at Ballybeg, Co. Carlow, the second son of John Commins and his wife, Catherine, daughter of Laurence Fogarty of Drummond. He studied at Carlow College (where he contributed verse to the Carlow Magazine) and at…...
Comyn, George
Comyn, George (d. 1663), lawyer and politician, second son of Edmund Comyn and Gennett Sarsfield, was born into a family that had played a leading role in the civic life of Limerick for over two centuries. George trained as a lawyer, entering Gray's Inn on 11 February 1621, before…...
Comyn, Michael
Comyn, Michael (1871–1952), lawyer and politician, was born 6 June 1871 at Clareville, Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare, the eldest son and the second of seven children of James Comyn of Kilshanny, Co. Clare, a tenant farmer and secretary of the local branch of the Land League, and his wife…...
Comyn, Sir James Peter
Comyn, Sir James Peter (1921–97), leading barrister and high court judge in England, was born 8 March 1921 in Beaufield House, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin, the only son of James Comyn, a barrister and former civil servant from Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare, and his wife Mary Moloney,…...
Condon, Colm (Columba)
Condon, Colm (Columba) (1921–2008), barrister and attorney general, was born 16 July 1921 in Ashbourne, Co. Meath, the only son and third of six children of Thomas Condon, of Cloonand House, Ashbourne, an accountant and revolutionary, and his wife Margaret (née Maguire), a national…...
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,…...
Coningsby, Thomas
Coningsby, Thomas (1657–1729), Baron Coningsby of Clanbrassil and earl of Coningsby , lord justice and officeholder, was born 2 November 1657, only son and heir of Humphrey Coningsby of Hampton Court, Herefordshire, and his wife Lettice Loftus (daughter of Sir Arthur Loftus of…...
Conlon, Gerard (‘Gerry’)
Conlon, Gerard (‘Gerry’) (1954–2014), victim of a miscarriage of justice and human rights campaigner, was born in Cyprus Street in the Lower Falls area of Belfast on 1 March 1954, the only surviving son of…...
Conlon, Sarah (née Maguire)
Conlon, Sarah (née Maguire) (1926–2008), campaigner, was born 20 January 1926 in the Falls Road area of Belfast, the daughter of Vincent Maguire and Mary Catherine Maguire; she had three brothers and three sisters. Sarah's life was dominated by work, family and religion. On leaving…...
Connolly, Patrick Joseph
Connolly, Patrick Joseph (1927–2016), barrister and attorney general of Ireland, was born 25 May 1927 at 70 Botanic Road, Glasnevin, Dublin. He was the elder of two sons born to Patrick Joseph Connolly, principal of Ballyboughal national school, and his wife Ellen (‘Nellie’; née O’Hara…...
Conolly, Thomas James (Tommy)
Conolly, Thomas James (Tommy) (1902–92), lawyer, was born in Dublin on 4 January 1902, the second of six children, five daughters and one son, of Thomas Conolly, master builder, of Fernville, Glasnevin, and his wife, Teresa (née McQuaid), of Stormanstown, Co. Dublin. Educated at…...
Conroy, John Charles (‘Charlie’)
Conroy, John Charles (‘Charlie’) (1906–85), lawyer and judge, was born 14 January 1906 at Garafin, Rosmuc, Co. Galway, the third of the five children of bilingual parents, Patrick D. Conroy, cattle exporter and JP, and Jane A. Conroy (née…...
Coogan, Edward (Eamonn, ‘Ned’)
Coogan, Edward (Eamonn, ‘Ned’) (1896–1948), deputy Garda commissioner, barrister, and politician, was born 30 November 1896 in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, the only son of Timothy Coogan, shopkeeper of Castlecomer, and Bridget Coogan (née Joyce). Educated at Castlecomer national…...
Cook (Cooke), John
Cook (Cooke), John (c.1609–1660), lawyer and regicide, was son of Isaac Cook(e), of Burbage, Leicestershire, England. He is identified conjecturally with ‘John Cook, esquire’ admitted into the King's Inns, Dublin, on 6 November 1634. This would be consistent with what was…...
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…...
Cooke, Thomas Lalor
Cooke, Thomas Lalor (1792–1869), attorney and antiquary, probably born in Borrisoleigh, Co. Tipperary, was fifth among sixteen children of Richard Cooke, Roman catholic distiller and merchant, and Mary Cooke (née Lalor). Cooke was apprenticed to a solicitor in Dublin and entered…...
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…...