Rowan, Anne Margaret
Rowan, Anne Margaret (1832–1913), novelist, historian, and political activist, was born 21 November 1832 in Tralee, Co. Kerry, to Arthur Blennerhasset Rowan (qv), Church of Ireland clergyman and antiquarian, and his wife…...
Ryves, Elizabeth
Ryves, Elizabeth (1749–97), author, journalist, and translator, was born in Ireland, eldest of three daughters. Her father was probably Robert Ryves who had been a lieutenant in the 31st Regiment of Foot in 1740; no details of her mother are known. The family claimed to be related…...
Sadlier, Mary Anne
Sadlier, Mary Anne (1820–1903), novelist, was born 31 December 1820 in Cootehill, Co. Cavan, daughter of Francis Madden , a successful merchant who educated his daughter at home after the early death of his wife (name unknown). Mary evidenced writing talents at a young age and in 1839…...
Salkeld, Blanaid
Salkeld, Blanaid (1880–1958), poet and actor, was born Florence ffrench-Mullen on 10 August 1880 in India, daughter of Lt Colonel Jarlath ffrench-Mullen and Anna Maria (Mina) Byrne. Her father was in the Bengal medical service and brother to St Laurence ffrench-Mullen (father of…...
Shackleton, Lydia
Shackleton, Lydia (1828–1914), botanical artist, teacher, and poet, was born 22 November 1828, at Griesemount, Ballitore, Co. Kildare, the third eldest of thirteen children of George Shackleton, a miller, and Hannah Shackleton (née Fisher). Her forebear…...
Shaw (Shaw-Graetz), Elizabeth
Shaw (Shaw-Graetz), Elizabeth (1920–92), artist and children's author, was born 4 May 1920 in the manager's residence above the Ulster Bank in York Street, Belfast, the second of two daughters (there were also two sons) of George William Shaw, bank manager, originally from Co.…...
Sheridan, Frances (née Chamberlaine)
Sheridan, Frances (née Chamberlaine) (1724–66), writer, was born in Dublin, the youngest child among three sons and two daughters of Philip Chamberlaine , a Church of Ireland clergyman who was rector of St Nicholas Without, and Anastasia Chamberlaine (née Whyte), his English-born…...
Shorter, Dora Sigerson
Shorter, Dora Sigerson (1866–1918), writer, was born in Dublin, elder daughter among two daughters and two sons of Dr George Sigerson (qv), physician, scientist, and Gaelic scholar and poet, a catholic from Co. Tyrone, and Hester…...
Skrine, Agnes (‘Nesta’) Shakespeare (‘Moira O'Neill’)
Skrine, Agnes (‘Nesta’) Shakespeare (‘Moira O'Neill’) (c.1865–1955), author, was youngest among three daughters of Charles Henry Higginson (1824–94) of Springmount, Co. Antrim, colonial administrator in Mauritius, and his wife and cousin Mary, daughter of Sir James MacAuley…...
Smith, Elizabeth
Smith, Elizabeth (1797–1885), diarist, was born 7 May 1797 in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, eldest child of Sir John Peter Grant, baronet, barrister, and laird of Rothiemurchus, Perthshire, and Jane Grant (née Ironside); two brothers and two sisters survived to adulthood. Her father's…...
Smithson, Annie M(ary) P(atricia)
Smithson, Annie M(ary) P(atricia) (1873–1948), author, nurse, republican, and trade unionist, was born Margaret Anne Jane Smithson 26 September 1873 at 22 Claremont Rd, Sandymount, Dublin, daughter of Samuel Raynor Smithson, a protestant, unionist barrister, and Margaret Louisa…...
Somerville, Edith Anna Œnone
Somerville, Edith Anna Œnone (1858–1949), and Martin, Violet Florence (‘Martin Ross’) (1862–1915), writers, were, through their mothers, descended from Charles Kendal Bushe (qv), lord chief justice of Ireland. Owing to their…...
Stoker, Florence
Stoker, Florence (1858–1937), literary executor and wife of Bram Stoker (qv), was born Florence Anne Lemon Balcombe on 17 July 1858 in Falmouth, Cornwall. She was one of seven children (five girls, two boys) of James Balcombe of…...
Strong, Eithne (née O'Connell)
Strong, Eithne (née O'Connell) (1923–99), writer, was born 28 February 1923 in Glensharrold, Co. Limerick. One of five children, though her parents were teachers she was brought up on a farm and educated locally through Irish. She briefly attended …...
Sullivan, Lucinda
Sullivan, Lucinda (1831–1881), philanthropist, writer and promoter of children's welfare, was born in 1831, probably in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick, to Captain William Edward Brady , formerly a lieutenant in the 2nd West India Regiment, and subsequently chief constable of police in…...
Swift, Carolyn
Swift, Carolyn (1923–2002), writer, broadcaster, journalist, critic, actress, and theatre owner, was born Carol Samuel on 21 September 1923 in London, elder of two children of Capt. Cecil Samuel, businessman, and Enid Samuel (née Van den Bergh), both of Grosvenor Square, London W1.…...
Tautphoeus, Jemima Montgomery von
Tautphoeus, Jemima Montgomery von (1807–93), Baroness, novelist, was born 23 October 1807 in Seaview, Co. Donegal, daughter of James Montgomery , landowner and brother of Sir Henry Conyngham Montgomery (d. 1830), and Jemima Montgomery (née Glasgow). Nothing is known of her life before…...
Thomas, Caitlin
This is a co-subject for the entry on Devas, Nicolette. View the original entry....
Thurston, Katherine Cecil
Thurston, Katherine Cecil (1875–1911), novelist, was born 18 April 1875 in Wood's Gift, Co. Cork, daughter of Paul Madden , chairman of the Munster and Leinster Bank and twice nationalist lord mayor of Cork, and Catherine Madden (née Barry). Educated privately, she enjoyed horse-riding…...
Tighe, Mary
Tighe, Mary (1772–1810), poet, was born 9 October 1772 in Dublin, the second child after John (1771–1817) of the Rev. William Blachford (1730–73) and Theodosia Blachford (qv) (née Tighe) (1744–1817), married in 1770. A wealthy landowner…...
Toksvig, Signe
This is a co-subject for the entry on Hackett, Francis. View the original entry....
Tonna, Charlotte Elizabeth
Tonna, Charlotte Elizabeth (1790-1846), evangelical journalist and novelist, was born Charlotte Elizabeth Browne on 1 October 1790 in Norwich, England, daughter of Michael Browne, a minor canon of the cathedral, and his wife (probably a Murray). Her maternal grandmother, of Scots…...
Tracy, Honor Lilbush Wingfield
Tracy, Honor Lilbush Wingfield (1913–89), author, was born 19 October 1913 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Educated privately in London and in Dresden, Germany, she spent two years at the Sorbonne. She worked before the second world war as a journalist for Picture Post,…...
Trench, Melesina Chenevix
Trench, Melesina Chenevix (1768–1826), writer, was born 22 March 1768 in Dublin, the only child of the Rev. Philip Chenevix , vicar (1768–71) of Kilmeadan, Co. Waterford, and chancellor (1769–71) of the diocese of Waterford, and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, daughter of Archdeacon…...
Troy, Una ('Elizabeth Connor')
Troy, Una ('Elizabeth Connor') (1910–93), writer, was born on 21 May 1910 in Fermoy, Co. Cork, the eldest of three daughters of John (Seán) Troy (1881–1972), solicitor, and his wife Bridget Agnes (née Hayes). John Troy was an Irish Irelander, GAA member, republican activist, and son of…...