Harkin, Nora
Harkin, Nora (1910–2012), republican socialist, was born on 15 September 1910 at her parents' farm in Breenagh, near Glenswilly, in the Co. Donegal Gaeltacht. Her father, Michael McGinley (1852–1940), a Fenian, wrote the ballad 'Glenswilly' as he sailed to New Zealand in 1878. Returning…...
Harnett, Dorothy Grace
Harnett, Dorothy Grace (Waring , Dorothy Gainsborough) (1891–1977), fascist and novelist, was born in Woolwich, London, only child of Col. Henry Waring, a Royal Artillery officer from an east Co. Down gentry family, and his wife Florence. Much of her childhood was spent in Malta and…...
Harrison, Sarah Cecilia (‘Celia’)
Harrison, Sarah Cecilia (‘Celia’) (1863–1941), painter and social campaigner, was born 21 June 1863 at Holywood House, near Holywood, Co. Down, third child of Henry Harrison JP (d. 1873), a prosperous landowner, and his second wife, Letitia…...
Haslam, Anna Maria
Haslam, Anna Maria (1829–1922), campaigner for women's rights, was born Anna Fisher at Youghal, Co. Cork, in April 1829, the sixteenth of seventeen children (there were, besides her, eight boys and eight girls) of Abraham Fisher (1783–1871), miller, philanthropist, and insurance…...
Hasler, Marjorie
Hasler, Marjorie (c.1887–1913), suffragist, was born in Ireland; nothing else is known of her early life or origins. In July 1910 she joined the Irish Women's Franchise League (IWFL), which had been founded two years earlier by…...
Hayden, Mary Teresa
Hayden, Mary Teresa (1862–1942), historian and women's rights campaigner, was born 19 May 1862 in Merrion Square, Dublin, only daughter of Thomas Hayden (qv), physician and later vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons, and Mary…...
Hill, Mary
Hill, Mary (1764–1836), marchioness of Downshire , Baroness Sandys of Ombersley in her own right, and noted whig partisan, was born 19 September 1764, daughter and heir of Col. Martin Sandys (d. 26 December 1768), and his wife Mary, daughter and heir of William Trumbull of…...
Hobbs, Margaret Elizabeth (‘Madge’) Davison-
Hobbs, Margaret Elizabeth (‘Madge’) Davison- (1949–91), barrister and civil rights activist, was born 13 June 1949 in Pittsburgh St. in the Shore Road area of north Belfast, eldest daughter of John Davison , plater, and Emily Davison (née Wilson). She was educated at Seaview primary…...
Humphreys, Sighle (Mary Ellen; Sighle Bean Uí Dhonnchadha)
Humphreys, Sighle (Mary Ellen; Sighle Bean Uí Dhonnchadha) (1899–1994), republican activist, was born 26 February 1899 in Limerick city, only daughter of David Humphreys, medical doctor, and his wife, Nell (Mary Ellen; née Rahilly), sister of…...
Ireland, Beatrice de Courcy (‘Betty’, ‘Bet’) (née Haigh)
Ireland, Beatrice de Courcy (‘Betty’, ‘Bet’) (née Haigh) (1911–99), socialist and anti-war activist, was born 25 May 1911 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, youngest of four daughters of Philip Haigh, a Yorkshire-born architect, and Victoria Alice Haigh (née Brunker), a native of…...
Jackson, Elizabeth
Jackson, Elizabeth (c.1740–1781), US patriot and mother of President Andrew Jackson, was born in or near the town of Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim. Her father's name was Hutchinson, but this is all we know for certain of her parents. Some sources claim that his name was Francis…...
Jacob, Rosamond
Jacob, Rosamond (1888–1960), suffragist, republican, and writer, was born 13 October 1888 in Waterford city, third child of Louis Jacob (1841–1907) and Henrietta Jacob (née Harvey; 1849–1919). Louis Jacob worked in his father-in-law's house-agent and stockbroking firm in Waterford. Both…...
Jameson, Anna Brownell
Jameson, Anna Brownell (1794–1860), writer, feminist, and art historian, the eldest of five daughters of the miniature painter Denis Brownell Murphy (qv) and his English wife, was born 19 May 1794 at the family home on College…...
Jeffereyes (Jeffries, Jeffereys), Arabella
Jeffereyes (Jeffries, Jeffereys), Arabella (c.1734–c.1810), landowner and social radical, was born Arabella Fitzgibbon , eldest daughter among three daughters and four sons of John Fitzgibbon and Elinor Fitzgibbon (née Grove); her younger brother was…...
Jones, Mary Latchford (Kingsmill)
Jones, Mary Latchford (Kingsmill) (1877–1968), public representative, was born on 28 June 1877 at 3 Wodehouse Terrace, North Circular Road, Dublin, the daughter of Percival Jones (1839–1906), a Dublin merchant and committed freemason, and Margaret Jones (née Williams) (1846–1920),…...
Keating, May
Keating, May (1895–1965), socialist, feminist and human rights campaigner, was born Mary Josephine Walsh on 6 October 1895, in Eadestown, Rathmore, Co. Kildare, to John Walsh, who farmed 70 acres there (28.3 hectares), and his wife Martha (née Cullen), a national school teacher. Her…...
Kelly, Gertrude Brice
Kelly, Gertrude Brice (1862–1934), surgeon and political activist, was born on 10 February 1862 near Waterford to Jeremiah Kelly and Kate Kelly (née Forrest) who were both teachers, and supporters of the movement for Irish independence. She was one of ten children, including notable…...
Kelly, (Mary Anne) Eva
Kelly, (Mary Anne) Eva (1830–1910), poet and nationalist, known as ‘Eva of the Nation’, was born 15 February 1830 at the home of her maternal grandfather John O'Flaherty in Headford, Co. Galway, one of seven children of Edward Kelly and Mary Kelly (née O'Flaherty) of…...
Laird, Helen (‘Honor Lavelle’)
Laird, Helen (‘Honor Lavelle’) (1874–1957), actress, costumier, teacher, and feminist, was the daughter of John Laird, a protestant pharmacist, and of Marion Laird, née Seymour. She was born in Limerick on 12 April 1874. About 1899 she joined the Gaelic League and Inginidhe na hÉireann…...
Lawlor, Patricia (‘Patsy’)
Lawlor, Patricia (‘Patsy’) (1933–97), politician and ICA president, was born Patricia Broughal , in March 1933 in Kill, Co. Kildare, daughter of a local businessman and his wife. Educated locally and at St Mary's secondary school in Naas, she trained as a nurse. She was deeply…...
Lee, Mary Agnes
Lee, Mary Agnes (1821–1909), suffragist in Australia, was born Mary Agnes Walsh on 14 February 1821 in Co. Monaghan, the daughter of John Walsh; her mother's name is unknown. Raised in Ulster, in 1844 she married George Lee, the organist and choirmaster of Armagh Cathedral; they had…...
Levine, June
Levine, June (1931–2008), feminist, journalist and author, was born Stephanie June Levine in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, on 31 December 1931, eldest child of Charles Solomon ('Solly') Levine, a cabinet maker, the son of Jewish parents who fled from Latvia, and his wife Muriel Ruth (…...
Lonsdale, Kathleen
Lonsdale, Kathleen (1903–71), X-ray crystallographer and pacifist, was born 28 January 1903 in Charlotte House, Newbridge, Co. Kildare, youngest among ten children of Henry Frederick Yardley (d. 1923), an English-born former soldier and postmaster of Newbridge, and his wife Jessie…...
Lynch, Hannah
Lynch, Hannah (1862–1904), journalist, writer, and Land Leaguer, was born in Dublin; though her parents’ names are not known, she was the posthumous child of a Fenian activist. Her mother, also a nationalist, later married the Young Irelander …...
Lynch, Máirín
Lynch, Máirín (1916–2004), taoiseach's wife and confidante, was born 16 August 1916 in Rathgar, Dublin, daughter of Arthur O'Connor , medical student, and his wife Margaret (née Doyle), who came from a small farming background in Meath and appears to have become estranged from her…...