Dillon, Cecily
Dillon, Cecily (Cecily of St Francis) (c.1603–1653), co-foundress and first abbess of the Irish Poor Clares in Dublin, Bethlehem and Athlone, both in Co. Westmeath, was probably born at Kellefaghny, Co. Westmeath, the daughter of…...
Dillon, Eleanor Mary
Dillon, Eleanor Mary (c.1601–1629), nun, was born at Killenfaghny, Co. Westmeath, one among five daughters and seven sons of Theobald Dillon (qv) (d. 1624), 1st Viscount Dillon of Costello-Gallen, Co. Mayo, and his wife Eleanor…...
Dowling, Margaret (Sister Mary Dominic)
Dowling, Margaret (Sister Mary Dominic) (1853–1900), Dominican Sister and foundress, was born in Ballyconra, Co. Kilkenny, daughter of Edward and Elizabeth Dowling. Margaret received a rudimentary education locally and emigrated to New York in 1869. On 23 June 1876 she entered the…...
Doyle, Catherine
Doyle, Catherine (1820–1908), nun, was born near Old Kilcullen, Co. Kildare, one of four daughters (and seven children) of John and Mary Doyle. Little is known of her early life or education. In April 1849 she entered St Leo's Convent of Mercy, Carlow, where for the next five…...
Drelincourt, Mary
This is a co-subject for the entry on Drelincourt, Peter. View the original entry....
Ercnait
Ercnait (5th/ 6th cent.?), foundress of Dún dá Én and saint in the Irish tradition, belonged to the Cruithin lineage of Uí Nialláin, located in the vicinity of Armagh in what would later be the overkingdom of Airgialla. She belongs to the first generation of Irish religious…...
Fainche
Fainche (6th cent.), anchoress, abbess of Ros Airthir (Rossory, Co. Fermanagh), and saint in the Irish tradition, most likely belonged to the dynasty of Cenél Lóegaire. Later medieval genealogies (Book of Lecan and Leabhar Breac) name her father as Crimthann son of Guaire –…...
Farrell, Monica
Farrell, Monica (1892–1982), protestant evangelist, was born in Dublin in 1892, one of the younger children in a family of seven. Her mother died when she was seven and she was brought up by an older sister who worked as a seamstress. She reacted to her bereavement and physical ill-…...
Fitzgerald, Elizabeth
Fitzgerald, Elizabeth (d. 1645), countess of Kildare and patroness of the Jesuits in Ireland, was born (date and place unknown) second eldest among six daughters and six sons of Christopher Nugent (qv), 14th…...
Fitzgerald, (Fanny Louisa) Geraldine Penrose-
Fitzgerald, (Fanny Louisa) Geraldine Penrose- (1846–1939), novelist and catholic convert, was born 27 January 1846, youngest daughter of Robert Uniacke Penrose-Fitzgerald and his wife Frances Matilda (née Austen); she had at least three brothers and one sister. The Penrose-…...
Frayne, Mary Clara (Sister Mary Ursula)
Frayne, Mary Clara (Sister Mary Ursula) (1816–85), Sister of Mercy, Australian foundress, and educator, was born 15 October 1816 in 29 Bride's Alley, Dublin, younger daughter among four children of Robert Frayne, cabinet-maker and auctioneer, and Bridget Frayne. She entered the…...
Gaffney, Honoria (Mother Mary Evangelista)
Gaffney, Honoria (Mother Mary Evangelista) (1853–1920), missionary nun, was born 1 May 1853 in the parish of Kilronan, Keadue, Co. Roscommon, the seventh of ten children of Patrick Gaffney, cobbler and smallholder, and his wife Mary (née Quinn). Gaffney's parents farmed eleven acres…...
Gayer, Henrietta
This is a co-subject for the entry on Jones, Valentine. View the original entry....
Gaynor, Anna (‘Sister Mary John’)
Gaynor, Anna (‘Sister Mary John’) (1826–99), Sister of Charity and first superior of Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin, was born 17 March 1826 in Athlone, one of six children (five daughters and one son) of John and Anne Gaynor of Roxborough, Co. Roscommon. One of the…...
Gibbons, Geraldine Henrietta (Mary Scholastica)
Gibbons, Geraldine Henrietta (Mary Scholastica) (c.1817–1901), founder and first superior of the Community of the Good Samaritan, was born in Kinsale, Co. Cork, the daughter of Gerald Gibbons, a landowner, and Mary Gibbons (née Sughrue), niece of the bishop of Ferns. She…...
Glenn, Alice
Glenn, Alice (1921–2011), politician and moral crusader, was born Alicia Duffy on 17 December 1921 in Usher's Quay, Dublin, the eldest of ten children of (Arthur) Leo Duffy, a car mechanic, and his wife Mary (née Joyce), a dressmaker. Descended from generations of Dublin artisans on…...
Gobna(i)t
Gobna(i)t , saint, although best known for her connection with the church of Ballyvourney (Bairnech/ Búirnech), west Co. Cork, was patron of many other churches. These included Kilgobnet (Cill Ghobnait/ Ghobnatan) in the parishes of Clondrohid, Kilshannig, and Magourney in Co. Cork…...
Gogan, Christina (Sr Mary de Lourdes)
Gogan, Christina (Sr Mary de Lourdes) (1908–2000), Medical Missionary of Mary, was born 21 December 1908, second among eight children of John Gogan, licensed vintner and general merchant, Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath, and Bridget Gogan (née Caul). After local primary school she was…...
Hannelly, Dympna
Hannelly, Dympna (1922–2014), missionary nun, was born Eitne Hannelly on 4 December 1922 to Patrick Hannelly and Annie Hannelly (née Egan) of Tarmon, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. Known as ‘Enna’ to her family, she had a twin brother Padraig, two other brothers and two sisters. Padraig…...
Hardiman, Áine
Hardiman, Áine (1926–2013) Dominican nun, community activist and anti-apartheid campaigner, was born Anne Hardiman on 23 April 1926 at 71 Connaught Street, Phibsborough, Dublin, the home of her parents Patrick Hardiman, a railway engine driver, and his wife Christina (née Monahan). The…...
Harrison, Letitia Dunbar- (Crawford, Aileen)
Harrison, Letitia Dunbar- (Crawford, Aileen) (1906–94), librarian and methodist activist, was born Letitia Elizabeth Eileen Dunbar in Dundrum, Co. Dublin, on 4 February 1906, the youngest of at least four children of Arthur Dunbar, a commercial traveller, and his wife Margaret (née…...
Heck, Barbara
Heck, Barbara (1734–1804), methodist, was born in Ballingrane, Co. Limerick, daughter of Sebastian Ruckle (surname later found also as Ruttle ), tenant farmer on the Southwell estate, and his wife Margaret (née Embury). The Ruckles, Emburys, and Hecks were part of a group of…...
Hennessey, Mary
Hennessey, Mary (1797–1875), Sister of Charity and pioneer in primary education, was born 8 February 1797 in Cork city, second daughter of George Hennessey, Cork wine merchant, and his wife Teresa Stacpoole, member of another Cork merchant family. Her father also served as captain…...
Hughes, Angela
Hughes, Angela (1806–66), Sister of Charity, was born Ellen Hughes in Annaloghan, Co. Tyrone, one of seven children (four sons and three daughters) of Patrick Hughes and Margaret Hughes (née McKenna). In 1819, when aged 13, she emigrated with her family to Chambersburg,…...
Íte (M'Íde, Ita, Ida)
Íte (M'Íde, Ita, Ida) (d. 570/77), foundress and first abbess of Killeedy (Co. Limerick) and a saint in the Irish tradition, is traced to a lineage of the Munster Déisi. Her father is named as Cenn-fáelad, and her mother as Necht. Tradition claims that she was first called Derithea, or…...