Brenan, John
Brenan, John (1768–1830), physician and satirist, was born March 1768, eldest of six children of a minor landed catholic family from Ballaghide, Co. Carlow. The details of his early life are unknown. In 1793 he wrote epigrams and short verse for Dublin magazines. Claiming to have…...
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,…...
Conway, Arthur William
Conway, Arthur William (1875–1950), academic and president of UCD, was born 2 October 1875 in Main St., Wexford town, the only son of Myles and Teresa Conway (née Harris). He had one sister. His father died, aged 34, when Arthur was only two, and his mother married again, to a…...
Flannery, Austin
Flannery, Austin (1925–2008), priest, scholar, editor, journalist and social justice campaigner, was born William ('Liam') Flannery on 10 January 1925 at Rear Cross, Co. Tipperary, the eldest of seven children of William K. Flannery and his wife Margaret Flannery (née Butler),…...
Gallagher, Michael Paul
Gallagher, Michael Paul (1939–2015), Jesuit theologian, writer and lecturer, was born 26 August 1939 at 15 Hatch Street, Dublin, the only child of Andrew Gallagher and his wife Christine (née O’Brien), both doctors. He grew up in Collooney, Co. Sligo, and attended Camphill National…...
Hodnett, George Desmond ('Hoddy')
Hodnett, George Desmond ('Hoddy') (1918–90), musician, journalist and bohemian, was born 25 February 1918 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, son of George Pope Hodnett (1890–1982), soldier, and Lauré Hodnett (née Faschnacht), a native of Switzerland; he had at least one sibling, a brother…...
Kennedy, Kieran
Kennedy, Kieran (1935–2013), economist, was born on 14 July 1935 in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, the fourth of five sons of Patrick Kennedy, a garda, and his wife Margaret (née Callahan). As his father was transferred frequently, Kieran spent much of his early life alone with his grandmother…...
Ó Buachalla, Breandán
Ó Buachalla, Breandán (1936–2010), scholar and critic, was born in Cork city on 15 January 1936, the fourth of the seven children of Joseph and Bridget Buckley (née de Courcy). He attended St Nessan's Christian Brothers' School, O'Sullivan's Quay, and later studied at University College…...
O'Connor, Jerome Murphy-
O’Connor, Jerome Murphy- (1935–2013), priest and biblical scholar, was born James Murphy-O’Connor in Cork city on 10 April 1935, the eldest son of Kerry Murphy-O’Connor, a wine merchant, and his wife Mary (née McCrohan). He had a sister and two brothers. His was a clerical family: two…...
O'Donnell, Charles James O'Cahan
O'Donnell, Charles James O'Cahan (1850–1934), civil servant, politician, and controversialist, was probably born 28 May 1850 at Port Louis, Mauritius, youngest son of Capt. Bernard MacDonald of the Northumberland Fusiliers, from Carndonagh, Co. Donegal, and Mary MacDonald (née…...
Smith, Louis Patrick Frederick
Smith, Louis Patrick Frederick (1923–2012), agricultural economist and academic, was born on 21 December 1923 in Kevit Castle in Crossdoney, Co. Cavan, the youngest of eight children of Dr Frederick Paul Smith, a farmer and ophthalmologist of Kevit Castle, and his wife Isabella (née…...