Anderson, Lily
Anderson, Lily (1922–82), social campaigner and communist, joined the Communist Party in 1942 and served for many years on its subcommittees for social services, education, and women. She was best known as a campaigner for better nursery facilities in Belfast during the 1960s. Her…...
Asgill, John
Asgill, John (1659–1738), eccentric writer and politician, was born at Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, England, and baptised on 25 March 1659, son of Edward and Hester Asgill. Little is known of his early life, but in 1686 he became a student of the Middle Temple and was called to…...
Barrett, John (‘Jacky’)
Barrett, John (‘Jacky’) (1753–1821), eccentric scholar, was born in Ballyroan, Queen's Co. (Laois), son of the Rev. Daniel Barrett, Church of Ireland clergyman, and his wife Rossamund Gofton. Educated by a Mr Sheils in Dublin, he entered TCD…...
Barrett, Rosa (Mary)
Barrett, Rosa (Mary) (1854–1936) philanthropist, child-care worker, and suffragist, was born 15 January 1854 in Royston, Hertfordshire, England, daughter of the Rev. W. G. Barrett and Martha Barrett (née Fletcher). From the 1860s she was resident with her family in Dublin. Her…...
Bates, Daisy May
Bates, Daisy May (1859–1951), welfare worker for Aborigines, anthropologist, and eccentric, was born 21 October 1859 in Roscrea, Co. Tipperay, third among six children of James Dwyer , catholic tradesman and blacksmith, and Bridget Dwyer (née Hunt). Her twin brother, Francis, died…...
Bermingham, William (‘Willie’) Patrick
Bermingham, William (‘Willie’) Patrick (1942–90), founder of ALONE, was born 29 March 1942 in Inchicore, Dublin, third among seven children of William Bermingham, bellman on a fuel cart, and Mary Bermingham (née Dalgarno). He was educated at St Michael's School, Inchicore, and…...
Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen
Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen (1840–1922), eccentric, traveller, and poet, was born 17 August 1840 at Petworth House, Sussex, second son of Francis Scawen Blunt of Crabbet House, Sussex, who was a grenadier guard, and his wife Mary Chandler of Surrey, daughter of a Church of England…...
Bolton, Mary
Bolton, Mary (1920–96), counsellor, was born 16 September 1920 in Co. Donegal. An orphan, she was adopted by a farming couple in Co. Tyrone. As a young woman she settled in London, where she became an alcoholic. Recovering from her addiction as a result of treatment under Dr Max…...
Borumborad, Achmet (Joyce, Patrick)
Borumborad, Achmet (Joyce, Patrick) (fl. 1772–82), quack and fraud, was a promoter of Turkish baths in Dublin. He claimed to have been born in, and to have fled from, Constantinople (Istanbul). His actual origins are unknown, though he was probably born in Co. Kilkenny.…...
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…...
Bulkeley, Sir Richard
Bulkeley, Sir Richard (1660–1710), politician and eccentric philanthropist, was born 17 August 1660 in Dublin. His great-grandfather was Archbishop Lancelot Bulkeley (qv), while his father, Richard Bulkeley (1634–85), MP for…...
Carden, John Rutter
Carden, John Rutter (1811–66), landlord, was born 5 February 1811, eldest among six sons and a daughter of John Carden (1772–1822) of Barnane, near Templemore, Co. Tipperary, landowner, DL, and high sheriff (1796) of the county, and Ann Carden…...
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,…...
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…...
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…...
Cosgrave, Mary Josephine
Cosgrave, Mary Josephine (c.1877–1941), social worker and local politician, was born in Naas, Co. Kildare, the daughter of James William Daly and Jane Daly. Educated at St Mary's Convent in Naas, she went on to study at St Andrews University, from where she graduated LLA…...
Crofton, Sir John Wenman
Crofton, Sir John Wenman (1912–2009), physician, scientist and public health campaigner, was born on 27 March 1912 at the family home, 55 Merrion Square South, Dublin, the only son (between two sisters) of William Mervyn Crofton, physician and bacteriologist, and his wife Mary…...
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’)
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’) (1829–99), nun and author, was born 6 May 1829 at Coolock, Co. Dublin, the elder of two children of Dr Samuel Cusack and his wife, Sarah (née Stoney). Early life and conversion to catholicism She was educated privately, learning informally…...
Dobbs, Francis
Dobbs, Francis (1750–1811), Volunteer, author, and MP, was born 27 April 1750, second son among four sons and a daughter of the Rev. Richard Dobbs (c.1694–1775), rector (1743–75) of Lisburn cathedral, Co. Antrim, and his wife Mary (d. 1796), widow of Cornet McMannus, and…...
Dudley, Thomas (‘Bang Bang’)
Dudley, Thomas (‘Bang Bang’) (1906–81), eccentric, was born on 13 February 1906 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin. Raised in an orphanage in Cabra, he lived for much of his adult life on Mill Lane near The Coombe in the Liberties. Although he worked briefly as a kitchen porter in Rialto…...
Elmes, Mary
Elmes, Mary (1908–2002), humanitarian worker 'righteous among the nations', was born Marie Elizabeth Jean Elmes on 5 May 1908, at Culgreine, 120 Blackrock Road, Ballintemple, Cork, the home of her parents, Edward Thomas Elmes, a pharmacist, and his wife Elizabeth Octavia (née Waters…...
Flanagan, Edward Joseph
Flanagan, Edward Joseph (1886–1948), catholic priest and founder of Boys Town, was born 13 July 1886 at Ballymoe, Co. Roscommon, son of John Flanagan, herdsman, and Nora Flanagan (née Larkin). One of eleven children, he was first educated at a local school, Drimatample, and…...
Gibb (Gibson), Rosemary Elizabeth Jane (‘Rosy’)
Gibb (Gibson), Rosemary Elizabeth Jane (‘Rosy’) (1942–97), social worker, clown, and magician, was born 8 November 1942 in Dublin, the only child of Jack Gibson, a well-known surgeon and hypnotist, and Elizabeth Maude Gibson (née James). She passed her early childhood in Guernsey, where…...
Hanger, George
Hanger, George (1751–1824), army officer, author, and eccentric, was born 13 October 1751 in Co. Londonderry, third son of Gabriel Hanger, 1st Lord Coleraine, MP and merchant, and Elizabeth Hanger (née Bond) of Cowbury, Hereford, England. Educated at Reading School and Eton, he…...
Harnett, Philip
Harnett, Philip (1943–96), Jesuit priest, was born 6 January 1943 in Dublin, the third child of Patrick Harnett and Ursula Treacy. He had two brothers, John and Patrick, and three sisters, Anne, Catherine, and Mary. Following an education at Pembroke School, Ballsbridge, and…...