Cox, Lemuel
Cox, Lemuel (1736–1806), engineer and mechanical innovator, was born in Boston, in the colony of Massachusetts. During the American war of independence he remained loyal to the British crown and was imprisoned at Ipswich on 29 December 1775. After his release he became a successful…...
Coyle, James
Coyle, James (c.1838–1920), Gaelic scribe and national schoolteacher, was born in Co. Cavan, south of Lough Ramore, on the Meath border, son of Patrick Coyle (1790–1862), scribe, local poet, and farmer. Growing up in one of the last pockets of native Irish speech in south…...
Crampton, George Hugh Cecil
Crampton, George Hugh Cecil (1901–76), engineer and building contractor, was born 21 July 1901 in Dublin, only son and second child of two children of George James Crampton (1851–1925), building contractor, originally of Ballintaggart, Co. Kildare, and Elizabeth Crampton (née Boyd)…...
Crawford, Leo
Crawford, Leo (1903–73), trade union leader, was born 1 December 1903 at 2 Grattan Place, Dublin, son of John Crawford, plasterer, and Annie Crawford (née Molloy). Educated at Westland Row CBS, he followed his father's trade as an…...
Crawford, Robert
Crawford, Robert (1831–1914), civil engineer, was born 2 June 1831 at Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, the fourth child of Samuel Crawford, a solicitor, and his wife, Margaret, daughter of John Duncan of Dublin. He had two brothers and one sister. Crawford was educated at the Rev. Robert Wray…...
Crean, Eugene
Crean, Eugene (1854–1939), trade unionist and home rule MP, was born at 3 Douglas St., Cork, third child and only son among four children of Ellen Crean (née Wall) and Daniel Crean, urban landlord. His siblings were Honora (b. 1841), Margaret (b. 1848), and Anne (b. 1860). Eugene…...
Crossland, Sir Bernard
Crossland, Sir Bernard (1923–2011), engineer and academic, was born on 20 October 1923 in Sydenham, south London, the youngest of three children (two boys and a girl) of Reginald Crossland, an engineer, and his wife Kathleen (née Ruddock). His grandfather and great-grandfather were…...
Crossley, Francis (‘Frank’) William
Crossley, Francis (‘Frank’) William (1839–97), engineer and evangelist, and his brothers Sir William John (1844–1911), engineer, and (Thomas) Hastings (Henry) (1846–1926), classical scholar, were sons of Maj. Francis Crossley of the East India Company, governor of the Andaman Islands…...
Crossley, William John
This is a co-subject for the entry on Crossley, Francis (‘Frank’) William. View the original entry....
Cuffe, Otway Frederick Seymour
Cuffe, Otway Frederick Seymour (1853–1912), benefactor and Gaelic revivalist, was born 11 January 1853 in London, third and youngest son of John Otway O'Connor Cuffe (1818–1865), 3rd earl of Desart (an Irish title), and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Lucy Campbell (1822–1898), third daughter…...
Cullen, Denis
Cullen, Denis (1886–1971), trade unionist and politician, was probably born 19 August 1886 at Seafield, Donabate, Co. Dublin (the family estate of John Hely Hutchinson (1836–1919)), son of John Cullen, a groom, and Anne Cullen (née Redmond). It is probable that he attended Artane…...
Cummins, Iris Ashley
Cummins, Iris Ashley (1894–1968), engineer and hockey player, was born 6 June 1894 in Woodville, Glanmire, Co. Cork, daughter of William Edward Ashley Cummins, professor of medicine at UCC, and Jane Cummins (née Hall) of Cork. Of her…...
Cúndún, Pádraig Phiarais
Cúndún, Pádraig Phiarais (1777–1857), Irish-language writer, was born at Shanakill, a son of Piaras Cúndún, a farmer of Kilmacdonagh, Ballymacoda, Co. Cork, and his wife, Máire. He had two brothers, Tomás and Cit, and he may have had at least one sister. Information is scant on his…...
Cunningham, Joseph Mullan
Cunningham, Joseph Mullan (1877–1965), trade unionist, senator, and Orangeman, was born in Belfast, and educated at a national school. His apprenticeship to the engineering trade began in 1890 with Combe Barbour & Coombe; in 1896 he travelled to Glasgow, and worked as a…...
Daly, Patrick Thomas
Daly, Patrick Thomas (1870–1943), republican and trade unionist, was born 2 December 1870 in Cumberland St., Dublin, son of John Daly, tailor, and Mary Daly (née Murphy). After attending a local national school he served an apprenticeship as a compositor. In 1892 he began working in…...
Daniel (Ó Domhnuill, O'Donnell), William
Daniel (Ó Domhnuill, O'Donnell), William (1570–1628), Church of Ireland archbishop of Tuam and translator of the New Testament into Irish, was a son of Nicholas Daniel of Kilkenny; nothing is known of his mother. During his youth he became a protestant, probably under the…...
Darby, Tom
Darby, Tom (1928–2009), trade unionist, was born in Kinnegad, Co. Westmeath, on 28 February 1928, one of seven children of James Darby, a labourer, and his wife Rachel (née Keenan). His family was poor and, after leaving Kinnegad national school at age 14, he worked locally as a turf…...
Dargan, William
Dargan, William (1799–1867), engineer, was born 28 February 1799 in Co. Carlow. His parents were Patrick and Elizabeth Dargan, his father being a well-to-do farmer who was a tenant of Lord Portarlington. Much of William's early life is obscure. Likewise the exact place of birth is…...
Davidson, Sir Samuel Cleland
Davidson, Sir Samuel Cleland (1846–1921), inventor and businessman, was born 18 November 1846 in Ballymachan, Co. Down, the youngest child of five sons and three daughters of James Davidson, a farmer with flour-milling interests in nearby Belfast, and Mary Davidson (née Taylor). He…...
Davin, William
Davin, William (1890–1956), trade unionist and politician, was born 19 February 1890 at Grogan, Rathdowney, Queen's Co. (Laois), son of Timothy Davin, farmer, and Ellen Davin (née Costigan). He was educated at Rathdowney national school, at St Kieran's College, Kilkenny, and later…...
Davitt, Michael
Davitt, Michael (1950–2005), poet, was born Joseph Michael Davitt on 20 April 1950 in Mayfield, Cork city, the third child of four children (three girls and a boy) of Joe Davitt, a bus driver and native of Mallow, Co. Cork, and his wife Hilda (néae Parker), originally from Stoke-on-…...
Deakin, James Aubrey
Deakin, James Aubrey (1874–1952), Irish-language and republican activist, was born 19 June 1874 at Mount Auburn, Richmond Road, Drumcondra, Dublin, one of at least three sons and five daughters of James Deakin, commercial traveller, native of Birmingham, England, and Mary Anne Deakin (…...
Dease, Thomas (Déis, Tomás)
Dease, Thomas (Déis, Tomás) (c. 1568–1651/2), catholic bishop of Meath and poet in Irish, was second of three sons of Richard Dease of Turbotstown, Co. Westmeath, and his wife Lady Eleanor Nugent of Carlanstown, Co. Meath. He was closely related to the Nugents of Delvin…...
Deasy, Joseph ('Joe')
Deasy, Joseph (‘Joe’) (1922–2013), left-wing activist, was born on 12 July 1922 in Ballyfermot, Dublin, the eldest of two boys and two girls born to Dick Deasy, a train driver with the Great Southern Railway (GSR), and Mary Deasy (née O’Connor). Educated at St Michael’s National School…...
De Barra, Dáibhí (Barry, David; Dáth an Ghleanna)
De Barra, Dáibhí (Barry, David; Dáth an Ghleanna) (1757/8–1851), prose writer, scribe, and poet in Irish, was born in Woodstock, Carrigtohill, Co. Cork, son of Dáibhí, a tenant farmer on the earl of Barrymore's estate. He was educated locally and could read and write both Irish and…...