Hemans, George Willoughby
Hemans, George Willoughby (1814–85), railway engineer, was born 27 August 1814 at Ryllon near St Asaph, north Wales, son of Capt. Alfred Hemans of the 4th (King's Own) Regiment and the poet Felicia Hemans (née Browne; 1794–1835) who were married in 1812. In 1818, after a short and…...
Henry, Samuel (‘Sam’)
Henry, Samuel (‘Sam’) (1878–1952), folk-song collector, was born in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, youngest among five sons of William Henry and Mary Henry (née Biggart). He had two sisters; one of his brothers became town clerk of Coleraine. Educated locally, he entered the customs…...
Hood, John
Hood, John (1720/21?–1783), land surveyor, was apparently born in Co. Donegal. There may have been two John Hoods, father and son, who were both surveyors; if so, it is impossible to disentangle their careers and dates of vital events. John Hood, surveyor, died in 1783, and there is…...
Horan, James
Horan, James (1911–86), priest, community activist, and airport developer, was born 5 May 1911 at Tooreen, Partry, Co. Mayo, eldest of three sons and four daughters of Bartley Horan, farmer and builder, of Partry, and Catherine Horan (née Casey) of Kilkieran, Co. Mayo. After education…...
Houghton, Daniel
Houghton, Daniel (1740–91), army officer and African explorer, was born in Ireland, son of William Houghton. He entered the army in October 1758 and was commissioned as an ensign in the 69th Foot. In July 1759 he was promoted to lieutenant and served with his regiment in Gibraltar…...
Hudson, Henry
Hudson, Henry (1798–1889), collector of traditional music, was born 23 March 1798, probably in Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, third son of Edward Hudson and Frances Hudson (née Barton). Family tradition states that he was given the middle name ‘Philerin’ (‘love of Ireland’), which suggests…...
Hughes, Herbert
Hughes, Herbert (1882–1937), musician, critic, and folksong arranger, was born 16 March 1882 at 23 Vicinage Park, Belfast, son of Frederick Patrick Hughes, commercial traveller (later senior partner in Hughes, Dickson & Co, flour millers), and Mary Hughes (née McClean). Both…...
Hughes, Pat
Hughes, Pat (1924–99), prospector and businessman, was born Patrick Joseph Hughes on 14 March 1924 near Keady, Co. Armagh, the only son of three children of Charles Hughes, a building contractor of Keady, and his wife Mary. When he was around 10, his catholic family moved to Newry,…...
Hutton, John
Hutton, John (1757–1830), founder of the firm of John Hutton & Sons (1779–1923), Ireland's premier coachbuilders, was born 8 June 1757 in Dublin, son of Robert Hutton (d. 1779), tannery owner, and Sarah Hutton (née Lewis; d. 1781). In the year of his father's death John Hutton…...
Hutton, Thomas
This is a co-subject for the entry on Hutton, John. View the original entry....
Irwin, Herbert Carmichael (‘Bird’, ‘Bertie’)
Irwin, Herbert Carmichael (‘Bird’, ‘Bertie’) (1894–1930), athlete and aeronaut, was born 26 June 1894, apparently in Co. Dublin, one of four children of Thomas Frederick Nesbitt Irwin and his wife Elinor Emily Lindsay (née Carroll). The family subsequently lived in Dublin at an address…...
Jemison, Mary ('Deh-he-wä-mis')
Jemison, Mary ('Deh-he-wä-mis') (1743?–1833), American frontierswoman, was born aboard the ship William and Mary, when her parents, Thomas Jemison and his wife Jane (née Erwin), (both of protestant Scotch-Irish heritage) were emigrating to colonial Pennsylvania, departing from…...
Johnson, James
Johnson, James (1777–1845), physician and medical and travel writer, was born in February 1777 at Ballinderry, Co. Antrim, youngest son of a local farmer. Educated locally, he was orphaned while still young and became an apprentice to a surgeon-apothecary in Portglenone, Co. Antrim…...
Johnson, Rosanna (‘Rosie’)
Johnson, Rosanna (‘Rosie’) (1891–1987), street trader, was born 24 March 1891, daughter of William Walsh, labourer, of 6 Turner's Cottages, Dublin, and Julia Walsh (née Reilly). At the age of 12 she was selling violets on the street for a penny a bunch and by the time she was 17 she…...
Johnston, John
Johnston, John (1762–1828), fur trader, was born 25 August 1762 near Portrush, Co. Antrim, son of William Johnston and Elizabeth Johnston (née McNeil). The family, which had come from Scotland two generations earlier, owned Craige, an estate near the Giant's Causeway. Johnston's father…...
Joyce, Patrick Weston
Joyce, Patrick Weston (1827–1914), educationalist, historian, linguist, translator and collector of folk music, was born in Ballyorgan, Co. Limerick, one of the eight sons of Garrett Joyce, a shoemaker known locally as ‘Garrett the Scholar’ for his knowledge of poetry and religion, and…...
Kavanagh, Lady Harriet Margaret
Kavanagh, Lady Harriet Margaret (1800–85), artist, traveller, and antiquarian, was second daughter among three sons and four daughters of Richard Le Poer Trench (qv), later 2nd earl of Clancarty, and Henrietta Margaret Le Poer Trench…...
Kavanagh, Muiris (‘Kruger’)
Kavanagh, Muiris (‘Kruger’) (1894–1971), publican and raconteur, was born 28 March 1894 at Baile na Ratha, Dún Chaoin, Co. Kerry, one of four sons and a daughter of John Kavanagh and his wife Mary (née Hoare), who had a farm and a small shop. While attending the local primary school…...
Keane, Rita
Keane, Rita (1923–2009), traditional singer and musician, was born on 31 December 1923 in the townland of Carragh, Caherlistrane, Co. Galway, one of eight children (four daughters and four sons) of Matt Keane and his wife May (née Costello; d. 1978), who were farmers. Rita attended…...
Keatinge, Maurice Bagenal St Leger
Keatinge, Maurice Bagenal St Leger (c.1761–c.1835), soldier, politician, and writer, was the only son of Maurice Keatinge (d. 1777), high sheriff of Co. Kildare (1774) and MP for Harristown (1776–7), and his wife, Catherine, daughter of Walter Bagenal of Dunleckney…...
Keegan, John
Keegan, John (1813–93), surveyor and diarist, was born at Laragh, near Horseleap, Co. Westmeath, in 1813, the only son of Thomas Keegan (1789–1854), a farmer, and his wife, Mary (née Gannon). The Keegans were descended from the hereditary brehons of the Irish midlands; one…...
Kellett, Sir Henry
Kellett, Sir Henry (1806–75), vice-admiral (RN) and polar explorer, was born 2 November 1806 at Clonacody, Co. Tipperary, son of John Dalton Kellett; nothing is known of his mother. His cousin was Commander Arthur Kellett, RN. He entered the Royal…...
Kelly, Luke
Kelly, Luke (1940–84), folk singer, was born 17 November 1940 in Lattimore Cottages, Sheriff Street, Dublin, second child (and second son) among four sons and two daughters of Luke Kelly (1904–67), a factory worker with Jacob's biscuit manufacturers, and Julia Kelly (née Fleming). In…...
Kennedy, Patrick
Kennedy, Patrick (1801–73), writer, folklorist, and bookseller, was born in Kilmyshal, near Bunclody, Co. Wexford, in early 1801. Little is known of his family life other than that his father was Patrick Kennedy and that he appears to have been the fourth child born to his parents.…...
Kennedy, Percy William (‘Darby’)
Kennedy, Percy William (‘Darby’) (1914–2016), aviator and founder of Weston aerodrome, was born on 11 June 1914 in Barronrath, Straffan, Co. Kildare, one of nine children, to Edward ‘Cub’ Kennedy, breeder of racehorses (including the famous stallion the Tetrarch), and his wife Beryl…...