De Valera, Sinéad
De Valera, Sinéad (1875–1975), teacher, folklorist, and writer, was born Jane Flanagan , 1 June 1875, in Ballbriggan, Co. Dublin, one of three daughters and four children of Laurence Flanagan, a carpenter, and Margaret Flanagan (née Byrne). When she was seven the family moved to Munster…...
Dillon, Garret (Gerard, Gerald)
Dillon, Garret (Gerard, Gerald) (fl. 1685–93), lawyer and signatory of the articles of Limerick, was a native of Roscommon. He was probably admitted to Gray's Inn in 1669, and was called to the bar in 1674. He built up a substantial practice on the Connacht circuit until…...
Dillon, James Mathew
Dillon, James Mathew (1902–86), politician, barrister, and businessman, was born 26 September 1902 at 2 North Great George's St., Dublin, fifth child among five sons and one daughter of John Dillon (qv), Nationalist MP for Mayo East, and his…...
Dillon, Sir Lucas (Luke)
Dillon, Sir Lucas (Luke) (d. 1593), chief baron of the Irish exchequer, was eldest son of Sir Robert Dillon (qv) of Newtown, Trim, Co. Meath, chief justice of the common pleas, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Edward…...
Dillon, Sir Robert
Dillon, Sir Robert (d. 1579), judge, was the third son of James Dillon of Riverstown, Co. Meath, and Elizabeth, daughter of Bartholomew Bathe of Dullardstown. He became a lawyer, probably having been trained at the inns of court in London, and was appointed attorney-general of…...
Dixon, Kevin
Dixon, Kevin (1902–59), barrister and judge, was born 22 June 1902 in Dalkey, Co. Dublin, son of Martin Dixon, quantity surveyor and builder, and his wife Ellen, née Sheridan. Educated at Belvedere College, Dublin, UCD, and the King'…...
Doherty, John
Doherty, John (c.1798–1854), trade union pioneer, radical activist, journalist, and factory reformer, was born in Inishowen, Co. Donegal; nothing is known of his parents. His birth place and date are uncertain. A son said it was ‘Buncrana, Inishowel’ (sic) in…...
Dolan, Charles Joseph
Dolan, Charles Joseph (1881–1963), politician and lawyer, was born 18 August 1881 in Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim, eldest of four sons of John Dolan, general merchant, and Bridget Dolan (née Fitzpatrick); he had at least one half-brother and one half-sister by his widowed father's…...
Duffy, Bernard Joseph
Duffy, Bernard Joseph (1882–1952), barrister, playwright, and novelist, was born 19 June 1882 at Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, son of James Joseph Duffy, general merchant, and Mary Anne (Maryann) née McEntagart. Educated at Viscount Weymouth Grammar School, Carrickmacross, and…...
Duffy, George Gavan
Duffy, George Gavan (1882–1951), politician and judge, was born 21 October 1882 at Rose Cottage, Rock Ferry, Cheshire, the eldest son of Sir Charles Gavan Duffy (qv), nationalist politician and premier of Victoria, Australia (1871…...
Duffy, Patrick Aloyisius
Duffy, Patrick Aloyisius (1933–95), politician and solicitor, was born 19 July 1933 in the parish of Ardboe, Co. Tyrone, one of four sons and a daughter of Patrick Duffy, farmer and local councillor on Cookstown rural council, and Margaret Duffy (née Devlin). He was educated at…...
Dungan (Dongan), Thomas
Dungan (Dongan), Thomas (1590?–1663), lawyer and judge, was fourth son of John Dungan of Castletown, Co. Kildare, second remembrancer of the exchequer and an important figure in the Irish administration, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Walter Forster. Thomas's parents died…...
Dunne, Seán
Dunne, Seán (1919–69), republican and labour activist, was born in Waterford city, youngest of three children of Michael Dunne, member of the RIC, and Brigid Dunne, and was educated at the CBS…...
Esmonde, John Henry Grattan
This is a co-subject for the entry on Esmonde, Sir John Lymbrick. View the original entry....
Esmonde, Sir John Lymbrick
Esmonde, Sir John Lymbrick (1893–1958), 14th baronet, barrister, landowner, and politician, was born 15 December 1893 at Ingleside, Pontesbury, Salop (Shropshire), England, eldest among three sons and three daughters of John Joseph Esmonde (1862–1915), a medical doctor who practised for…...
Everard, Sir John
Everard, Sir John (c.1560–1624), lawyer and parliamentarian, was the elder son of Sir Redmond Everard of Ballyboy and Fethard, a prominent landowner in Tipperary and MP for Cross Tipperary (1585). Redmond's younger son, James, was a Jesuit, based in Callan from 1608 (…...
Everett, James
Everett, James (1890–1967), Labour politician and trade unionist, was born 14 February 1890 in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow, a son of Robert Everett, a small farmer and waiter, and Margaret Everett (née Doyle). He had one brother and a sister and attended the local national school in…...
Fawsitt, Diarmuid (Jeremiah)
Fawsitt, Diarmuid (Jeremiah) (1884–1967), nationalist, civil servant and judge, was born Jeremiah Fawsitt 7 May 1884 at Ballymacthomas, Cork, son of Boyle Fawsitt, labourer of Ballymacthomas, and Hannah Fawsitt (née Lucey). From relative poverty his father established a mercantile…...
Ferguson, Richard ('Dick')
Ferguson, Richard ('Dick') (1935–2009), barrister and politician, was born in Derrygonnelly, Co. Fermanagh, on 22 August 1935, only child of Wesley Ferguson, RUC sergeant, and his wife Edith. The Fergusons, who were methodists, had farmed…...
Finucane, Patrick
Finucane, Patrick (1950–89), solicitor and republican, was born in Belfast, eldest of eight children (seven boys and one girl) of Patrick Finucane, flour-mill worker, and his wife, Kathleen. He was educated at St Mary's Christian Brothers’ grammar school, St Malachy's College,…...
Fitton, Sir Alexander
Fitton, Sir Alexander (1635/6–1699), Baron Fytton , lord chancellor, was the eldest surviving son of William Fitton of Gawsworth in Cheshire. His great-grandfather Sir Edward Fitton (qv) was a high-ranking Tudor official in…...
FitzGerald, Alexis James Oliver
FitzGerald, Alexis James Oliver (1916–85), solicitor and economist, was born 4 September 1916, the fourth child of Alexis FitzGerald and his wife, Elizabeth O'Halloran. He was born, as he would later say himself, ‘under the clock’ in the Waterford Mental Hospital, where his father was…...
Fitzgerald, John David
Fitzgerald, John David (1816–89), Baron Fitzgerald , Irish law officer and British lord of appeal, was born 1 May 1816 in Co. Limerick, second son of David Fitzgerald, a merchant from Dublin who was believed to have taken part in the abortive rising of…...
FitzGerald, William O'Brien (‘Billy’)
FitzGerald, William O'Brien (‘Billy’) (1906–74), barrister and judge, was born 26 March 1906 in Cork. His mother, Mary Frances Dormon, was married first to William Dwyer, and then, after Dwyer's death, to William FitzGerald who was clerk of the crown and peace in Mallow; the…...
Fitzgibbon, John
Fitzgibbon, John (1708?–1780), barrister and politician, was born probably in 1708, the first of the four sons of Thomas Fitzgibbon of Ballyseeda, Co. Limerick, and his wife, Honor, a daughter of William Hayes of Cahirguillamore, Co. Limerick. Thomas Fitzgibbon, whose father,…...