Bianconi, Charles
Bianconi, Charles (1786–1875), transport entrepreneur, was born Joachim Carlo Guiseppe Bianconi on 24 September 1786 at Tregolo, near Como in Lombardy, Italy, the second of five children of Pietro and Maria Bianconi. His father owned a farm and a silk mill, and was agent for the…...
Cahill, Pearse
Cahill, Pearse (1917–2011), aviator, businessman and race driver, was born Matthew Pearse Cahill (in honour of the executed leader of the 1916 rising) in Dublin on 26 January 1917, son of Hugh Cahill (1883–1966), of Glasnevin, Dublin, and his wife Caroline (née O'Connor). The owner-…...
Capper, Wilfrid Meredyth
Capper, Wilfrid Meredyth (1905–89), conservationist and creator of the Ulster Way, was born in Belfast on 12 July 1905, the second son of four children (two boys and two girls) of John Malcolmson Capper, a cotton yarn merchant, and Elizabeth Jane Capper (née Stewart); the family was…...
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…...
Fitzmaurice, James Christopher
Fitzmaurice, James Christopher (1898–1965), aviator, was born 6 January 1898 at 35 Mountjoy Prison Cottages, North Circular Road, Dublin, second of three sons and one daughter of Michael Fitzmaurice, prison warder, and Mary Agnes Fitzmaurice (née Riordan), both of whose families…...
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…...
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,…...
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…...
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…...
Lemass, Frank
Lemass, Frank (1911–74), general manager and director of CIÉ, president of the Irish Management Institute, was born 13 September 1911 in Dublin, youngest son among four sons and three daughters of John T. Lemass, hatter and outfitter, of 3 Capel St., Dublin, and Frances Lemass (…...
MacCarthy Mór, Donal
MacCarthy Mór, Donal (d. 1596), 26th MacCarthy Mór and 1st earl of Clancare , Gaelic lord, was second but eldest surviving son of Domhnall MacCarthy Mór (qv), 25th MacCarthy Mór. Nothing is known of his…...
MacCarthy Reagh, Florence (Finian, Finghín)
MacCarthy Reagh, Florence (Finian, Finghín) (c.1562–c.1640), Gaelic chieftain and scholar, was born probably at Kilbrittan castle, eldest son of Sir Donough MacCarthy Reagh (d. 1576). His mother was a Geraldine, being the sister of Maurice of Desmond and the aunt…...
MacDonnell, Alasdair (Alexander) MacColla
MacDonnell, Alasdair (Alexander) MacColla (d. 1647), Gaelic lord, was the third son of Coll MacGillespie and (most probably) Mary, daughter of Ranald MacJames of Smerby: both parents were MacDonnells, but the use of fixed hereditary surnames was not normal practice in Gaelic…...
MacDonnell, Sir James MacSorley
MacDonnell, Sir James MacSorley (d. 1601), Gaelic chieftain, was the third son of Sorley Boy MacDonnell (qv) and Mary O'Neill, daughter of Con O'Neill (qv), 1st earl of…...
MacDonnell, Sir Randal mac Sorley
MacDonnell, Sir Randal mac Sorley (d. 1636), Gaelic lord and 1st earl of Antrim , was fourth son of Sorley Boy MacDonnell (qv) and as such was born into a resilient dynastic offshoot (known as the MacDonnells) of the…...
McGregor, John James
McGregor, John James (c.1773–1834), historian and topographer, was born 24 February c.1773 in Limerick city, the seventh son and youngest of seventeen children (many of whom did not survive to adulthood) of John McGregor (d. 1796), native of Scotland, probably by…...
O'Byrne, Aodh
O'Byrne, Aodh (c.1520–1579), lord of Crioch Raghnuill, was the eldest son of Seán O'Byrne (qv), lord of Crioch Raghnuill, and his wife, Doireann O'Byrne. After the collapse of the Kildare hegemony in 1535,…...
O’Byrne, Aodh
O’Byrne, Aodh (c.1596–p.1652), soldier, was the second son of Phelim O'Byrne (qv) (d. 1631), lord of Crioch Raghnuill, and Una O'Toole (d. 1628), daughter of Fiach O'Toole (qv…...
O'Byrne, Brian
O'Byrne, Brian (1593–1653), lord of Crioch Raghnuill, was the eldest son of Feilim O'Byrne (qv) (d. 1631), lord of Crioch Raghnuill, and Una O'Toole (d. 1628), daughter of Fiach O'Toole (qv) (d…...
O'Byrne, Feilim
O'Byrne, Feilim (d. 1631), lord of Críoch Raghnuill, was second son of Fiach MacHugh O'Byrne (qv), lord of Críoch Raghnuill and leader of Gaelic Leinster, and Sadhbh, daughter of…...
O'Byrne, Fiach MacHugh
O'Byrne, Fiach MacHugh (c.1544–1597), lord of Crioch Raghnuill and leader of Gaelic Leinster, was eldest son of Aodh O'Byrne (qv) (d. 1579), lord of Crioch Raghnuill, and his first wife Sadhbh, daughter of Feilim O'Byrne of…...
O'Cahan, Sir Donnell Ballach
O'Cahan, Sir Donnell Ballach (d. 1617?), Gaelic chieftain, was the eldest son of Rory O'Cahan, ruler of a territory corresponding approximately to Co. Londonderry. His holdings have been described as a rich and populous land, and the O'Cahan was accounted the most powerful of the…...
O'Connor Don, An Calbhach (Charles)
O'Connor Don, An Calbhach (Charles) (1584–c.1655), head of the O'Connor Don dynasty, was eldest son of Sir Aodh O'Connor Don and his wife Mary, daughter of Brian na Murtha O'Rourke of Breifne. He was a prominent leader of the Irish nobility of Connacht during the first…...
O'Connor Sligo, Donough
This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Connor Sligo, Sir Donal (Domhnall). View the original entry....
O'Connor Sligo, Sir Donal (Domhnall)
O'Connor Sligo, Sir Donal (Domhnall) (d. 1588), lord of the O'Connor Sligo, was the second son of Tadhg, lord of the O'Connor Sligo. After Tadhg's death in 1552, Rory Mac Phelim O'Connor Sligo became the new lord, but Donal disputed the succession and a bitter civil war…...