Hay, Edward
Hay, Edward (1761?–1826), catholic activist and historian, was born in Ballinkeele, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, eldest of four sons of Harvey Hay (d. 1796), a wealthy member of the catholic gentry, and Catherine Hay (née Fergus). Educated in France and Germany, he returned to…...
Hayes, Richard Francis
Hayes, Richard Francis (1882–1958), medical doctor, nationalist, historian, and film censor, was born in Bruree, Co. Limerick, son of Richard Hayes, local teacher, and Margaret Hayes (née Ruddle). Attending Bruree national school with his direct contemporary…...
Hayes, Richard James
Hayes, Richard James (1902–76), librarian, was born 26 June 1902 in Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick, son of Richard James Hayes, bank manager, and Katherine Hayes (née Whelan). His early childhood and youth were spent in Claremorris, Co. Mayo. He was a student at Clongowes Wood College,…...
Healy, John
Healy, John (1841–1918), catholic archbishop of Tuam and historian, was born in Ballinafad, Co. Sligo, on 14 November 1841, second and eldest surviving child of the four sons and three daughters of Mark Healy and his wife, Mary (née Gallagher), who were both schoolteachers. As a…...
Healy, Maurice Francis
Healy, Maurice Francis (1887–1943), barrister and author, was born at 16 Mountjoy Place, Dublin, on 16 November 1887, the eldest of the three children of Maurice Healy (qv), a Cork solicitor and later an MP, and his wife and cousin,…...
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John)
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John) (1911–86), scholar and businessman, was born 3 March 1911 in Leipzig, Germany, fourth of five children of Fürchtegott Max Hennig, protestant theologian and teacher, and his wife Berta Johanna (neé Clemen) who was from a family of distinguished…...
Henry, Françoise
Henry, Françoise (1902–82), specialist in early Irish art, archaeologist, and art historian, was born 16 June 1902 in Paris, the only child of René Henry, deputy chef de cabinet to the president of the French chamber of deputies, professor at L'École des Sciences…...
Hoey, John Cashel
Hoey, John Cashel (1828–92), author, editor of the Nation, and administrator, was born 25 October 1828 at Dundalk, Co. Louth, first son of Cashel Fitzsimons Hoey and grandson of John Hoey, a United Irishman hanged in Dundalk in 1798. No details of his mother are known. He…...
Hogan, Edmund Ignatius
Hogan, Edmund Ignatius (1831–1917), priest, Irish-language scholar, and historian, was born 23 January 1831 at Belvelly, near Cobh, Co. Cork, youngest son of William Hogan, craftsman, and Mary Hogan (née Morris). Though the older members of the family were native speakers of Irish…...
Hogan, James
Hogan, James (1898–1963), revolutionary, historian, and political scientist, was born 16 October 1898 at Cloonmain, Kilrickle, near Loughrea, Co. Galway, seventh child among four sons and five daughters of Brigid Hogan (née Glennon) and Michael F. Hogan, a considerable farmer and…...
Hogan, John Francis
Hogan, John Francis (1858–1918), priest, author, and president of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, was born in July 1858 in Coolreagh, Co. Clare, and baptised 6 August, son of Pat Hogan and Maria Hogan (née Duggan). He was educated at Ennis Diocesan College, Co. Clare, Saint-…...
Horgan, John Joseph
Horgan, John Joseph (1881–1967), solicitor, author, and election agent, was born 26 April 1881 in Cork city, eldest among six sons of Michael Joseph Horgan, solicitor and Cork city coroner, and his wife Mary, daughter of George Philip Bowring. His mother was a Jerseywoman, so he…...
Horgan, Matthew (‘Mat’)
Horgan, Matthew (‘Mat’) (c.1775–1849), priest, poet, antiquary, and advocate of social reform, was born at Ballinraha, Blarney, in his archaeologically rich ancestral region of Co. Cork. He remained there most of his life, though educated at Charleville in north Cork, where he…...
Houling, (Howlin), John
Houling, (Howlin), John (1543/4–1599), Jesuit and martyrologist, was born in Wexford and entered the priesthood at an unknown date. He is first recorded in 1577 when he was at Alcala de Henares, Spain (where he was a friend of William Walsh…...
Ireland, John Evan de Courcy
Ireland, John Evan de Courcy (1911–2006), socialist, activist, teacher, and maritime historian, was born 19 October 1911 in Lucknow, India, only child of De Courcy Ireland (1873–1915), a British army major of Irish ancestry, and his English-born wife Gabrielle (née Byron). …...
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, Julia
Kavanagh, Julia (1824–77), novelist, short-story writer, and biographer, was born 7 January 1824 in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the only child of Bridget Fitzpatrick (d. 1887) and Morgan Peter Kavanagh (d. 1874), writer and philologist. She spent much of her childhood in Normandy and…...
Kavanagh, Patrick Fidelis
Kavanagh, Patrick Fidelis (1838–1918), Franciscan priest and historian, was born at Wexford on 14 March 1838, son of Lawrence Kavanagh, shipowner and merchant; his mother's family, the Prendergasts of Knottown, took part in the 1798 rebellion with their relatives the Prendergasts of…...
Keating, Geoffrey (Céitinn, Seathrún)
Keating, Geoffrey (Céitinn, Seathrún) (c.1580–1644), historian and catholic priest, was born in south Co. Tipperary, his approximate date of birth being surmised on the basis of his active working life. He may have been the third of seven sons of James fitz Edmund Keating of…...
Kelly, Deirdre
Kelly, Deirdre (1938–2000), environmental and community campaigner, was born 15 May 1938 at Holles St. maternity hospital, Dublin, eldest daughter among three daughters and a son of Thomas McMahon , bus driver, and Mary (‘Molly’) McMahon (née Kenna), of 5 Sussex Road, adjoining…...
Kelly, Matthew
Kelly, Matthew (1814–58), catholic priest and church historian, was born 24 September 1814 in Maudlin Street, Kilkenny, the eldest son of James Kelly and his wife, Margaret (née Sanphy). The Kellys were a clerical family: an uncle of Matthew, Patrick Kelly (1779–1829), was bishop of…...
Kenney, James Francis
Kenney, James Francis (1884–1946), archivist and historian, was born 6 December 1884 in a small farmhouse near the village of Marysville in the township of Tyendinaga, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada, the only child of Martin Kenney, farmer, and his wife Mary (née McCullough).…...
Keon, Miles
Keon, Miles (1738?–p.1805), catholic gentleman, was born in or before 1738, a son of Gerald or Garret or George Keon (the records differ) and his wife Ellinor (née Dermott or MacDermott). The Keons were numerous in Co. Leitrim. A member of a protestant line, Robert Keon,…...
King, Jeremiah
King, Jeremiah (1868–1927), historian, printer, and publisher, was born 11 February 1868 in Groin, in the parish of Aghadoe, Co. Kerry, elder of two sons of Laurence King, carpenter, of Currow, and Ellen King (née Counihan), farmer, of Madam's Height, Groin. Early in King's life…...
Kyan, Esmond
Kyan, Esmond (c.1750–1798), United Irish commander and landowner, was born probably in Co. Wexford, fourth son of Howard Kyan (d. 1804) of Mount Howard, near Ferns, Co. Wexford, and of Ballymurtagh and Mount Pleasant, Co. Wicklow. His father, a catholic landowner, was…...