Ahern, Catherine Ita ('Kit')
Ahern, Catherine Ita ('Kit') (1915–2007), president of the Irish Countrywomen's Association, senator and TD, was born 13 January 1915 in Athea, Co. Limerick, eldest of eight children of Patrick Liston , a wheelwright and carpenter, and his wife Mary Ann (née McAuliffe). The family…...
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’)
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’) (1932–2002), legal-aid campaigner, was born 4 May 1932 at 154 Bandon Road, Cork city, one of two daughters and two sons of Michael Lynch , labourer, and Eileen Lynch (née Sullivan). Her parents both died early, leaving her in the care of her grandmother,…...
Alexander, James
Alexander, James (d. 1815?), historian of the battle of New Ross and miscellaneous writer, was a native of Harristown, near Monastereven, Co. Kildare. Nothing has been ascertained of his family other than that he had a brother, Wentworth, and that he was a cousin-german of Sir…...
Andrews, Christopher Stephen (‘Todd’)
Andrews, Christopher Stephen (‘Todd’) (1901–85), revolutionary, public servant, and writer, was born 6 October 1901 at 42 Summerhill, central Dublin, elder of two sons of Christopher Andrews, of Dublin, and Mary (‘Molly’) Andrews (née Moran), daughter of a…...
Anster, John Martin
Anster, John Martin (1793–1867), poet, translator of Goethe's Faust, and regius professor of civil law in Dublin University, was born 21 October 1793 in Charleville, Cork, son of John Anster, distiller, and Mary Ann Anster (née Hiffernan). The family was catholic, and…...
Arthur, William
Arthur, William (1819–1901), methodist minister and author, was born 3 February 1819, probably in Kells, Co. Antrim, son of James Arthur and Margaret Arthur (née Kennedy), and spent his childhood in Westport, Co. Mayo. Though brought up an episcopalian, he attended (1837–9)…...
Atkinson, Sarah
Atkinson, Sarah (1823–93), philanthropist and author, was born 13 October 1823 in Athlone, Co. Roscommon, eldest of five daughters and one son of John Gaynor , gentleman, and Anna Gaynor. The family moved to Dublin for the sake of the children's education, but no details are known…...
Aylward, Margaret Louisa
Aylward, Margaret Louisa (1810–89), philanthropist and founder of a religious congregation, was born 23 November 1810 in Waterford city, fifth among ten children of William Aylward (d. 1840), merchant, and Ellen Aylward (née Murphy), who also had a son from her first marriage. The…...
Balfe, John Donnellan
Balfe, John Donnellan (1816–80), politician, journalist, and British government spy, was born in Co. Meath, son of James Balfe, gentleman, and Sara Balfe (née Sutherland). He was educated at Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare, and had a brief career in the British army, joining…...
Ball, Nicholas
Ball, Nicholas (1791–1865), lawyer and politician, was born on 6 July 1791 in Dublin, only son of John…...
Barnewall, Sir John
Barnewall, Sir John (1634?–1691?) barrister and judge, was one of eleven children of Richard Barnewall (qv) of Crickstown, Co. Meath, and his second wife Julia, daughter of Sir Gerald…...
Barron (Baron), Geoffrey
Barron (Baron), Geoffrey (1606–51), lawyer, politician, and diplomat, was eldest son of Lawrence Barron, a catholic merchant from Clonmel, and Mary Wadding of Waterford, sister of the Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding (qv). The Barrons, a…...
Barry, Edmond
Barry, Edmond (1837–1900), priest and antiquarian, was born 7 March 1837 in Midleton, Co. Cork, elder son and second of three children of Edmond Barry, gentleman of Birch Hill and Midleton, and Mary Anne Barry (née Murphy). He was educated in the seminary at Midleton and at St…...
Behan, Brian Finbar Oliver Plunkett
Behan, Brian Finbar Oliver Plunkett (1926–2002), writer, radical, and bohemian, was born Brian Desmond Behan (the name appearing on the birth certificate) on 10 November 1926 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, while the family were residing at 14 Russell St., the third of five children of…...
Bellew, William
This is a co-subject for the entry on Bellew, Sir Patrick. View the original entry....
Bellings (Bealing), Richard
Bellings (Bealing), Richard (c.1603–1677), lawyer, politician, and historian, was eldest son of Sir Henry Bellings (of an Old English catholic family with properties in Dublin and Kildare) and his wife Maud, about whom nothing else is known. Richard gained admittance to…...
Bernard, Agnes Morrogh (Mother Mary Arsenius)
Bernard, Agnes Morrogh (Mother Mary Arsenius) (1842–1932), nun, teacher, and founder of Providence Mill, Foxford, Co. Mayo, was born 24 February 1842 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, the eldest child of John Morrogh , of a prominent catholic family from Glanmire, Cork, and Frances…...
Bewley, Charles Henry
Bewley, Charles Henry (1888–1969), barrister and diplomat, was born 12 July 1888 in Dublin, eldest son among four children of Henry Theodore Bewley (qv), MD and quaker, and Elizabeth…...
Bhreatnach, Lucy
This is a co-subject for the entry on Breatnach, Deasún. View the original entry....
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…...
Binchy, Daniel Anthony
Binchy, Daniel Anthony (1899–1989), historian and diplomat, was born 3 June 1899 on Main Street, Charleville, Co. Cork, second son (there were at least three other surviving children) of William Patrick Binchy, shopkeeper, and his wife Annie (née Browne). EDUCATION AND EARLY CAREER He…...
Blachford, Theodosia
Blachford, Theodosia (1744–1817?), philanthropist and leading methodist, was born at her father's residence in Rosanna, Co. Wicklow, only daughter of William Tighe (qv), landowner and MP, and Lady Mary Tighe of Rathmore, Co. Meath,…...
Black, William Bullick
Black, William Bullick (1879–1967), lawyer and judge, was born 22 September 1879, the only son of the Rev. James Black, a methodist clergyman, of Kinnegar, Holywood, Co. Down, and his wife Sarah Edith (née Bullick). Educated at the Methodist College, Belfast, and…...
Blake, Anthony Richard
Blake, Anthony Richard (1786–1849), lawyer, administrator, and ‘backstairs viceroy of Ireland’, was second son of Martin Blake of Holly Park, Athenry, Co. Galway. He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn, London, 13 May 1808. A protégé of Charles Butler, former secretary of the catholic…...
Blake, Richard
Blake, Richard (c.1595–1663), lawyer and politician, was the eldest son of Robert Blake, a wealthy merchant from Ardfry, Co. Galway, and Katherine, daughter of Richard Darcy of Gorteen, Co. Galway. The Blakes, one of the fourteen ‘tribes’ of Galway, were centrally…...