Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph ('Joe')
Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph (Joe; ‘Two Gun Joe’) (1927–2015), garda, was born 17 May 1927 at his parents’ home at Davitt’s Terrace, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, the elder of two sons of Harry (Henry) Ainsworth, a victualler, and his wife Margaret (née Feeney). Ainsworth was…...
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…...
Brennan, Garrett (Gerald Brennan/O'Brennan; Gearóid Ó Braonáin/ Ó Breanáin)
Brennan, Garrett (Gerald Brennan/O'Brennan; Gearóid Ó Braonáin/ Ó Breanáin) (1894–1974), revolutionary and garda, was born 7 October 1894 in Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, second of ten children of Cornelius Barrett, shopkeeper, and Margaret Brennan (née Boran). One of his brothers was…...
Brown, Stephen James Meredith
Brown, Stephen James Meredith (1881–1962), Jesuit priest, bibliographer, and librarian, was born 24 September 1881 in Holywood, Co. Down, eldest of four children of Stephen James Brown (1853–1931), solicitor and JP, and Catharine Brown (…...
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…...
Carroll, Patrick Joseph
Carroll, Patrick Joseph (1903–75), Garda commissioner, was born 15 September 1903 in Ballyrider, Stradbally, Co. Laois, third among six children of Michael Carroll (d. c.1920) and Julia Carroll (née Buggy) (d. c.1939), farmers. Educated at the…...
Carty, James
Carty, James (1900–59), historian, librarian, and bibliographer, was born in Wexford on 7 August 1900, one of the four sons of Francis Carty, a barber, and his wife, Margaret (née Storey). In 1920, while he was still a student at UCD…...
Conway, Frederick William
Conway, Frederick William (1781/2–1853), journalist and book collector, was the son of Luke Conway, printer of the Connaught Gazette, a pro-government newspaper published at Loughrea, Co. Galway, for some months in 1797. From 1806 to 1812 he was a major contributor to the…...
Costigan, Daniel
Costigan, Daniel (1911–79), civil servant and Garda commissioner, was born 18 February 1911 in Derryfada, Kealkil, Bantry, Co. Cork (where the Costigan family had lived for many generations), elder surviving son and third among six children of James Costigan (d. 1956) and Anne…...
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…...
Diver, Bridget
Diver (Divers, Deaver, Deavers, Devens, Devins, Devan), Bridget (‘Irish Biddy’, ‘Michigan Bridget’) (fl. 1861–4), vivandière and ‘daughter’ of the First Michigan Cavalry regiment, was born in Ireland sometime before 1840. It has been suggested that the ‘Michigan Bridget’ legend…...
Doran, Charles Guilfoyle
Doran, Charles Guilfoyle (1835–1909), civil engineer, Fenian, and bibliophile, was born on 1 February 1835 at Knockanna, Co. Carlow (not as previously stated at Dunlavin, Co. Wicklow), the first of seven surviving children of John Doran and his wife Mary (née Guilfoyle). He was…...
Doyle, Henry Edward
Doyle, Henry Edward (1827–92), artist and gallery director, was born in Dublin, third of seven children and third of five sons of John Doyle (qv), political cartoonist, of Dublin, and Marianna Doyle (née Conan; d. 1832). He was the only…...
Fergus, John
Fergus, John (c.1700–1761), doctor of medicine and collector of books and manuscripts, was born in Co. Mayo, where a branch of the Ó Fearghusa family was to be found. His father's name was Mac Raith, and hence Dr Fergus was sometimes referred to in Irish as Seán mac Mac Raíth Ó…...
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…...
Flanagan, James Bernard (‘Jamie’)
Flanagan, James Bernard (‘Jamie’) (1914–99), policeman, was born 15 January 1914 at 68 Bridge St., Derry city, son of James Flanagan, RIC sergeant, and Susan Flanagan (née McFeely). Educated locally, he joined the…...
Gay, Thomas Earnan
Gay, Thomas Earnan (1884–1953), librarian and republican, was born in Dublin on 22 January 1884, the eldest of six children (two girls and four boys) of Thomas Patrick Gay, a porter and later a warehouseman, and his wife Catherine (née Coleman). He was educated at the…...
Gilbert, Sir John Thomas
Gilbert, Sir John Thomas (1829–98), merchant, historian, archivist, and librarian, was born 23 January 1829 at 23 Jervis St., Dublin, second son and fifth child of John Gilbert (1791–1833), wine and cider importer and Portuguese consul, and Mary Anne Gilbert (née Costello), both…...
Gorman, Sir John Reginald
Gorman, (Sir) John Reginald (1923–2014), soldier, policeman, businessman, civil servant and politician, was born on 1 February 1923 at Mullaghmore House, Omagh, Co. Tyrone, the eldest of four children of Major John Kearney (Jack) Gorman (1891–1980), an RUC officer, and his…...
Hardiman, James
Hardiman, James (1782–1855), historian and librarian, was born in February 1782 at Westport, Co. Mayo, only son of Tomás (or Richard) Ó hArgadáin or Hartigan, a small estate owner, originally from Co. Meath, and his wife Marcella or Margery (née Hall). Hardiman, according to his friend…...
Harrison, Letitia Dunbar- (Crawford, Aileen)
Harrison, Letitia Dunbar- (Crawford, Aileen) (1906–94), librarian and methodist activist, was born Letitia Elizabeth Eileen Dunbar in Dundrum, Co. Dublin, on 4 February 1906, the youngest of at least four children of Arthur Dunbar, a commercial traveller, and his wife Margaret (née…...
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,…...
Hickey, Ted (Edward Vincent)
Hickey, Ted (Edward Vincent) (1940–2005), arts administrator and traditional music enthusiast, was born 4 March 1940 in Wicklow town. He was educated at the Institute for Science and Technology in Kevin Street, Dublin; the London School of Film Technique; and…...
Hoey, James
This is a co-subject for the entry on Hoey, James. View the original entry....