Hughes, Anthony George ('Tony')
Hughes, Anthony George ('Tony') (1928–2007), musician and university professor, was born 6 July 1928, in south Dublin, the son of George Hughes, an optical technician, and his wife Lilian (née Jones); he had three younger sisters. Brought up in Donore Road, off the South Circular…...
Hynes, (Oliver) Jerome (Morley)
Hynes, (Oliver) Jerome (Morley) (1959–2005), theatre and festival manager, and arts administrator, was born 30 September 1959 at St John of God nursing home, Ballymote, Co. Sligo, one of two sons and two daughters of Oliver P. Hynes (c.1920–2004), vocational teacher, and his…...
Joyce, Margaret Alice (‘Poppie’; Sister Mary Gertrude)
Joyce, Margaret Alice (‘Poppie’; Sister Mary Gertrude) (1884–1964), Sister of Mercy and musician, was born 18 January 1884 at 41 Brighton Square West, Rathgar, Dublin, second eldest of ten surviving children (four sons and six daughters) of…...
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…...
Keane, Rita
Keane, Rita (1923–2009), traditional singer and musician, was born on 31 December 1923 in the townland of Carragh, Caherlistrane, Co. Galway, one of eight children (four daughters and four sons) of Matt Keane and his wife May (née Costello; d. 1978), who were farmers. Rita attended…...
Kearney, Peadar
Kearney, Peadar (1883–1942), revolutionary and song-writer, was born 12 December 1883 in Dorset St., Dublin, eldest of three sons and three daughters of John Kearney, grocer and businessman, and Katie Kearney (née McGuinness). Christened Peter Paul Kearney, he was educated at the…...
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, Margaret ('Miss Bluebell')
Kelly, Margaret ('Miss Bluebell') (1910–2004), show dancer, choreographer, and impresario, was born 24 June 1910 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, daughter (according to the birth certificate) of James Kelly, a tram conductor, of 14 Marlborough Street, and Margaret Kelly (née Ryan…...
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…...
Kelly, Thomas Christopher (‘T. C.’)
Kelly, Thomas Christopher (‘T. C.’) (1917–85), composer and music teacher, was born in December 1917 in Wexford town, the fifth of six children of James Kelly, baker, and Margaret Kelly (née Redmond). His schooling took place at the local …...
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).…...
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…...
Lanigan, John
Lanigan, John (1758–1828), priest and ecclesiastical historian, was born at Cashel, Co. Tipperary, the eldest of sixteen children of Thomas Lanigan, a teacher who had studied for the priesthood, and his wife, Mary Anne Lanigan (née Dorkan). Educated at his father's school, and at the…...
Lenihan, Maurice
Lenihan, Maurice (1811–95), journalist and author, was born 5 February 1811 in St Patrick's parish, Waterford city, eldest of fifteen children (ten sons and five daughters) of James Lenihan, woollen draper (in Broad St., then the leading business area in the city), and Margaret…...
Lewis, Helen
Lewis, Helen (1916–2009), Holocaust survivor, dance teacher, choreographer and memoirist, was born Helena Katz on 22 June 1916 into a well-off Jewish family in Bohemia in the Austro-Hungarian empire (Bohemia became part of the new state of Czechoslovakia in 1918). She was an only…...
Locke, Josef
Locke, Josef (1917–99), singer and entertainer, was born Joseph McLaughlin 23 March 1917 at 19 Creggan St., Derry city, one of ten children of Patrick McLaughlin, butcher and cattle dealer, and Annie McLaughlin (née Doherty). Educated by the Christian Brothers and awarded for his…...
Loughnane, William (‘Bill’, ‘Willie’)
Loughnane, William (‘Bill’, ‘Willie’) (1915–82), hurler, musician, doctor, and politician, was born 5 August 1915 in Feakle, Co. Clare, son of Willie Loughnane, farmer and shopkeeper, and Kate Loughnane (née McInerney), and educated at Feakle national school, St Flannan's College…...
Ludwig (Ledwidge), William
Ludwig (Ledwidge), William (1847–1923), singer, was born 15 July 1847 in Arran Quay, Dublin, eldest son of William Ledwidge, chorister, of Dublin, and Teresa Ledwidge (née Burke). He attended the O'Connell Schools and came under the influence of Br Swan, and later entered a…...
Lydon, James Francis Michael
Lydon, James Francis Michael (1928–2013), historian, was born on 12 May 1928 in Galway city, the second youngest of eleven children, to Daniel Lydon, a baker and owner of Lydon's bakery on Mary Street, Galway, and Catherine (née Hogan), who came from an Irish-speaking family just…...
Lynch, John
Lynch, John (c.1599–1677), historian and priest, was born in Galway city, and went to study on the Continent at an early age, firstly at Douai in the Spanish Netherlands, where he followed the Ratio Studiorum of the Jesuits. Subsequent stays in the Oratorian college in Dieppe (…...
Lyons, John Benignus (J. B.)
Lyons, John Benignus (J. B.) (1922–2007), medical doctor, historian and author, was born 22 July 1922 in Highland Lodge, just outside the village of Kilkelly, Co. Mayo, third son of John Lyons and his wife May (née Higgins); there was also a sister. His father was dispensary…...
Mac an Bhaird, Aodh Buidhe (Ward, Hugh; Vardaeus, Hugo)
Mac an Bhaird, Aodh Buidhe (Ward, Hugh; Vardaeus, Hugo) (c.1593–1635), hagiographer, was born in the barony of Tirhugh, Co. Donegal, probably at Ballymacaward, a townland that was named after his family. The Mac an Bhaird family belonged to the hereditary learned caste of…...