O'Mahony, Conor
O'Mahony, Conor (1594–1656), Jesuit academic and author, was a native of Muskerry, west Co. Cork. Little of his early life is known until his entrance into the Irish College at Seville, probably in 1614, where he studied philosophy and theology for three and four years…...
O'Mahony, Eoin Seosamh
O'Mahony, Eoin Seosamh (‘Pope ’) (1904–70), barrister, genealogist, journalist, and broadcaster, was born in Monkstown in Cork on 22 March 1904, the only surviving son of Daniel O'Mahony, city analyst for Cork, and his wife (and cousin), Julia O'Keeffe. He was at school in Cork at…...
Ó Maolchonaire, Fearfeasa
Ó Maolchonaire, Fearfeasa (fl. 1630–46), one of the Four Masters, son of Lochlainn, was from the group of townlands in Co. Roscommon called Baile Uí Mhaolchonaire (see the writers' prefaces to the works of the ‘four masters’). His father may be the ‘Loughlin O'…...
Ó Meallàin, Toirdhealbhach (alias Feardorcha?)
Ó Meallàin, Toirdhealbhach (alias Feardorcha?) (Turlough O'Mallon) (fl. 1640s–1650s), Gaelic annalist and poet, was a Franciscan priest in the small friary at Gort Tamlacht na Muc in the Brantry district of Co. Tyrone during the early 1640s. The Ó Mealláins had been a prominent…...
O'Meara, Kathleen
O'Meara, Kathleen (1839–88), novelist and biographer, was born in Dublin, the daughter of Den[n]is O'Meara of Tipperary. When she was about five, she moved with her parents to France, where they had connections: a grandfather, Barry…...
O'Neill, Thomas Patrick
O'Neill, Thomas Patrick (1921–96), historian, was born 1 November 1921 in Ballon, Co. Carlow, the son of Thomas O'Neill, a farmer, and his wife, Anna Maria (née Murphy); he had two brothers, John and Maurice. He was educated in the local national school, at Knockbeg College, and at…...
O'Rourke, John
O'Rourke, John (1809–87), priest and historian, may have come from a farming background and appears to have had some knowledge of Irish; some of his passing remarks refer to personal memories of the bitter hostility felt towards agents and bailiffs and a sense, instilled in the…...
O'Sullivan Beare, Philip
O'Sullivan Beare, Philip (1590–1636), writer, soldier, and exile, was born on Dursey Island, Co. Cork, one of seventeen children of Johanna McSweeny and Dermot O'Sullivan, a member of the local ruling family. After the Irish defeat at Kinsale, Philip was sent to Spain in February…...
O'Sullivan, John Marcus
O'Sullivan, John Marcus (1881–1948), historian and politician, was born 18 February 1881 at Killarney, the second son of M. O'Sullivan, JP, merchant. He was part of an extended O'Sullivan family grouping, which struggled for dominance of…...
O'Sullivan, Mary Josephine Donovan-
O'Sullivan, Mary Josephine Donovan- (1887–1966), historian, was born in Fairhill, Galway, only daughter among ten children of William and Bridget Donovan from Cork. Her father had served in the Royal Navy. Educated at Dominican convent, Taylor's Hill, Galway, she won prizes in…...
O'Sullivan, Thomas Francis
O'Sullivan, Thomas Francis (1874–1950), journalist, historian, and GAA administrator, was born 16 December 1874 at Glin, Co. Limerick, although the family moved at an early age to Listowel, Co. Kerry. He studied at St Michael's CBS…...
Pakenham, Francis Aungier (‘Frank’)
Pakenham, Francis Aungier (‘Frank’) (1905–2001), 1st Baron Pakenham and 7th earl of Longford , writer and politician, was born 5 December 1905 at 7 Great Cumberland Place, London, the third of six children (and the second son) of Thomas Pakenham (1864–1915), 5th earl of Longford…...
Phelan, Margaret Mary (‘Daisy’)
Phelan, Margaret Mary (‘Daisy’) (1902–2000), local historian, was born 22 December 1902 at 8 William St., Kilkenny, second child of the marriage of Richard Duggan , businessman (proprietor of the Monster House), and his second wife, Henrietta Fitzgibbon of Castlerea, Co. Mayo,…...
Plowden, Francis Peter
Plowden, Francis Peter (1749–1829), catholic political writer, was born at Plowden Hall, near Bishop's Castle in Shropshire, on 28 June 1749, a younger son of William Ignatius Plowden, the head of an English recusant family. He probably attended the Franciscan School at Edgbaston…...
Plunkett, Count George Noble
Plunkett, Count George Noble (1851–1948), scholar and revolutionary, was born 3 December 1851 at 1 Aungier Street, Dublin, the youngest and only survivor from infancy of the three children of Patrick Joseph Plunkett (1817–1918), builder and politician, and his wife, Elizabeth, née Noble…...
Plunkett, Nicholas
Plunkett, Nicholas (c.1629–1718), historian, was born in north Co. Dublin, son of James Plunkett (d. 1739) and his wife Elizabeth Roper. Nothing is known of his early life. He succeeded to the family seat at Dunsoghly, Co. Dublin, in 1641, on the death of his grandfather…...
Porter, Francis (Walter)
Porter, Francis (Walter) (d. 1702), Franciscan priest and ecclesiastical writer, was the eldest of three sons of Simon Porter, a landed gentleman of an Old English family, from Kingstown near Navan in Co. Meath. He attended a school for Irish students in Lille founded by the…...
Power, Patrick
Power, Patrick (1862–1951), priest, historian, toponymist, and archaeologist, was born 8 March 1862 at Callaghane, Ballygunner, Co. Waterford, several kilometres from Waterford city. Educated at Ballygunner national school and the Catholic University School, Waterford city, he studied…...
Purcell, Mary
Purcell, Mary (1906–91), teacher, religious biographer, and archivist, was born 28 May 1906 in Moonveen, Carrigeen, Co. Kilkenny, one of three children of Richard Purcell, of Moonveen, and Anastasia Purcell (née Doyle), both of whom were schoolteachers. After attending the St Louis…...
Quin, Edwin Richard Windham Wyndham-
Quin, Edwin Richard Windham Wyndham- (1812–71), 3rd earl of Dunraven and Mount Earl, antiquarian, and MP, was born 19 May 1812 in London, only son of Windham Henry Quin (1782–1850), 2nd earl of Dunraven and MP for Co. Limerick (1806–20), and his wife Caroline (d. May 1870), daughter and…...
Quin, Michael Joseph
Quin, Michael Joseph (1796–1843), journalist and travel writer, was born in Co. Tipperary, the son of Morty Quin, a catholic distiller from Thurles. He entered TCD in 1811, but there is no record of his graduation. Called to the bar at…...
Raftery, Joseph
Raftery, Joseph (1913–92), archaeologist, was born in Dublin, son of John Raftery, governor of Mountjoy prison. Most of his childhood was spent in Portlaoise, Co. Laois, where he attended St Mary's CBS, to which he had won a…...
Reily (Reilly, O'Reilly), Hugh
Reily (Reilly, O'Reilly), Hugh (d. c.1695), Jacobite lord chancellor of Ireland and historian, was born in Co. Cavan, though his parents and date of birth are unknown. He was appointed (22 May 1686) a master in chancery by James…...
Renouf, Peter le Page
Renouf, Peter le Page (1822–97), church historian and Egyptologist, was born 23 August 1822 in St Peter Port, Guernsey, the eldest child of Joseph Renouf, Master of the Town Hospital school in St Peter Port, and his wife Mary (née le Page). His brother Frederick drowned at sea in…...
Robertson, James Burton
Robertson, James Burton (1800–77), historian, was born 15 November 1800 in London, son of Thomas Robertson, landowner in Grenada, West Indies, and his wife, Maria B. Purcell, widow of T. I. Lyndsay. The Robertsons were presbyterians but James was brought up in the catholic faith…...