De Valera, Ruaidhrí
De Valera, Ruaidhrí (1916–78), archaeologist, was born 3 November 1916 in Dublin, fourth son among five sons and two daughters of Éamon de Valera (qv) and Sinéad de Valera (qv) (née…...
Dillon, Elizabeth
Dillon, Elizabeth (1865–1907), diarist, was born 2 March 1865 in England, eldest among five children of Sir James Charles Mathew (qv) (1830–1908) and his wife Elizabeth Blackmore Mathew (d. 1933), daughter of the Rev. Edwin…...
Dolan, Joseph
Dolan, Joseph (1872–1930), businessman and local activist, was born in January 1872 in Ardee, Co. Louth, son of Thomas Dolan, publican, merchant and farmer who was a native Irish speaker, and his wife Anne Segrave. The Dolans had built up an extensive business in Ardee since the early…...
Donnelly, Nicholas
Donnelly, Nicholas (1837–1920), catholic bishop, church musician, and local historian, was born 23 November 1837, in St Paul's parish, Dublin, eldest son of John Donnelly, a merchant. He was educated at Castleknock College and the Irish College, Rome, where he was ordained priest…...
Doolin, William
Doolin, William (1887–1962), surgeon, editor, and medical historian, was born 19 July 1887 at 20 Ely Place, Dublin, eldest child of Walter G. Doolin, architect, and Marion Doolin (née Creedon). His siblings were Daniel and Walter. He was educated at the Catholic University School…...
Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan
Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan (1816–1903), politician and journalist, was born in Monaghan town on 12 April 1816, the sixth and youngest child of John Duffy (d. 1827), a shopkeeper and former United Irishman, and his wife, Anne (née Gavan). Formative years After the premature deaths of his…...
Edwards, Robert (‘Robin’) Walter Dudley
Edwards, Robert (‘Robin’) Walter Dudley (1909–88), historian, was born 4 June 1909 in Dublin, elder son of Walter Edwards (1862–1946), a minor civil servant from Worcestershire, England, and Bridget Teresa McInerney (1871–1956), a nurse from Co. Clare. When his parents, a quaker and a…...
Fitzgerald, John
Fitzgerald, John (1825–1910), poet, painter, antiquary, and wood-carver, was born 18 June 1825 at Hanover Street, Cork, son of John Fitzgerald and Martha Mary Deacy. He was educated at Fr Mathew's (qv) school, Blackamoor Lane, and…...
Fitzpatrick, William John
Fitzpatrick, William John (1830–95), historian, was born 31 August 1830 in Thomas St., Dublin, son of John Fitzpatrick, tallow chandler and merchant. He began his education at a local Church of Ireland school before attending Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare. His father left…...
Fleming, Patrick
Fleming, Patrick (1599–1631), Franciscan friar and scholar, was born on 17 April 1599 at Bel atha Lagan, Clonkeen, Co. Louth, the son of Gerald Fleming and Elizabeth Cusack of Cushintown. He was baptised Christopher and was a pious and hard-working child. At the age of thirteen he…...
Flood, William Henry Grattan
Flood, William Henry Grattan (1859–1928), musician and historian, was born 1 November 1859 at Lismore, Co. Waterford, eldest son of William Flood and his wife Catherine (née Fitzsimon). His mother gave him his first musical training, and he continued his musical studies during his…...
Fox, Richard Michael ('R. M. ')
Fox, Richard Michael ('R. M. ') (1891–1969), writer and trade unionist, was born on 13 November 1891 in Leeds, Yorkshire, the second of four sons of Richard Fox and his wife Elizabeth (née Rathmell). Richard senior worked as a gymnasium instructor in Leeds, and later as a skilled…...
Furlong, George Joseph
Furlong, George Joseph (1898–1987), art historian and gallery director, was born 1 February 1898 in Dundrum, seven miles north-west of Cashel, Co. Tipperary, son of Michael Furlong, hotel proprietor, and Kate Mary Furlong (née Bourke). Although he was orphaned at 9, the family…...
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…...
Gorham, Maurice Anthony Coneys
Gorham, Maurice Anthony Coneys (1902–75), author, journalist, and broadcasting administrator, was born in London on 19 August 1902, the younger child of James John Gorham, doctor, formerly of Clifden, Co. Galway, and his wife Mary Smith of Lancaster. His sister Mary Honora was…...
Grierson, Philip
Grierson, Philip (1910–2006), historian and numismatist, was born in Dublin on 15 November 1910, only son and second of three surviving children (another child had died in infancy) of Philip Henry Grierson (1859–1952) and his wife Roberta Ellen Jane (née Pope), a doctor's…...
Gywnn, Denis Rolleston
Gywnn, Denis Rolleston (1893–1971), journalist and historian, was born 6 March 1893, third son among four sons and two daughters of Stephen Lucius Gwynn (qv), writer and MP, and his wife and first cousin Mary Louise, daughter of…...
Hackett, Francis
Hackett, Francis (1883–1962), novelist, historian, and journalist, was born 21 January 1883 at 34 Patrick St., Kilkenny city, one of six sons and three daughters of John Byrne Hackett, a Kilkenny-born doctor, and Bridget Hackett (née Doheny), daughter of a prosperous farmer of…...
Hamilton, Anthony (Antoine)
Hamilton, Anthony (Antoine) (1646?–1720), Jacobite, soldier and man of letters, was probably born in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, third son of Sir George Hamilton and his wife Mary Butler, third daughter of Thomas, Viscount Thurles, and a sister of…...
Harbison, Sheelagh Helen
Harbison, Sheelagh Helen (1914–2012), medieval historian, was born in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, on 2 September 1912, the only daughter and youngest of three surviving children, to Frederick William MacSherry , bank manager, and his wife Helen (née MacDermott). After Sheelagh was born…...
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…...
Harold, Francis
Harold, Francis (c.1617–1685), Franciscan priest and historian, was born in Limerick. Though he claimed to be of Hiberno-Norse royal stock, nothing is known of his immediate family. His mother was a member of the Wadding family of Waterford and his father may have been…...
Harrington, Niall Charles
Harrington, Niall Charles (1901–81), soldier, writer, and broadcaster, was born 23 January 1901 at 6 Cavendish Row, Dublin, one of the eight children of Timothy Charles Harrington (qv), MP, barrister at law, and his wife…...
Haverty, Martin
Haverty, Martin (1809–87), journalist and historian, was born 1 December 1809 in Mayo, younger half-brother of the artist Joseph Haverty (qv). Nothing is known of their early life. Aspiring to the priesthood, Martin was educated at the…...
Hayden, Mary Teresa
Hayden, Mary Teresa (1862–1942), historian and women's rights campaigner, was born 19 May 1862 in Merrion Square, Dublin, only daughter of Thomas Hayden (qv), physician and later vice-president of the Royal College of Surgeons, and Mary…...