Conchobar
Conchobar , son of Ness, is a fictional personality who features in the Ulster cycle as king of the Ulaid (Ulstermen). The subject of an elaborate birth-tale, he is said to have been a son of the druid Cathbad and of Ness, daughter of a fictional king named Eochaid Sálbuide. His…...
Conn Cétchathach
Conn Cétchathach (‘the hundred-battler’), pseudo-historical ancestor of the dynasties which emerged as the Connachta (including Uí Néill) and Airgialla, and forebear of all noble families of Leth Cuinn (the northern half of Ireland), was reputedly a son of Fedelmid Rechtmar son of…...
Conneff, Thomas Patrick
Conneff, Thomas Patrick (1866–1912), athlete and soldier, was born in Kilmurry, Clane, Co. Kildare, the son of James Conneff and his wife Marcella (née Rourke). The Conneff family were blacksmiths plying their trade in the neighbourhood of Clane, in the shadow of the Jesuit college at…...
Conway, Edward
Conway, Edward (1594–1655), 2nd Viscount Conway and Killultagh, nobleman and army officer, was baptised at Arrow, Warwickshire, on 10 August 1594, the eldest son, of the three sons and four daughters, of Edward, later 1st Viscount Conway, army officer, and his wife, Dorothy,…...
Conway, Henry Seymour
Conway, Henry Seymour (1719–95), soldier and politician, second son of Francis Seymour Conway (Baron Conway and Killultagh, Co. Antrim) and Charlotte Conway (née Shorter), was baptised 12 August 1719 at Ragley, Warwickshire, and educated at Eton. He began military life as…...
Conway, Thomas
Conway, Thomas (1733–95), French army officer and governor of Mauritius, was born on 27 February 1733 at Templenoe, near Nedeen, Co. Kerry, elder son of James Conway (1711–87), a French army officer, and his wife, Julia, daughter of Denis Mahony of Dromore. The Conways and Mahonys…...
Conyngham, David Power
Conyngham, David Power (c.1825–1883), historian, journalist, and soldier, was born in Crohane, Co. Tipperary, the eldest son of John Cunningham and Catherine Cunningham (née Power), who were well-to-do tenant farmers. On his mother's side he was related to…...
Conyngham, Sir Albert
Conyngham, Sir Albert (d. 1691), Williamite officer, was born at Mount Charles, Co. Donegal, son of the Very Rev. Alexander Conyngham, dean of Raphoe, and Maria Conyngham (née Murray). On the restoration of King Charles II (1660) he was made lieutenant-general of the ordnance in…...
Cooper, Bryan Ricco
Cooper, Bryan Ricco (1884–1930), soldier and politician, was born in Jotogh, Simla, India, on 17 June 1884, the eldest son of Major F. E. Cooper (Royal Field Artillery), of Markree Castle, Collooney, Co. Sligo, and his wife, Ella, the half-Swiss eldest daughter of Major-General…...
Coote, Sir Charles
Coote, Sir Charles (c.1609–1661), 1st earl of Mountrath , lord president of Connacht, and military commander, was the eldest of the four sons of Sir Charles Coote (qv), provost-marshal of Connacht, and his wife Dorothea,…...
Coote, Sir Charles
Coote, Sir Charles (d. 1642), army officer, was the eldest son of Sir Nicholas Coote of Blownorton, Norfolk, and had two sisters and at least two brothers, one of whom, William, became dean of Down. His mother was almost certainly Nicholas Coote's second wife, Eleanor, daughter of…...
Coote, Sir Eyre
Coote, Sir Eyre (1726–83), soldier, was born at Ash Hill, Kilmallock, Co. Limerick, fourth and youngest son of Jane Coote (née Evans) and the Rev. Chidley Coote, anglican clergyman and direct descendant of Sir Charles Coote (qv),…...
Coote, Sir Eyre
Coote, Sir Eyre (1759–1823), general and MP, was born c.20 May 1759, second son of the Rev. Charles Coote (qv) of Shaen Castle, Queen's Co. (Laois), dean of Kilfenora, Co. Clare, and Grace Coote (née Tilson). Educated at Eton (…...
Corbet, Thomas
Corbet, Thomas (1773?–1804), United Irishman and French soldier, was born at Ballythomas, Co. Cork, one of eight children of Frederick Corbet, protestant farmer and schoolteacher; his mother was a Purcell. Educated by his father, he entered …...
Corbet, William
Corbet, William (1779–1842), United Irishman and French general, was born 17 August 1779 at Ballythomas, Co. Cork, one of eight children of Frederick Corbet, a protestant farmer and schoolteacher; his mother was a Purcell. Educated by his father, he entered…...
Corcoran, Michael
Corcoran, Michael (1827–63), brigadier-general in the American civil war and Fenian, was born in Carrowkeel, Co. Sligo, on 21 September 1827, son of Thomas Corcoran (d. 1845), a retired British army officer who had served in India, and Mary Corcoran (née McDonagh). In 1846 he joined…...
Cormac
Cormac son of Art, often viewed as the archetypal king of Tara, is conventionally associated with the Connachta/Uí Néill dynasties. Though there are strong arguments in favour of linking Cormac (sometimes dubbed Ulfota, ‘longbeard’) to an earlier tradition of Tara, by the…...
Cornwallis, Charles
Cornwallis, Charles (1738–1805), soldier and lord lieutenant of Ireland (1798–1801), was born 31 December 1738 in London, eldest son of Charles (1700–62), 1st Earl Cornwallis , and his wife Elizabeth (d. 1785), daughter of Charles, 2nd Viscount Townshend. Educated at Eton and the…...
Corry, Daniel
Corry, Daniel (1902–90), army officer and showjumper, was born 30 August 1902 in Loughrea, Co. Galway, the second of five children of Daniel Corry, shopkeeper, and Ellen Corry (née Morrissey); he was educated locally and as a boarder at St Joseph's College, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway.…...
Cosby, Francis
Cosby, Francis (1510–80), soldier and planter, was the second son of John Cosby of Great Leak in Nottinghamshire and his wife Mabel Agard. He became a soldier, serving in the English forces in the Low Countries. In 1535 he arrived in Ireland in the retinue of…...
Costello, Dudley
Costello, Dudley (c.1600–1667), confederate colonel and tory, was born in the barony of Costello and Gallen, Co. Mayo. He may be the same Col. Dudley Costello who supported Owen Roe O'Neill (qv) after the…...
Costello, Michael Joseph (‘Mickey Joe’)
Costello, Michael Joseph (‘Mickey Joe’) (1904–86), army officer and public servant, was born 2 July 1904 in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary, the eldest of five boys and three girls (three of the children died of influenza in 1917) of Denis Costello of Kilmihill, Co. Clare, and Teresa…...
Cotter, Sir James
Cotter, Sir James (c.1630–1705), soldier and Jacobite, was second of two sons and three daughters of Edmond Cotter, gentleman, of Ballinsperry, Carrigtohill, Co. Cork, and his wife Ellish, daughter of John Connell of Barryscourt, Carrigtohill. James Cotter appears to have…...
Coughlan, Cornelius
Coughlan, Cornelius (1828–1915), soldier, was born 27 June 1828 in Eyrecourt, Co. Galway, son (possibly one of four sons) of Edward and Catherine Coughlan, and was educated at Eyrecourt. He enlisted as a private in the 75th (Stirlingshire) Regiment (later the Gordon Highlanders), in…...
Courcy, John de
Courcy, John de (a.1155–1219), magnate, was younger son of William de Courcy II and Agnes de Rumilly. He is one of the most colourful figures of the late twelfth century in Ireland, traditionally described as a landless knight from Somerset who, almost single-handedly,…...