Adams, Michael
Adams, Michael (1937–2009), publisher and catholic activist, was born in Dublin on 22 June 1937, eldest of three children (two boys and a girl) of Francis Adams, cattle dealer, victualler and JP for Co. Fermanagh, and his wife Mary or Maud (née Atteridge), a protestant and daughter…...
Ailill Ólom
Ailill Ólom, mythical Munster king and ancestor figure of the free lineages of Munster, appears in alternative genealogical traditions either as son of Éogan Már (qv), ancestor of the Éoganacht dynasties, or as son of Mug Núadat and father of…...
Aldworth, Elizabeth
Aldworth, Elizabeth (1692/5?–1772?), freemason, was born probably in Doneraile, Co. Cork, daughter of Arthur St Leger , 1st Viscount Doneraile (1703), and his wife Elizabeth, heir of John Hayes. Around 1710 she accidentally overheard a masonic lodge meeting in Doneraile Castle, and…...
Allen, David
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Allen, David
Allen, David (1830–1903), printer, was born 6 June 1830 in Randalstown, Co. Antrim, eldest son of James Allen, carrier, and Margaret Allen (née Drennan). His father's business had been very extensive for several generations but suffered from the advent of railways, and when David…...
Allen, William Edward
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Archer, Patrick
Archer, Patrick (1866–1949), writer and Gaelic League activist, was born 19 December 1866 in Oldtown, Co. Dublin, the son of Patrick Archer, a shoemaker, and his wife, Jane Donoghue, a teacher. Having secured a postion in the civil service in 1891, he was appointed to the customs and…...
Ashe, Nora (Honora)
Ashe, Nora (Honora) (1882–1970), teacher, nationalist, and Irish language enthusiast, was born 15 July 1882 in Kinard, Lispole, Co. Kerry, the third daughter in the family of ten of Gregory Ashe, a farmer, and Ellen (née Hanafin), of Tobar, Co. Kerry. Both her parents were native…...
Aylward, Richard
Aylward, Richard (1872–1954), Celticist, priest, and professor of Irish, was born in Aylwardstown, Glenmore, Co. Kilkenny, son of Edmond Aylward, farmer, and Johanna Aylward (née Phelan). He was educated in the Old Classical College, Kilmacow, and at St Kieran's College, Kilkenny…...
Baird, George Courtenay
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Baird, Robert Hugh Hanley
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Baird, William
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Baird, William Savage
Baird, William Savage (1824–86) and George Courtenay Baird (1833–75), printers and newspaper proprietors, were brothers, natives of Randalstown, Co. Antrim; they had at least one other brother, Thomas Drew Baird (d. 1890), who joined the business after George Baird died. Both William…...
Bairéad, Riocard (Barrett, Dick)
Bairéad, Riocard (Barrett, Dick) (d. 1819), poet in Irish, was born between 1735 and 1740 in Barrack, Belmullet, Co. Mayo, on the Erris peninsula. He appears to have remained in the district for his entire life, moving only to Carne, a neighbouring parish, possibly c.1790. This…...
Balfe, John Donnellan
Balfe, John Donnellan (1816–80), politician, journalist, and British government spy, was born in Co. Meath, son of James Balfe, gentleman, and Sara Balfe (née Sutherland). He was educated at Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare, and had a brief career in the British army, joining…...
Barron, Philip Fitzgerald
Barron, Philip Fitzgerald (1801/2?–1844), Celticist and Hebraist, was born in Durrow House, Stradbally, Co. Waterford, one of seven children of Richard Barron of Durrow and Catherine Barron, daughter of Philip Hay of Co. Wexford. Though some sources give 1797 as his year of birth, …...
Barry, Katty
Barry, Katty (1909–82), restaurateur and famous Cork character, was born on Dalton's Avenue, off the Coal Quay, Cork, daughter of John Barry. Her mother ran a provisions shop on Dalton's Avenue, which Katty took over and turned into an eating house. Beautiful, witty, earthy, and…...
Barry, Richard
Barry, Richard (1769–93), 7th earl of Barrymore , spendthrift, was born in London on 14 August 1769 and succeeded his father, Richard, to the Irish earldom of Barrymore just before his fourth birthday. In his youth he became excessively interested in racehorses, gambling,…...
Battersby, William Joseph
Battersby, William Joseph (1794/5–1873), catholic bookseller and writer, is first mentioned in 1825, in Wilson's Dublin Directory, as a printer at 33 Winetavern Street, Dublin. He was to flourish in the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s, a period of rapidly growing catholic…...
Béaslaí, Piaras
Béaslaí, Piaras (1881–1965), writer, revolutionary, politician, language revivalist, and journalist, was born Percy (later Pierce , Piaras) Beazley on 15 February 1881 in Liverpool, England, second of three sons of Patrick Langford Beazley, editor of the Catholic Times from…...
Bedell, William
Bedell, William (1571–1642), scholar and churchman, was born in late December 1571 at Black Notley, Essex, England, second son of John Bedell and his wife, Elizabeth Elliston, and entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1584, the year of its foundation. He graduated in 1588, took his…...
Behan, Brian Finbar Oliver Plunkett
Behan, Brian Finbar Oliver Plunkett (1926–2002), writer, radical, and bohemian, was born Brian Desmond Behan (the name appearing on the birth certificate) on 10 November 1926 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, while the family were residing at 14 Russell St., the third of five children of…...
Bell, Laura Eliza Jane Seymour
Bell, Laura Eliza Jane Seymour (1829?–1894), celebrated beauty, was daughter of Robert Bell of Bellbrook, near Glenavy, Co. Antrim, bailiff for the Hertford estate, and locally prominent. In later life she claimed that her mother was Laura Jane Seymour, an illegitimate daughter of…...
Bennett, Arthur (Art Mac Bionaid)
Bennett, Arthur (Art Mac Bionaid) (1793–1879), scribe, scholar, and poet in Irish, was born in Ballykeel, Forkhill, Co. Armagh, one of seven children of the farmer John Bennett and his wife Mary Bennett. He was a direct descendent of the poet Micheál Ó hÍr, author of ‘Seachrán…...
Bergin, Osborn Joseph
Bergin, Osborn Joseph (1873–1950), Celtic scholar and poet, was born 26 November 1873 in Cork city, one of seven children (five girls and two boys) of Osborn Robert Bergin, a provision merchant, and Sarah Bergin (née Reddin), daughter of a shopkeeper. His brother, William Bergin, became…...