Keating, Justin Pascal
Keating, Justin Pascal (1930–2009), politician, veterinarian and television presenter, was born 7 January 1930 in a nursing home at 37 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin, younger of two sons of Seán Keating (qv), artist, and…...
Lally, Mick
Lally, Mick (1945–2010), actor, was born on 10 November 1945 in Tourmakeady, Co. Mayo, the eldest of seven children (two sons and five daughters) of Thomas Lally, a hill farmer with thirty acres, and his wife May (née McGing). The district was bilingual and Lally grew up as a native…...
Lennon, Peter Gerard
Lennon, Peter Gerard (1930–2011), journalist, documentary film-maker and social critic, was born on 28 February 1930 at 30 North Frederick Street, Dublin, the eldest of three sons of Peter Joseph Lennon and his wife Delia (née Fenton). His mother was a former post office worker…...
Lucas, Frederick
Lucas, Frederick (1812–55), journalist and politician, was born 30 March 1812 at Westminster, second son of Samuel Hayhurst Lucas, a quaker and London corn merchant. His elder brother, Samuel Lucas (1811–65), became a noted journalist and social and educational reformer and married the…...
Marcus, David
Marcus, David (1924–2009), author, editor and journalist, was born on 21 August 1924 in his parents' house on the Mardyke in Cork city, son of Solomon Marcus, picture framer, and his wife Frances (née Goldberg), a sister of Gerald Goldberg…...
Meredith, James Creed
Meredith, James Creed (1875–1942), judge of the supreme court and writer, was born in Dublin, son of Sir James Creed Meredith, secretary of the Royal University of Ireland from 1880 to 1909, and his third wife, Nellie (née Graves). He had three brothers and two sisters. He began…...
Mitchel, John
Mitchel, John (1815–75), nationalist and journalist, was born on 3 November 1815 at Camnish, near Dungiven, Co. Londonderry, eldest surviving child among two sons and four daughters of John Mitchel (1781–1840), presbyterian minister of the Dungiven congregation, and his wife Mary…...
Moriarty, John Stephen
Moriarty, John Stephen (1938–2007), philosopher and shaman, was born 2 February 1938 at Moyvane, near Listowel, Co. Kerry, fourth of six children (two sons and four daughters) of James Moriarty, smallholder and native speaker of Irish (with eleven cows and 'thirty-two acres of bad,…...
Morrison, Bill (William McKay)
Morrison, Bill (William McKay) (1940–2011), dramatist, was born on 22 January 1940 in Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, the son of Hugh Morrison, principal of Ballymoney Model School, and his wife Annie (née McKay). Receiving primary education at Ballymoney Model, and secondary education…...
Nowlan, David Shackleton
Nowlan, David Shackleton (1936–2010), journalist, critic and medical doctor, was born on 19 May 1936 at 16 Lower Hatch Street, Dublin, the eldest of four children (two boys and two girls) of Revd George Nowlan (1904–74), rector (1935–9) of St Matthias's church, Dublin, and his wife…...
O'Brien, Thomas
O'Brien, Thomas (1914–74), poet, publisher, and Spanish civil war veteran, was born 24 April 1914 in Dublin, eldest child among two sons and two daughters of Hugh O'Brien and Mary (‘Polly’) O'Brien (née Berkeley). Having attended local Christian Brothers' schools, he left formal…...
O'Faolain, Nuala
O'Faolain, Nuala (1940–2008), journalist, writer and feminist, was born 1 March 1940 in Clontarf, Dublin, the second of nine children (six daughters and three sons) of Terry O'Sullivan (qv) (Terry Phelan), journalist and broadcaster, and…...
Raftery, Mary Frances Thérèse
Raftery, Mary Frances Thérèse (1957–2012), campaigning journalist and documentary maker, was born on 21 December 1957 in Dublin to Adrian Raftery, an Irish diplomat, and Ita Raftery (née Elmes). She had one sister and two brothers. The family lived in France for much of her early life,…...
Redlich, (Mary) Patricia
Redlich, (Mary) Patricia (1940–2011), journalist and psychologist, was born on 1 December 1940 at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin, one of four daughters and a son born to Ben Cribbon, a clerk, and his wife Mary (née Crean). Growing up in the northside Dublin…...
Redpath, James
Redpath, James (1833–91), journalist, abolitionist and Land Leaguer, was born 24 August 1833 in Berwick-on-Tweed on the Anglo–Scottish border , eldest of nine children (two sons and two daughters survived to adulthood) of Ninian Davidson Redpath, schoolmaster, and his wife Maria (née…...
Rylett, Harold
Rylett, Harold (1851–1936), non-subscribing presbyterian minister, journalist, land leaguer, and home ruler, was born 4 February 1851 in Boston Road, Horncastle, Lincolnshire, the son of Henry Rylett, a book binder, and later a commercial traveler, of Boston Road, and his wife Mary Jane…...
Toland, John
Toland, John (1670–1722), freethinker and polemical writer, was probably born in Inishowen, Co. Donegal, on 30 November 1670. Reputed to be the illegitimate son of a catholic priest, Toland may have been baptised ‘Joannes Eugenius’, which he later altered to a pen name, ‘Janus Junius’.…...
Tullio, Paolo Luigi Mario
Tullio, Paolo Luigi Mario (1949–2015), restaurant owner, writer and food critic, was born on 20 August 1949 in Falkirk, Scotland, the only child of Dionisio Tullio, a restaurant owner and his wife Irene (née Fusco). Although Tullio’s parents were Italian, his mother was raised between…...
Walsh, Dick (Richard Colman)
Walsh, Dick (Richard Colman) (1937–2003), journalist, was born in Cratloe, Co. Clare, on 29 October 1937, youngest of two sons and two daughters of Seán Walsh, principal of Cratloe National School (in succession to his own father), and his wife Pauline (née McNamara), also a teacher…...
Webb, Richard Davis
Webb, Richard Davis (1805–72), printer and philanthropist, was born in the Cornmarket, Dublin, where his parents had a linen business; he was eldest among seven sons of James Webb and Deborah Webb (née Forrest). The Webbs and Forrests were members of the Society of Friends;…...
White, William John (‘Jack’)
White, William John (‘Jack’) (1920–80), broadcaster, editor, journalist, and novelist, was born 30 March 1920 in Cork, second child of William Luke White, accountant, and Mary White (née Tyler). In his book Minority report (1975) he described himself as ‘a member of a…...
Wisdom, John Oulton (J. O.)
Wisdom, John Oulton (J. O.) (1908–93), philosopher and psychoanalyst, was born in Dublin on 29 December 1908, only child of Thomas Hume Wisdom, brewery clerk, and his English-born wife Jane, daughter of Dr Henry Oulton of St Stephen's Green. The Cambridge language philosopher Arthur…...