Eagar, Margaret Alexandra ('Margaretta')
Eagar, Margaret Alexandra ('Margaretta') (1863–1935), nursery nurse to the Russian imperial family, was born in Limerick on 12 August 1863. She was the fifth of eleven children born to Francis MacGillycuddy Eagar and his wife Frances Holden. From 1855–80, Francis Eagar was governor of…...
Elmes, Mary
Elmes, Mary (1908–2002), humanitarian worker 'righteous among the nations', was born Marie Elizabeth Jean Elmes on 5 May 1908, at Culgreine, 120 Blackrock Road, Ballintemple, Cork, the home of her parents, Edward Thomas Elmes, a pharmacist, and his wife Elizabeth Octavia (née Waters…...
English, Adeline (‘Ada’)
English, Adeline (‘Ada’) (1875–1944), doctor, academic, and nationalist, was born 10 January 1875 in Caherciveen, Co. Kerry, younger daughter of Patrick English, pharmaceutical chemist, and Nora English (née McCardle). She was reared in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, though her father may…...
Fitzgerald, Mary
Fitzgerald, Mary (1885–1960), South African trade unionist and socialist, was born in Ireland; her maiden name, and precise place and date of birth are not known. Emigrating with her father to the Cape Colony (1900), she worked as a typist for the British army at the Castle, Cape Town.…...
Fleury, Eleonora Lilian
Fleury, Eleonora Lilian (1867–1960), medical doctor, was born in Manchester, England, the eldest daughter of Charles Fleury, a Waterford surgeon of Huguenot stock. Losing her mother at an early age, she appears to have been home-educated before registering as a medical student at…...
Galway, Mary
Galway, Mary (1864–1928), trade unionist, was born 6 September 1864 in Taglanneg, Moira, Co. Down, daughter of Henry Galway and Elizabeth Galway (née Magennis), linen weavers. She later moved with her family to Belfast, living initially in 85 Leeson St., before settling in 31 Crocus…...
Gatty (Gillett-Gatty), Katherine
Gatty (Gillett-Gatty), Katherine (1870–1952), suffragette and socialist, was born on 11 June 1870 in Firozpur, India, to Edward Gatty, a British army captain and Emma Rebecca Gatty (née Collum ), a member of a prominent Fermanagh family. Gatty, an only child, was raised on the…...
Gaynor, Anna (‘Sister Mary John’)
Gaynor, Anna (‘Sister Mary John’) (1826–99), Sister of Charity and first superior of Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin, was born 17 March 1826 in Athlone, one of six children (five daughters and one son) of John and Anne Gaynor of Roxborough, Co. Roscommon. One of the…...
Gibb (Gibson), Rosemary Elizabeth Jane (‘Rosy’)
Gibb (Gibson), Rosemary Elizabeth Jane (‘Rosy’) (1942–97), social worker, clown, and magician, was born 8 November 1942 in Dublin, the only child of Jack Gibson, a well-known surgeon and hypnotist, and Elizabeth Maude Gibson (née James). She passed her early childhood in Guernsey, where…...
Gogan, Christina (Sr Mary de Lourdes)
Gogan, Christina (Sr Mary de Lourdes) (1908–2000), Medical Missionary of Mary, was born 21 December 1908, second among eight children of John Gogan, licensed vintner and general merchant, Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath, and Bridget Gogan (née Caul). After local primary school she was…...
Gregg, Anne (Deirdre)
Gregg, Anne (Deirdre) (1940–2006), broadcaster and travel writer, was born 11 February 1940 in Dundonald, east Belfast. Her father was a civil servant employed in the Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland and her mother was a dressmaker. She had one brother. Anne attended Strathearn…...
Grey, Mona Elizabeth Clara
Grey, Mona Elizabeth Clara (1910–2009), nurse, was born 24 September 1910 in Westridge, Rawalpindi, in the Punjab, then in India, the daughter of Albert Edward Grey and Grace Grey (née Dassing or Dashing). At the time of her birth her father was working as a guard on the North Western…...
Grimley (Whelan), Ellen Jane (‘Nellie’)
Grimley (Whelan), Ellen Jane (‘Nellie’) (c.1887–1960), trade unionist, the only daughter of John Whelan, a tradesman, was probably born in Belfast. Brought up in what she felt was a relatively comfortable home, she was conscious of the grinding poverty around her. She began…...
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel (1870–1953), author and traveller, was born 3 February 1870 at Cloona House, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim, fourth child among two sons and four daughters of Nicholas William Grimshaw of Belfast, former director of the Ulster Spinning Company turned wine-and-oil merchant…...
Gubbins, Beatrice
Gubbins, Beatrice (1878–1944), watercolour artist and traveller, was born 19 September 1878 in Co. Limerick, the youngest of the two sons and five daughters of Thomas Wise Gubbins, distiller, and his wife, Frances Gertrude (née Russell) of Askeaton, Co. Limerick. The family moved to…...
Hackett, Rosanna ('Rosie')
Hackett, Rosanna ('Rosie') (1893–1976), trade unionist, was born 25 July 1893 at 14 Prebend Street, off Constitution Hill in the Dublin north city centre, elder of two daughters of John Hackett, described as a labourer at his marriage (October 1891) but working by Rosie's birth as a…...
Halappanavar, Savita
Halappanavar, Savita (1981–2012), catalyst for change in Irish abortion laws, was born Savita Andanappa Yalagi on 29 September 1981 in Bagalkot, Karnataka province, south-west India, the youngest of three children (two boys, one girl) of Andanappa Yalagi, an electrical engineer with the…...
Hampson, Sara E.
Hampson, Sara E. (fl. 1860–1908), nurse, was probably born in England, but almost nothing is known of her life outside her Dublin career. She was one of the first members trained in the Nightingale School of Nursing at St Thomas's Hospital, London (opened 1860), and worked…...
Hannan, Mary Josephine
Hannan, Mary Josephine (1865–1935?), doctor, was born in Dublin; nothing is known of her parents. One of the earliest female students admitted to study medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, she became in July 1890 the first Irishwoman to graduate…...
Hannelly, Dympna
Hannelly, Dympna (1922–2014), missionary nun, was born Eitne Hannelly on 4 December 1922 to Patrick Hannelly and Annie Hannelly (née Egan) of Tarmon, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. Known as ‘Enna’ to her family, she had a twin brother Padraig, two other brothers and two sisters. Padraig…...
Hearn, Mary Ellice Thorn
Hearn, Mary Ellice Thorn (1891–1969), gynaecologist and first female fellow of the RCPI, was born 25 February 1891 at 17 St Patrick's Place, Cork, the daughter of William Edward Ashley Cummins (1858–1923), professor of…...
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn)
Heath, (Sophie) Mary (‘Lady Heath’) (née Peirce-Evans; other married name Eliott-Lynn) (1896–1939), athlete and aviator, was born Sophie Catherine Theresa Mary Peirce-Evans on 17 November 1896 in Knockaderry, Co. Limerick, the only child of Jackie Peirce-Evans and his wife and former…...
Hedderman, Bridget
Hedderman, Bridget (1872–1943), district nurse, was born on 17 January 1872, in the family home at Querrin, just outside Kilkee, Co. Clare, the eldest of four daughters of Manus and Mary Hedderman (née Nash). Manus Hedderman worked a variety of jobs, including fisherman, boatman and…...
Huxley, Margaret Rachel
Huxley, Margaret Rachel (1855–1940), nursing pioneer, was born in Croydon, Surrey, England, sixth among eight children of William Thomas Huxley (eldest brother of T. H. Huxley, FRS), and his wife, Esther (née Hopkins). She was…...
Jellett, Eva Josephine
Jellett, Eva Josephine (1868–1958), doctor, was born 6 January 1868 at 40 Wellington Row, Dublin, youngest daughter of John Hewitt Jellett (qv), clergyman, mathematician, and provost of TCD…...