Doonican, Val
Doonican, Val (1927–2015), singer and musician, was born Michael Valentine Doonican on 3 February 1927 at 10 Passage Road in Waterford, the youngest of eight children (four boys and four girls) of John Doonican, a metal worker, and his wife Agnes (née Kavanagh). To distinguish him from…...
Doyle, Jack
Doyle, Jack (1913–78), boxer, actor, singer and playboy, was born Joseph Alphonsus Doyle, 31 August 1913 at 12 Queen Street, Queenstown, Co. Cork, eldest son among four sons and two daughters of Michael Doyle, sailor, of Queenstown, and Anastasia Doyle. His schooling, at St Joseph's…...
Doyle, William Joseph Gabriel
Doyle, William Joseph Gabriel (1873–1917), Jesuit priest and military chaplain, was born 3 March 1873 at Melrose, Dalkey, Co. Dublin, youngest child of Hugh Doyle, registrar of the insolvency court, and Christine Doyle (née Byrne). He was educated by the Rosminian Fathers at…...
Drew, Ronnie (Joseph Ronald Augustine)
Drew, Ronnie (Joseph Ronald Augustine) (1934–2008), folk singer, was born 16 September 1934 in 'Beaufort', Glasthule (Sandycove), Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, eldest of three sons and two daughters of Patrick ('Paddy') Drew, carpenter, and Margaret ('Peg') Drew (née Maher), a seamstress…...
Duckett, William
Duckett, William (1768–1841), French agent, was born at Killarney, Co. Kerry, in 1768. Nothing is known of his family other than that he had a brother, Sidney, who in the 1790s lived in Paris and Hamburg. Duckett went to France and may already have been there before 1784, in which…...
Duggan, Thomas Francis ('Tom')
Duggan, Thomas Francis ('Tom') (1890–1961), priest and military chaplain, was born 7 May 1890 in the Half Way, a small village in the parish of Ballinhassig, Co. Cork, the eldest of four surviving children (three boys and a girl) of Thomas Duggan (d. 1909) and his wife Hannah (née…...
Dunne, Seán
Dunne, Seán (1919–69), republican and labour activist, was born in Waterford city, youngest of three children of Michael Dunne, member of the RIC, and Brigid Dunne, and was educated at the CBS…...
Dunphy, Sean
Dunphy, Sean (1937–2011), showband and cabaret singer, was born John Michael Dunphy on 30 November 1937 in the family home at 17 London Bridge Road, Irishtown, Dublin, son of Patrick Dunphy, a plasterer, and Mary Dunphy (née Farrell). Following his father into a building trade, he…...
Esmond, Sir Thomas
Esmond, Sir Thomas (d. 1674), soldier and confederate, was the only son of Lawrence, Lord Esmond (qv) (d. 1646), of Limerick, Co. Wexford, and Margaret, daughter of Murrough O'Flaherty of Connacht. His parents separated over…...
Everett, James
Everett, James (1890–1967), Labour politician and trade unionist, was born 14 February 1890 in Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow, a son of Robert Everett, a small farmer and waiter, and Margaret Everett (née Doyle). He had one brother and a sister and attended the local national school in…...
Fahy, Francis Arthur
Fahy, Francis Arthur (1854–1935), songwriter and Irish-language activist, was born 27 September 1854 at Kinvara, Co. Galway, one of eight children of Thomas Fahy, shopkeeper, of Co. Clare, and Celia Fahy (née Marlborough) of Gort, Co. Galway. Educated at Kinvara national school, he…...
Feehan, Matthew (‘Matt’)
Feehan, Matthew (‘Matt’) (1913–90), soldier and newspaper editor, was born 11 November 1913 at 4 Great Denmark St., north-east of Rutland (later Parnell) Square, Dublin, youngest son of Matthew Feehan, grocer, and Aileen Feehan (née Boland), of Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. He was educated at…...
Feeney, John (‘Jack’)
Feeney, John (‘Jack’) (1903–67), singer, was born 9 August 1903 in Swinford, Co. Mayo, fourth of seven surviving children (five sons and two daughters) of Patrick Feeney (1865–1914/15), grocer, originally from Co. Leitrim, and Mary Feeney (née Kelly) (1875–1925), a daughter of the…...
Fenton, Tony
Fenton, Tony (Anthony Fagan, ‘the Dude’) (1961–2015), music broadcaster and disc jockey (DJ), was born Anthony James Fagan in Donnycarney, Co. Dublin, on 25 March 1961, the second of four sons and one daughter to Brendan Fagan, a carpenter with his own business, and his…...
Finucane, Brendan Eamonn (‘Paddy’)
Finucane, Brendan Eamonn (‘Paddy’) (1920–42), airman, was born 16 October 1920 at 13 Rathmines Road, Dublin, eldest among three sons and two daughters of Thomas Andrew Finucane, businessman, and Florence Louise Finucane (née Robinson) of Leicester, England. He was educated in…...
FitzGerald, Alexis James Oliver
FitzGerald, Alexis James Oliver (1916–85), solicitor and economist, was born 4 September 1916, the fourth child of Alexis FitzGerald and his wife, Elizabeth O'Halloran. He was born, as he would later say himself, ‘under the clock’ in the Waterford Mental Hospital, where his father was…...
Fitzgerald, Maurice
Fitzgerald, Maurice (1590–1649), catholic landowner and soldier, was eldest son of Gerald fitz Philip Fitzgerald and his second wife, Joan Walsh of Shanganagh, Dublin. Born into a junior branch of the family of the earls of Kildare, he held an estate of 5,000 acres in the parish…...
Fitzharris, Edward
Fitzharris, Edward (c.1648–1681), soldier and conspirator, was the second son of Sir Edward Fitzharris (d. in or before 1700), of Kilfinane, Co. Limerick, and his wife, Ellen Fitzgerald. He was probably a grandson of Sir Edward Fitzharris (d. April 1641), a lawyer and…...
Fitzjames, James
Fitzjames, James (1670–1734), duke of Berwick , soldier and Jacobite, was born 21 August 1670 at Moulins, France, eldest son of James, duke of York (later James II (qv)) and his mistress Arabella Churchill, sister of…...
Fitzmaurice, James Christopher
Fitzmaurice, James Christopher (1898–1965), aviator, was born 6 January 1898 at 35 Mountjoy Prison Cottages, North Circular Road, Dublin, second of three sons and one daughter of Michael Fitzmaurice, prison warder, and Mary Agnes Fitzmaurice (née Riordan), both of whose families…...
Fitzpatrick, John (‘Jack’)
Fitzpatrick, John (‘Jack’) (d. p.1693?), army officer and politician, was the son of Florence Fitzpatrick, of Castletown, in the barony of Upper Ossory, Queen's County, who was a member of the commons in the confederate general assembly, 1642–9. The Fitzpatricks had…...
Fitzwilliam, Oliver
Fitzwilliam, Oliver (d. 1667), 2nd Viscount Merrion and earl of Tyrconnell , landowner and army officer, was the eldest son of Thomas Fitzwilliam, 1st Viscount Merrion, and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Oliver Plunkett, fourth Baron Louth. The Fitzwilliams were an important…...
Fleischmann, Aloys Georg
Fleischmann, Aloys Georg (1880–1964), composer, conductor, choir master and organist, was born on 24 April 1880 in Dachau, Bavaria, Germany. His father (also Aloys), a highly respected guild craftsman (a master shoemaker), was born in the nearby hamlet of Eisolzried in 1844 and…...
Flood, Finbarr
Flood, Finbarr (1938–2016), soccer player, managing director of Guinness brewery and chairman of the Labour Court, was born on 1 December 1938 in Kilmainham, Dublin, one of three children (and only son) to Jack Flood, a worker in Guinness, and his wife Eva Flood (née…...
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…...