Redmond, Séamus
Redmond, Séamus (1925–96), trade unionist, was born 9 February 1925 in the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, second son to James Redmond, company sergeant, and Mary Redmond (née McLoughlin). He was raised in the Curragh and Spike Island and later moved to Whitehall, Dublin. Educated at the…...
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…...
Robbins, Francis (‘Frank’)
Robbins, Francis (‘Frank’) (1895–1979), trade unionist, was born 5 July 1895 at 3 Upper Buckingham St., Dublin, fifth among nine children of William Robbins, sawyer, and Mary Robbins (née Whelan). Educated locally, he started work (1908) in Barrington's soap works in King's Inns St…...
Roberts, Richard
Roberts, Richard (1803–41), sailor, was third son of Richard Roberts, JP and captain of the Passage Yeomanry, of Ardmore, Passage West, Co. Cork, and his second wife, Mary Anne Neville, daughter of Norcott d'Esterre of Killura and Castle…...
Roberts, Ruaidhrí Butler
Roberts, Ruaidhrí Butler (1917–86), trade unionist, was born 1 January 1917 at 40 Grosvenor Road, Rathmines, Co. Dublin, one of two sons of George Roberts (qv), publisher, of that address and of 3 Montalto, Sorrento Road, Dalkey, Co.…...
Robson, Christopher (‘Chris’)
Robson, Christopher (‘Chris’) (1941–2013), architect and activist, was born on 29 January 1941 in Dublin, one of three children (two boys and a girl) of Harry Stanley Robson (1909–2003), an English architect working at the Office of Public Works (OPW), and his Irish wife Anne (née…...
Rogers, John Cecil Kelly-
Rogers, John Cecil Kelly- (1905–81), aviation pioneer, was born 8 February 1905 at Raven Lodge, Sandycove, Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire), Co. Dublin, second child of Capt. Theodore Rogers, RN (later of the Dublin–Liverpool passenger service), and Violet…...
Roney, Frank
Roney, Frank (1841–1925), Fenian and trade unionist, was born 13 August 1841 in Belfast, the eldest of a family of eight. Roney inherited his nationalist and trade unionist principles from his parents. His father was a carpenter and secretary of a carpenters' union in Belfast, and…...
Saul, Jonathan Patrick (‘Paddy’)
Saul, Jonathan Patrick (‘Paddy’) (1894–1968), sailor and pioneer aviator, was born into a Church of Ireland family in Skerries, Co. Dublin, son of a Dublin contractor, Thomas Saul, and his wife Catherine; he had at least three sisters and three brothers. Educated at St Patrick's…...
Sheehan, Daniel Desmond (‘D. D.’)
Sheehan, Daniel Desmond (‘D. D.’) (1873–1948), journalist, labour leader, MP, barrister, and soldier, was born 28 May 1873 at Dromtariffe, Kanturk, Co. Cork, the eldest of the three sons and one daughter of Daniel Sheehan, tenant farmer, and his wife, Ellen (née Fitzgerald). He…...
Sinclair, Elizabeth (Betty)
Sinclair, Elizabeth (Betty) (1910–81), trade unionist, was born 3 December 1910, into a protestant working class family in Hooker Street, Belfast. She was the third child of two sons and two daughters born to Joseph and Margaret Sinclair. Her father worked as a sawyer in Harland…...
Skinnider, Margaret (Ní SCINEADÓRA, Máighréad)
Skinnider, Margaret (Ní SCINEADÓRA, Máighréad) (1893–1971), republican, teacher, and trade unionist, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, to immigrant parents from Co. Monaghan. Qualifying as a teacher at Craiglockhart, she taught mathematics in Glasgow's Hillhead district. Active in the…...
Smillie, Robert (‘Bob’)
Smillie, Robert (‘Bob’) (1857–1940), trade unionist, socialist, and politician, was born 17 March 1857 in Belfast, younger of two sons of working-class parents of Scottish origin. Till early adulthood he styled the family name as ‘Smellie’. Orphaned at an early age, the brothers…...
Smith, John Chaloner
Smith, John Chaloner (1827–95), railway engineer, was born 19 August 1827 in Dublin, eldest son of John Smith of Dublin, proctor of the Irish ecclesiastical courts; his mother's name is not known. He entered TCD (1 July 1844), received a…...
Smithson, Annie M(ary) P(atricia)
Smithson, Annie M(ary) P(atricia) (1873–1948), author, nurse, republican, and trade unionist, was born Margaret Anne Jane Smithson 26 September 1873 at 22 Claremont Rd, Sandymount, Dublin, daughter of Samuel Raynor Smithson, a protestant, unionist barrister, and Margaret Louisa…...
Spring, Daniel
Spring, Daniel (1910–88), politician, trade unionist, and sportsman, was born 22 July 1910 in Spa Rd, Tralee, Co. Kerry, fifth eldest among five sons and nine daughters of Arthur Spring, butcher, and Catherine Spring (née Commane). Educated at Strand St. national school, he worked…...
Stacey, William
Stacey, William (1926–81), trade unionist, was born 21 October 1926 at 59 Caledon Road, East Wall, Dublin, the son of William Stacey, a labourer, and his wife Margaret (née McGauley). Growing up in East Wall, he attended St Laurence O'Toole's …...
Stewart, Alexander
Stewart, Alexander (1854–1926), trade unionist and political activist, was born in October 1854 in Glasgow, Scotland; no details of his parents are known. He appears to have been educated locally at what he described as ‘a private adventure school’ which was identified with the…...
Swift, (Laurence) John
Swift, (Laurence) John (1896–1990), trade unionist and labour historian, was born 26 August 1896 in Dundalk, Co. Louth, the eldest of two sons and two daughters of Patrick Swift, a master baker, and his wife Alice (née Deane), daughter of a Dundalk businessman. Known generally as…...
Tennant, Margaret Mary Edith (May) (née Abraham)
Tennant, Margaret Mary Edith (May) (née Abraham) (1869–1946), promoter of workers’ rights and public health, was born 5 April 1869 at Rathgar, Co. Dublin, the only daughter of Dr George Whitley Abraham, a lawyer in the civil service, and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Cornelius Curtain…...
Tobin, Daniel Joseph
Tobin, Daniel Joseph (1872–1955), trade union leader, was born 2 April 1872 in Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare, son of John Tobin, shopkeeper, and Bridget Tobin (née Kennelly). He attended national school locally before emigrating with a brother to the United States, settling in Cambridge…...
Tully, James
Tully, James (1915–92), politician and trade unionist, was born 18 September 1915 in Carlanstown, Kells, Co. Meath, second youngest among ten children of John Tully, cattle-herd, and Ann Tully (née Flood). He was educated at Carlanstown national school and St Patrick's Classical School…...
Walker, William
Walker, William (1871–1918), socialist and trade unionist, was born 9 January 1871 at 35 McCluny St., Belfast, son of Francis Walker, shipyard boilermaker and latterly trade-union official, and Sarah Walker (née McLaughlin). After attending St George's national school, he was…...
White, Richard Newport ('Dick')
White, Richard Newport ('Dick') (1924–2010), pilot and airline executive, was born on 21 May 1924 in Peter Street, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, the second child and eldest son of Richard White, a bank manager of Peter Street and later of Bayly Farm, Ballinaclough, near Nenagh, and his wife…...
Williams, Charles Wye
Williams, Charles Wye (1779–1866), shipping magnate and inventor, was born in Dublin, second of two sons of Thomas Williams (1748–1832), secretary of the Bank of Ireland, and Mary Ann Williams (née Quin or Quine), both of Dublin. Educated by private tutors, Charles later studied law…...