Abbán
Abbán (d. 520?), saint in the Irish tradition, although primarily associated with the churches of Mag Arnaide (‘Moyarney’/Adamstown, near New Ross, Co. Wexford) and Cell Abbáin (Killabban, Co. Laois), is also linked to other parts of the country, most notably Ballyvourney, Muskerry, Co…...
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…...
Adomnán
Adomnán (c.624–704), son of Rónán, was 9th abbot of Iona (679–704), biographer of Colum Cille, and saint in the Irish tradition. According to the genealogies, he was son of Rónán son of Tinne, one of the Cenél Conaill branch of the Uí Néill, and a kinsman of…...
Áedán (Aidan)
Áedán (Aidan) (d. 651), founder and first bishop of Lindisfarne, was effectively ruler of the church of Northumbria from c.635 till his death. The mission of Paulinus from Canterbury (begun in 625) was superficially successful, culminating in the establishment of an…...
Affraic
Affraic (d. 743) was abbess of Kildare 733–43. Her rare personal name, a borrowing of the Latin Africa, was also borne by a later abbess of Kildare who died in 834 and by an obscure minor saint, daughter of one Cumlachtach, associated with Imlech Tuascirt (LL…...
Ailbe
Ailbe (d. 527?), patron of the church of Imlech Ibair (Emly, on the Limerick/Tipperary border), Munster's most important church till it was superseded by Cashel in the early twelfth century, was Munster's premier saint, whence the saying Mumu uili . . . iar cúl Ailbe, ‘…...
Ailerán (Aileranus Sapiens)
Ailerán (Aileranus Sapiens) (d. 665), fer léigind (lector or chief scholar) of the monastery of Clonard, Co. Meath, died in the great cholera or plague, termed the Buide Conaill (AU 665). His obit is given as 29 December in the Martyrology of Tallaght and in the…...
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…...
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’)
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’) (1932–2002), legal-aid campaigner, was born 4 May 1932 at 154 Bandon Road, Cork city, one of two daughters and two sons of Michael Lynch , labourer, and Eileen Lynch (née Sullivan). Her parents both died early, leaving her in the care of her grandmother,…...
Alen, Sir John
Alen, Sir John (d. 1561), lawyer and administrator, was the son of Warin Alen of Cotteshall, Norfolk, England, and cousin of his namesake John Alen (qv), archbishop of Dublin (1529–34) and a protégé of Cardinal Wolsey. He entered Gray…...
Alexander, Sir Jerome
Alexander, Sir Jerome (1590–1670), judge and administrator, was born at Gressenhall, Norfolk, the eldest son of Jerome Alexander of Thorpland in Norfolk. Schooled at Aylsham, he entered Furnival's Inn on 1 July 1609, and also matriculated at Caius College, Cambridge, on 11…...
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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Alleyn, Sir James
Alleyn, Sir James (fl. 1425–57), landowner in Co. Meath, lawyer, and officeholder, appears in 1425 as a justice of the liberty of Ulster, with the title of knight. At or after the end of 1427 he and Sir Henry Fortescue (d. c.1460), chief justice of the king's bench…...
Anderson, Robert
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Anderson, Sir Samuel Lee
Anderson, Sir Samuel Lee (1837–86), and Sir Robert (1841–1918), lawyers and secret-service administrators, were sons of Matthew Anderson of Londonderry, crown solicitor for Dublin. Samuel Lee, the elder, was named after an ancestor member of the apprentice boys of Derry in 1688;…...
Andrew (Andreas)
Andrew (Andreas) (fl. 9th cent.), Irish pilgrim saint and archdeacon of the cathedral of Fiesole, accompanied the more famous and better documented Donatus (qv) (d. 876), scholar and bishop of Fiesole, on pilgrimage to the holy…...
Andrews, Sir James
Andrews, Sir James (1877–1951), lord chief justice of Northern Ireland, was born 3 January 1877 in Comber, Co. Down, third among five sons of Thomas Andrews of Comber, industrialist, and his wife Elizabeth, only daughter of James Alexander Pirrie of Clandeboye, Co. Down, and sister…...
Annesley, Francis
Annesley, Francis (1663–1750), barrister and politician, was born 14 October 1663, eldest son of the Hon. Francis Annesley (1628–a.1705) of Castlewellan, Co. Down, and his wife Deborah (d. 1672), daughter of Henry Jones (qv),…...
Anster, John Martin
Anster, John Martin (1793–1867), poet, translator of Goethe's Faust, and regius professor of civil law in Dublin University, was born 21 October 1793 in Charleville, Cork, son of John Anster, distiller, and Mary Ann Anster (née Hiffernan). The family was catholic, and…...
Archbold, John Frederick
Archbold, John Frederick (1785–1870), legal author, was second son of John Archbold of Boldbrook and Turvey, Co. Dublin. He entered Lincoln's Inn (1809) and became a barrister (1814). Unmarried, with no known interests other than the law, he became a prolific writer of treatises and…...
Armstrong, Henry Bruce
Armstrong, Henry Bruce (1844–1943), politician and lawyer, was born 27 July 1844 at Hull House, Shoulden, Kent, England, second son of William Jones Wright Armstrong, JP, DL, and high sheriff of Co.…...
Armstrong, Richard
Armstrong, Richard (1815–80), MP and lawyer, was born 10 May 1815 in Co. Armagh, fifth but eldest surviving son of William Armstrong, engineer, of Roxborough, Co. Armagh, and Eliza Armstrong (née Steacy or Stracy). He was educated by a Mr Hawkesworth, entered…...
Arnold, Sir Nicholas
Arnold, Sir Nicholas (1507×1509–1580), lord justice, was second son of John Arnold of Churcham, Gloucestershire (protonotary and clerk of the crown in Wales, and holder of two manors in Gloucestershire), and his wife Isabel (née Hawkins). Nicholas entered Henry VIII's service in…...