Ryan, Mary Kate ('Kit', 'Cáit')
Ryan, Mary Kate ('Kit', 'Cáit') (1878–1934), academic and political activist, was born at Tomcoole, Taghmon, Co. Wexford, second of twelve children (four sons and eight daughters) of John Ryan, strong farmer, and his wife Elizabeth (née Sutton). The family was notable for its…...
Skeffington, (Johanna) Hanna Sheehy-
Skeffington, (Johanna) Hanna Sheehy- (1877–1946), political activist, was born 24 May 1877 in Kanturk, Co. Cork, eldest among two sons and four daughters of David Sheehy (qv), millowner and later nationalist MP, and Elizabeth (‘Bessie’) Sheehy…...
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…...
Somers, Elizabeth
Somers, Elizabeth (1881–1934), republican and industrial revivalist, was born 14 October 1881 at Waterford city, daughter of William Somers, post office engineer, and his wife Elizabeth (née Walsh); she had at least three brothers. Her mother's family, who came from Kilmacow, Co.…...
Stokes, Barbara Maive
Stokes, Barbara Maive (1922–2009), paediatrician and disability campaigner, was born 20 December 1922 in London to Brigadier William Noel Stokes (d. 1969) and his wife Pauline Mary (née Reynolds). As a child she often spent summers in Ireland, and in her teens played in the Irish junior…...
Sugrue, Elizabeth (‘Lady Betty’)
Sugrue, Elizabeth (‘Lady Betty’) (1740/50–1807), executioner, is thought to have been born in Co. Kerry into a tenant farming family between 1740 and 1750. The location of her birth and names of her parents are not known, and available details of her life are largely anecdotal or…...
Thornton, Brigid Lyons
Thornton, Brigid Lyons (1896–1987), public health doctor and first female commissioned officer in the Irish Free State army, was born 13 May 1896 in Northyard, Scramogue, Co. Roscommon, the eldest child of the two daughters and one son of Patrick Lyons, farmer, and Margaret Lyons…...
Troy, Elizabeth Mary ('Lilly')
Troy, Elizabeth Mary ('Lilly') (1914–2011), obstetrician, was born 14 September 1914 at 1 Dartmouth Villas, Ranelagh, Dublin, the home of her parents, one of three daughters and two sons born to Joseph Troy, hatter and outfitter, and his wife Hanna ('Johanna') (née Doran). She was…...
Tynan, Margaret
Tynan, Margaret (1930–2007), first woman mayor of Kilkenny, was born 15 November 1930 in Kilkenny city, only daughter of Pierce Tynan and his wife Mary ('Minnie') (née McGrath); there were also three sons. Pierce Tynan set up a prosperous motor company and garage in Kilkenny, and was…...
Uí Choisdeailbh, Eibhlín (Edith Costello)
Uí Choisdeailbh, Eibhlín (Edith Costello) (1870–1962), folksong collector, Irish language enthusiast, and political activist, was born 27 June 1870, probably in the Strand union workhouse, St Pancras, London. She was christened Edith Drury and raised a member of the Church of…...
Walsh (Breathnach), Róisín
Walsh (Breathnach), Róisín (1889–1949), librarian and republican, was born on 24 March 1889 into a staunchly nationalist catholic family in the townland of Lisnamaghery, Clogher, Co. Tyone, the eldest of eight children (five sisters and two brothers) of James Walsh (d. 1925), a national…...
Walsh, Sr Patricia
Walsh, Sr Patricia (1942–2015), missionary nurse, was born Anna Maria Catherine Walsh on 23 September 1942 in Portlick, Glasson, Co. Westmeath, the eldest of three girls and a boy, to Michael Walsh, a fisherman, and his wife Bridget (née Nolan). Having attended Glasson primary school (…...
Wilson, Katherine Anna Gifford (Katie)
This is a co-subject for the entry on DONNELLY, Helen Ruth (‘Nellie’) Gifford. View the original entry....
Young, Edith Mary
Young, Edith Mary (née O'Connor ) (1882–1974), suffragist, was born 10 September 1882 at 4 Pilot's Cottages, Harbour Rd (Bullock Harbour), Dalkey, Co. Dublin, daughter of John O'Connor, a clerk in the Four Courts, Dublin (1882), and subsequently clerk in the record and writ office…...