Alexander, Cecil Frances
Alexander, Cecil Frances (1818–95), hymn-writer, known in her family as Fanny, was born in Eccles Street, Dublin, second daughter (and third among seven children) of John Humphreys and Elizabeth Frances Humphreys (née Reed). Her mother's brother was Thomas Reed (1796–1883), a general…...
Alexander, Eleanor Jane (Nell)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Alexander, Cecil Frances. View the original entry....
Andrews, Mary Katherine
This is a co-subject for the entry on Andrews, Thomas. View the original entry....
Baird, Mary (Frances Josephine)
Baird, Mary (Frances Josephine) (1907–2009), nurse and health service administrator, was born 22 May 1907 in Belfast, the sixth of nine children (four boys and five girls) of Robert Baird, originally from Donegal, an RIC constable, and his wife Frances Harriet (née Hogan), from…...
Balfour, Mary E.
Balfour, Mary E. (fl. 1789–1810), poet, was born on 24 January; one source gives the year as 1755. However, if – as seems likely – she was the eldest daughter of John Balfour (who seems to have been a doctor in Derry city before becoming a clergyman in 1789, and who…...
Battier, Henrietta
Battier, Henrietta (Fleming ) (1751?–1813), poet and satirist. Little is known of Battier's background, other than she was the daughter of John Fleming of Staholmock, Co. Meath. In November 1768 she married in Carnarvon, north Wales, Capt. John Gaspard (Gasper, Gaspar) Battier, 5th…...
Bielenberg, Christabel Mary Harmsworth
Bielenberg, Christabel Mary Harmsworth (1909–2003), writer, was born on 18 June 1909 at the Old House, Totteridge, Hertfordshire, England, the second of four children (two boys and two girls) of Percy Collingwood Burton (1879–1953) of Totteridge, a British army officer and advertising…...
Blachford, Theodosia
Blachford, Theodosia (1744–1817?), philanthropist and leading methodist, was born at her father's residence in Rosanna, Co. Wicklow, only daughter of William Tighe (qv), landowner and MP, and Lady Mary Tighe of Rathmore, Co. Meath,…...
Blomfield, Sara Louisa
Blomfield, Sara Louisa , Lady (1859–1939), Bahá'í pioneer and humanitarian, was born in Knockanevin, Borrisoleigh, near Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the daughter of Matthew (Matthias) John Ryan and his wife Emily (née Crowe). Religious tension between her catholic father and anglo-…...
Booth, Eva Selina Gore-
Booth, Eva Selina Gore- (1870–1926), poet, mystic, trade unionist and suffragist, was born on 22 May 1870 at Lissadell, Co. Sligo, the second of three daughters (and two sons) of Sir Henry Gore-Booth, 5th baronet and Arctic explorer, and his wife, Georgina (née Hill) of Tickhill castle…...
Brodrick, Albinia Lucy (Gobnaít Ní Bhruadair)
Brodrick, Albinia Lucy (Gobnaít Ní Bhruadair) (1861–1955), republican and nurse, was born 17 December 1861 at 23 Chester Square, Belgrave, London, the fifth daughter of William Brodrick (1830–1907), 8th Viscount Midleton, and his wife, Augusta Mary (née Freemantle), daughter of…...
Byers, Margaret
Byers, Margaret (1832–1912), educationist, suffragist, and philanthropist, was born 15 April 1832 in Windsor Hill, Rathfriland, Co. Down, fourth child and only daughter of Andrew Morrow , farmer and mill operator, and Margaret Morrow (née Herron). After the death (c.1840…...
Cambridge, Alice
Cambridge, Alice (1762–1829), preacher, was born 1 January 1762 in Bandon, Co. Cork, of a presbyterian mother and anglican father, of whom no further details are known. She was brought up in the established church. Though she completed her formal education at an early age, she…...
Cary (Tanfield), Elizabeth
Cary (Tanfield), Elizabeth (1585–1639), Viscountess Falkland , writer and translator, was born at Burford Priory, Oxfordshire, the only child and heir of Lawrence Tanfield (c.1551–1625), a wealthy lawyer, later appointed chief baron of the exchequer, and his wife,…...
Chatterton, (Henrietta) Georgiana
Chatterton, (Henrietta) Georgiana (1806–76), writer, was born 11 November 1806 at 24 Arlington Street, Piccadilly, London, the only child of the Rev. Lascelles Iremonger , prebendary of Winchester cathedral, and Harriet, sister of Admiral Lord Gambier. Educated primarily by a…...
Chetwood, Anna Maria
Chetwood, Anna Maria (1774–1870), writer, was born on 7 February 1774, a daughter of the Rev. John Chetwood of Glanmire, Co. Cork (1742–1814), and Elizabeth Chetwood (née Hamilton) (d. 1826?), and great-granddaughter of Knightley Chetwood of Woodbrook, Portarlington, a friend of…...
Condell, Frances Pauline
Condell, Frances Pauline (1916–86), politician and journalist, was born 29 June 1916 at 8 Sexton St., Limerick, sixth child of James Eades , signal inspector, and Fanny Eades (née Sheppard). She had five older brothers. The family was protestant, and Frances attended St Michael's…...
Conolly, Katherine (Catherine)
Conolly, Katherine (Catherine) (c. 1662–1752), political hostess, landowner, and philanthropist, was the eldest child among four daughters and six sons of Sir Albert Conyngham (qv), later a Williamite general of ordnance, and…...
Conyngham, Melosina Anne Lenox-
Conyngham, Melosina Anne Lenox- (1941–2011), traveller and writer, was born on 22 February 1941 in Ceylon (latterly, Sri Lanka). Her father, Gerald Hamilton Lenox-Conyngham, a tea planter in Wattegoda, in the south of the island, was descended from an Ulster ascendancy family and…...
Croker, Bithia Mary (‘B. M.’)
Croker, Bithia Mary (‘B. M.’) (née Sheppard ) (c.1849–1920), novelist and short-story writer, was born in Roscommon, the youngest daughter of the Rev. William Sheppard (d. 1856), Church of Ireland clergyman for the parish of Kilgeffin, Co. Roscommon. She was educated in…...
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’)
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’) (1829–99), nun and author, was born 6 May 1829 at Coolock, Co. Dublin, the elder of two children of Dr Samuel Cusack and his wife, Sarah (née Stoney). Early life and conversion to catholicism She was educated privately, learning informally…...
Czira (Gifford), Sydney Madge (‘John Brennan’)
Czira (Gifford), Sydney Madge (‘John Brennan’) (1889–1974), journalist, broadcaster, and republican, was born 3 August 1889 at 8 Temple Villas, Rathmines, Dublin, the youngest of twelve children of Frederick Gifford, a wealthy solicitor, and Isabella Gifford (née Burton), a niece of the…...
De Grey, Henrietta Frances
De Grey, Henrietta Frances (1784–1848), Countess de Grey , political hostess and philanthropist, was born 22 June 1784 at Florence Court, Co. Fermanagh, the fifth and last daughter and youngest of the ten children of William Willoughby Cole (1736–1803), 1st earl of Enniskillen, and…...
Devlin, Edith Florence Newman
Devlin, Edith Florence Newman (1926–2012), lecturer in English, was born on 21 September 1926, in Swords, Co. Dublin, the youngest among three sons and two daughters of Hugh Gaw and Eva Gaw (née Newman). Her mother was a teacher in a Church of Ireland primary school, and her father, who…...
de Wichfeld, Monica Emily
de Wichfeld, Monica Emily (1894–1945), Danish resistance heroine, was born 12 July 1894 in London, only daughter and eldest of four children of John George Massy-Beresford (1856–1923), landowner, and Alice Elizabeth Massy-Beresford (née Mulholland; 1869–1948), daughter of the 1st…...