Jordan, Kate
Jordan, Kate (1862–1926), novelist and playwright, was born 23 December 1862 in Dublin, the daughter of Michael James and Kathleen Jordan. Her father, an academic, came from a family that included numerous academics, musicians and artists. When Kate was three her family emigrated to…...
Kavanagh, Julia
Kavanagh, Julia (1824–77), novelist, short-story writer, and biographer, was born 7 January 1824 in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the only child of Bridget Fitzpatrick (d. 1887) and Morgan Peter Kavanagh (d. 1874), writer and philologist. She spent much of her childhood in Normandy and…...
Kavanagh, Lady Harriet Margaret
Kavanagh, Lady Harriet Margaret (1800–85), artist, traveller, and antiquarian, was second daughter among three sons and four daughters of Richard Le Poer Trench (qv), later 2nd earl of Clancarty, and Henrietta Margaret Le Poer Trench…...
Kavanagh, Rose
Kavanagh, Rose (1859–91), poet, was born 24 June 1859 in Killadroy, Co. Tyrone. Nothing is recorded of her parents except that her mother was a cousin of Archbishop John Hughes (qv) of New York. When Rose was 11 years old the family…...
Keane, Mary Nesta (‘Molly’)
Keane, Mary Nesta (‘Molly’) (1904–96), writer, was born 20 July 1904 at Ballymore Eustace, Co. Kildare, second daughter (among three sons and two daughters) of Walter Clarmont Skrine (c.1860–1930) and …...
Kearney, Mother Kevin
Kearney, Mother Kevin (1875–1957), pioneer Ugandan missionary sister and foundress of Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa, was born 28 April 1875 in Knockenrahan, Arklow, Co. Wicklow, the third and youngest daughter of Michael Kearney, a farmer, and Teresa Kearney (née…...
Kelly, Gertrude Brice
Kelly, Gertrude Brice (1862–1934), surgeon and political activist, was born on 10 February 1862 near Waterford to Jeremiah Kelly and Kate Kelly (née Forrest) who were both teachers, and supporters of the movement for Irish independence. She was one of ten children, including notable…...
Kelly, (Mary Anne) Eva
Kelly, (Mary Anne) Eva (1830–1910), poet and nationalist, known as ‘Eva of the Nation’, was born 15 February 1830 at the home of her maternal grandfather John O'Flaherty in Headford, Co. Galway, one of seven children of Edward Kelly and Mary Kelly (née O'Flaherty) of…...
Kelly, Myra (Teresa)
Kelly, Myra (Teresa) (1875–1910), writer and teacher, daughter of the surgeon Dr James Edward Kelly and Annie Kelly (née Morrogh), was born 26 August 1875 at her father's residence, 2 Gardiner's Row, Dublin. The family moved to New York city, where her father built up a successful…...
King, Mary
This is a co-subject for the entry on O’Flaherty (Flaherty), May. View the original entry....
Knight (Hope-Connolly), Olivia Mary
Knight (Hope-Connolly), Olivia Mary (1828?–1908), poet, translator and teacher, was born at Rathbawn, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, probably on 29 September 1828, the only daughter of Simon Knight, a civil engineer, and his wife, possibly Sarah D'Alton of Ballaghadereen, Co. Roscommon. Olivia…...
Lamont (La Mont, La Monte), Elish
Lamont (La Mont, La Monte), Elish (1816–70), artist and writer, was born in Belfast into a prominent business family, daughter of John Lamont, stationer and printer. Having trained as a miniaturist in London, she subsequently returned to Belfast, where by 1837 she had established…...
Laverty (Kelly), (Mary) Maura
Laverty (Kelly), (Mary) Maura (1907–66), author and broadcaster, was born 15 May 1907 in Rathangan, Co. Kildare, the third of nine surviving children of Michael Kelly and Mary Ann Kelly (née Treacy). Her father appears to have given up his career in farming at his wife's…...
Lavin, Mary
Lavin, Mary (1912–96), short-story writer and novelist, was born 11 June 1912 at East Walpole, Massachusetts, USA, only child of Thomas Lavin (d. 1945) and Nora Lavin, née Mahon. Her father came from Frenchpark, Co. Roscommon, her mother from a large middle-class family in Athenry…...
Lawless, Emily
Lawless, Emily (1845–1913), novelist, historian, and poet, was born at Lyons House, near Hazelhatch, Co. Kildare, fourth child and eldest daughter of Edward Lawless (1816–69), a wealthy landlord who in 1853 succeeded as 3rd Baron Cloncurry, and his wife Elizabeth (née Kirwan), a…...
Leadbeater, Mary
Leadbeater, Mary (née Shackleton) (1758–1826), author, poet, and memoirist, was born 1 December 1758 at Ballitore (‘Ballintore’), Co. Kildare, the second child of the three daughters and one son of…...
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main)
Le Blond, Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Alice Frances (née Hawkins-Whitshed; other married names Burnaby, Main) (1860–1934), mountaineer, author and photographer, was born 26 June 1860 in Dublin, the only child of Sir St Vincent Bentinck Hawkins-Whitshed, 3rd (and last) baronet of Killincarrick…...
Leech, Sarah
Leech, Sarah (b. 1809), poet, was born in 1809, in the townland of Ballylennan in the parish of Taughboyne, Co. Donegal. She was the youngest of six children of a protestant, probably presbyterian, weaver and farmer named Thomas Leech. When Sarah was only three years old, her father…...
Leeson, Margaret (‘Peg’)
Leeson, Margaret (‘Peg’) (1727–97), prostitute, brothel-keeper, and memoirist, was born Margaret Plunket at Killough, Co. Westmeath, one of eight surviving children of Matthew Plunket, a wealthy farmer, and his wife, whose maiden name was O'Reilly. Most of what is known about Margaret…...
Leslie, Mary Isobel (‘Temple Lane’)
Leslie, Mary Isobel (‘Temple Lane’) (1899–1978), novelist, critic, and poet, was born 19 April 1899 in Portobello House, Dublin, one of two daughters of the Rev. John Herbert Leslie, a Church of Ireland clergyman from Cahir, Co. Tipperary, who was subsequently appointed dean of…...
Letts, Winifred Mabel
Letts, Winifred Mabel (1882–1972), novelist and playwright, was born in Salford, Lancashire, on 10 February 1882, the youngest daughter of Reverend Ernest Letts, rector of Newton Heath, Manchester, and his wife Mary Isabel (née Ferrier). She was educated at St Anne's, Abbots Bromley, in…...
Levine, June
Levine, June (1931–2008), feminist, journalist and author, was born Stephanie June Levine in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, on 31 December 1931, eldest child of Charles Solomon ('Solly') Levine, a cabinet maker, the son of Jewish parents who fled from Latvia, and his wife Muriel Ruth (…...
Lewis, Helen
Lewis, Helen (1916–2009), Holocaust survivor, dance teacher, choreographer and memoirist, was born Helena Katz on 22 June 1916 into a well-off Jewish family in Bohemia in the Austro-Hungarian empire (Bohemia became part of the new state of Czechoslovakia in 1918). She was an only child…...
Liddiard, Jane Susannah (J. S.) Anna
Liddiard, Jane Susannah (J. S.) Anna (c.1780–p.1819?), poet, was born in Co. Meath, daughter of Sir Henry Wilkinson , of Corballis, Co. Meath. She dedicated her Poems (Dublin, 1810) to her husband, the Rev. William Liddiard (1773–1841), an anglican clergyman of…...
Longfield, Cynthia Evelyn
Longfield, Cynthia Evelyn (1896–1991), entomologist and traveller, was born 16 August 1896 at 20 Pont St., Belgravia, London, youngest of three daughters of Lt-col. Mountifort John Courtenay Longfield and his wife Alice Elizabeth (née Mason) of Castle Mary, Cloyne, Co. Cork, the…...