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, John B.
Keane, John B. (1928–2002), writer, humorist, and publican, was born 21 July 1928 at Church St., Listowel, Co. Kerry, fourth child among five sons and four daughters of William Keane and Hannah Keane (née Purtill). The initial ‘B.’ stood for Brendan, a name taken on confirmation after…...
Kelly, John Maurice
Kelly, John Maurice (1931–91), scholar, politician, and writer, was born 31 August 1931 in Dublin, eldest of three sons of Joseph Kelly, chief executive officer of the Agricultural Credit Corporation, from Co. Kerry, and May Kelly (née Boyle), civil servant, from Co. Mayo. John Kelly…...
Kenealy, William
Kenealy, William (1828–76), journalist, poet, and nationalist, was born 1 July 1828 in Cloyne, Co. Cork, the son of a blacksmith and farmer. He worked as a teacher and was appointed headmaster of Churchtown national school, but was dismissed when authorship of an inflammatory…...
Kickham, Charles Joseph
Kickham, Charles Joseph (1828–82), journalist, Fenian, and novelist, was born 8 May 1828 near Cashel, Co. Tipperary, the eldest of the four sons and four daughters of John Kickham, draper and urban property rentier, and his wife, Anne (née Mahony), of Mullinahone in the same…...
Kiely, Benedict ('Ben')
Kiely, Benedict ('Ben') (1919–2007), writer, critic and journalist, was born Thomas Joseph Benedict Kiely near Dromore, Co. Tyrone, on 15 August 1919, the sixth and youngest child of Thomas Kiely, a British army veteran and measurer for the Ordnance Survey (born in Moville, Co. Donegal…...
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…...
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…...
Leamy, Edmund
Leamy, Edmund (1848–1904), writer, politician, and lawyer, was born 25 December 1848 in Waterford city. Educated at University High School, Waterford, St John's College, Waterford, and St Stanislaus College in Tullabeg, he was admitted a solicitor in 1878 and called to the Irish…...
Leathley, Mary Elizabeth Southwell (née Dudley)
Leathley, Mary Elizabeth Southwell (née Dudley) (1818–99), writer, was born 18 June 1818 in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, the daughter of George Dudley, a member of the Society of Friends. She published her first book when she was sixteen, and subsequently became a prolific writer of…...
Ledwidge, Francis Edward
Ledwidge, Francis Edward (1887–1917), poet and soldier, was born 19 August 1887 at Janeville, Slane, Co. Meath, eighth among nine children of Patrick Ledwidge (1840/41–1892), farm labourer, and his wife, Anne (1853/4–1926), daughter of Nicholas Lynch of Slane. The Ledwidges (the name is…...
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, John Randolph (‘Shane’)
Leslie, John Randolph (‘Shane’) (1885–1971), writer and lecturer, was born in London on 24 September 1885 and christened John Randolph a few weeks later at Castle Leslie, Co. Monaghan. His father, Sir John Leslie, second baronet, was an extensive landowner in Monaghan and Donegal…...
Lynam, Sybil Mary Joan (‘Shevawn’)
Lynam, Sybil Mary Joan (‘Shevawn’) (1914–98), administrator, author, and linguist, was born 16 April 1914 in Dublin, daughter of Charles Lynam, engineer, and Margaret (‘Mai’) Lynam (née Moran), both from Co. Galway. Her father served in the first world war as an officer in the…...
Lynam, William Francis
Lynam, William Francis (c.1833–94), writer, was born in Co. Galway, but nothing is known about his early life. On 30 January 1867 he joined the 5th Royal Lancashire militia, and was gazetted lieutenant; he then served as a major from 23 February 1881 until 4 May 1881,…...
Mac Amhlaigh, Dónall Peadar
Mac Amhlaigh, Dónall Peadar (1926–89), author, journalist, and labourer, was born 10 December 1926 in Co. Galway, the eldest of three sons and one daughter of James McCauley and his wife, Mary McCauley (née Condon). James McCauley was born in Limerick and served with the Munster…...
Mac Aonghusa, Criostóir
Mac Aonghusa, Criostóir (1905–91), teacher, author, critic, and campaigner for the Irish language, was born 13 December 1905 in Gort an Ghabhainn, Banagher, King's Co. (Offaly), son of Francis McGuiness (surname thus on his birth certificate), farmer, and his wife, Rosanna (née Egan).…...
Mac Brádaigh, Philip
Mac Brádaigh, Philip (c.1650–c.1719), poet and clergyman, commonly known as ‘Philip Ministir’ or ‘Parson Brady’, was born in Co. Cavan about the middle of the seventeenth century, probably in the district to the west of Cootehill that had previously formed the Cúil…...
MacCabe, William Bernard
MacCabe, William Bernard (1801–91), journalist, poet, historian, and author, was born 23 November 1801 in Dublin. Details of his early life are scarce but it is known that he began a career as a journalist in the 1820s, working for both Dublin and provincial newspapers. In 1823 he…...
Mac Cairteáin, Liam (an Dúna) (William MacCartain)
Mac Cairteáin, Liam (an Dúna) (William MacCartain) (c.1668–1724), scribe and poet, was born in Doon, Co. Cork. Nothing is known of his parents, but it is believed that he was of Ulster origin. A Jacobite, he was a major in Mac Cárthaigh Spáinneach's cavalry regiment that took…...
Mac Cárthaigh, Eoghan ‘an Mhéirín’
Mac Cárthaigh, Eoghan ‘an Mhéirín’ (‘of the little finger’) (c.1690–1756), poet, was born near Aherla, Co. Cork, son of Diarmaid Mac Cárthaigh, a great-grandson of Tadhg an Dúna Mac Cárthaigh, chief of the Dunmanway or Gleann an Chroim branch of the MacCarthys and a prominent…...
MacCarthy, Denis Florence
MacCarthy, Denis Florence (1817–82), Young Irelander, poet, and translator, was born 26 May 1817 at 24 Lower Sackville St., Dublin, the only son of John MacCarthy (d. 1857), a catholic woollen merchant with premises on Eden Quay, Dublin, and Sarah MacCarthy (née Courtney) (d. 1845…...
MacCarthy, Ethna Mary
MacCarthy, Ethna Mary (1903–59), poet and paediatrician, was born 2 April 1903 in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, a granddaughter of the Young Ireland poet Denis Florence MacCarthy (qv), and daughter of Brendan MacCarthy (d. 1934),…...