Barrett, Rosa (Mary)
Barrett, Rosa (Mary) (1854–1936) philanthropist, child-care worker, and suffragist, was born 15 January 1854 in Royston, Hertfordshire, England, daughter of the Rev. W. G. Barrett and Martha Barrett (née Fletcher). From the 1860s she was resident with her family in Dublin. Her…...
Bates, Daisy May
Bates, Daisy May (1859–1951), welfare worker for Aborigines, anthropologist, and eccentric, was born 21 October 1859 in Roscrea, Co. Tipperay, third among six children of James Dwyer , catholic tradesman and blacksmith, and Bridget Dwyer (née Hunt). Her twin brother, Francis, died…...
Bermingham, William (‘Willie’) Patrick
Bermingham, William (‘Willie’) Patrick (1942–90), founder of ALONE, was born 29 March 1942 in Inchicore, Dublin, third among seven children of William Bermingham, bellman on a fuel cart, and Mary Bermingham (née Dalgarno). He was educated at St Michael's School, Inchicore, and…...
Cleary, Bridget
Cleary, Bridget (1867–95), dressmaker, was born in Ballyvadlea, near Cloneen, Co. Tipperary, daughter, and apparently the youngest child, of Patrick Boland , a farm labourer, and his wife, Bridget (née Keating). This was probably in February 1867, although most contemporary…...
Conlon, Guiseppe Patrick
This is a co-subject for the entry on Conlon, Sarah (née Maguire). View the original entry....
Conway, Arthur William
Conway, Arthur William (1875–1950), academic and president of UCD, was born 2 October 1875 in Main St., Wexford town, the only son of Myles and Teresa Conway (née Harris). He had one sister. His father died, aged 34, when Arthur was only two, and his mother married again, to a…...
Cosgrave, Mary Josephine
Cosgrave, Mary Josephine (c.1877–1941), social worker and local politician, was born in Naas, Co. Kildare, the daughter of James William Daly and Jane Daly. Educated at St Mary's Convent in Naas, she went on to study at St Andrews University, from where she graduated LLA…...
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…...
Elmes, Mary
Elmes, Mary (1908–2002), humanitarian worker 'righteous among the nations', was born Marie Elizabeth Jean Elmes on 5 May 1908, at Culgreine, 120 Blackrock Road, Ballintemple, Cork, the home of her parents, Edward Thomas Elmes, a pharmacist, and his wife Elizabeth Octavia (née Waters…...
Flanagan, Edward Joseph
Flanagan, Edward Joseph (1886–1948), catholic priest and founder of Boys Town, was born 13 July 1886 at Ballymoe, Co. Roscommon, son of John Flanagan, herdsman, and Nora Flanagan (née Larkin). One of eleven children, he was first educated at a local school, Drimatample, and…...
Flannery, Austin
Flannery, Austin (1925–2008), priest, scholar, editor, journalist and social justice campaigner, was born William ('Liam') Flannery on 10 January 1925 at Rear Cross, Co. Tipperary, the eldest of seven children of William K. Flannery and his wife Margaret Flannery (née Butler),…...
Fraser (Frazer), John
Fraser (Frazer), John (1803/4–1852), poet and cabinet-maker, was born in Birr, King's Co. (Offaly), into a presbyterian family, originally bearing the name de Jean (possibly of huguenot extraction). There are conflicting accounts of his date of birth. It is asserted in one…...
Gallagher, Michael Paul
Gallagher, Michael Paul (1939–2015), Jesuit theologian, writer and lecturer, was born 26 August 1939 at 15 Hatch Street, Dublin, the only child of Andrew Gallagher and his wife Christine (née O’Brien), both doctors. He grew up in Collooney, Co. Sligo, and attended Camphill National…...
Harnett, Philip
Harnett, Philip (1943–96), Jesuit priest, was born 6 January 1943 in Dublin, the third child of Patrick Harnett and Ursula Treacy. He had two brothers, John and Patrick, and three sisters, Anne, Catherine, and Mary. Following an education at Pembroke School, Ballsbridge, and…...
Johnson, Rosanna (‘Rosie’)
Johnson, Rosanna (‘Rosie’) (1891–1987), street trader, was born 24 March 1891, daughter of William Walsh, labourer, of 6 Turner's Cottages, Dublin, and Julia Walsh (née Reilly). At the age of 12 she was selling violets on the street for a penny a bunch and by the time she was 17 she…...
Kennedy, Kieran
Kennedy, Kieran (1935–2013), economist, was born on 14 July 1935 in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, the fourth of five sons of Patrick Kennedy, a garda, and his wife Margaret (née Callahan). As his father was transferred frequently, Kieran spent much of his early life alone with his grandmother…...
Kinlen, Dermot Patrick
Kinlen, Dermot Patrick (1930–2007), barrister, judge and penal reformer, was born 24 April 1930 in Dublin, the eldest of two sons and one daughter of Louis P. Kinlen, of Darwin Hall, 200 Rathfarnham Road, Dublin, a building contractor, and his wife Aileen (née O'Donnell). Educated…...
Longfield, Mountifort
Longfield, Mountifort (1802–84), economist and lawyer, was second son of the Rev. Mountifort Longfield (d. 1850), JP and vicar of Desert Serges, Co. Cork, of the Anglo-Irish Longfield family of Longueville, near Mallow, Co. Cork, and his…...
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…...
MacKay, John William
MacKay, John William (1831–1902), miner and businessman, was born in Dublin, son of a Scottish father and an Irish mother. His family were desperately poor, and in 1840 they emigrated to America. Following his arrival in New York, he was educated at a public school but his father…...
McAuley (McGauley), Catherine Elizabeth
McAuley (McGauley), Catherine Elizabeth (1778–1841), educator, social worker, and religious foundress, was born 29 September 1778 at Stormanstown House, Drumcondra, Dublin, one of three children (two girls and a boy) of James McGauley and his wife Elinor (née Conway). McGauley, by…...
McCaffrey, Mary Ellen
McCaffrey, Mary Ellen (Sister Mary Xavier ) (1854–1923), Sister of Mercy and social worker, was born in Monaghan, daughter of Arthur McCaffrey and Catherine McCaffrey, who also had another daughter and two sons. She emigrated to the USA, where she entered St Catherine's convent of…...
McClean, (John) Raymond
McClean, (John) Raymond (1933–2011), medical doctor, civil-rights activist and humanitarian, was born on 18 January 1933 in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, third in a family of three sons and one daughter of Charles McClean and his wife Kathleen (née King). Charles McClean, a trophy-winning…...
Megaw, Basil
Megaw, Basil (1913–2002), archaeologist and folklife scholar, was born in Belfast on 22 June 1913, the third of four sons of Arthur Stanley Megaw, solicitor and writer, and his wife (Helen Isabel) Bertha (née Smith). Arthur Stanley Megaw (1873–1961) was a younger son of Robert Megaw…...
Murphy, John ('Jack')
Murphy, John ('Jack') (1920–84), trade unionist, republican, and activist for the unemployed, was born near Synge Street in Dublin, third son among four sons and five daughters of Denis Murphy, a carpenter; his mother's forename was probably Mary. His father, a founding member in…...