Aikenhead, Mary
Aikenhead, Mary (1787–1858), foundress of the congregation of the Religious Sisters of Charity and of St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, was born 19 January 1787 in Cork city, eldest of four children – three daughters and one son – of David Aikenhead, apothecary, son of a Scottish…...
Barry, Billie (Lillian)
Barry, Billie (Lillian) (1921–2014), performer and stage school founder, was born on 27 January 1921 in Drumcondra, Dublin, the youngest of fifteen children to John Clarke-Barry, orchestra leader and musician, and his wife Anne (née Hughes), an amateur operatic singer. The family were…...
Bellamy, George Anne
Bellamy, George Anne (1731?–1788), actress, was born in Fingal, Co. Dublin, illegitimate daughter of James O'Hara (qv), 2nd baron of Tyrawley, then British ambassador to Lisbon, and a Miss Seal, an actress of quaker extraction from Kent. Her mother married a…...
Bernelle, Agnes
Bernelle, Agnes (1923–99), singer and actress, was born Agnes Elizabeth Bernauer on 7 March 1923 in Berlin, Germany, daughter of Rudolph Bernauer (1880–1953), a Jewish-Hungarian actor, playwright, librettist, and theatrical director and impresario, and his second wife, Emmy (née Erb) (b…...
Bowe, Catherine Mary (Sister Celeste)
Bowe, Catherine Mary (Sister Celeste) (1931–76), Daughter of Charity and nurse, was born 23 February 1931 in Newberry, Mallow, Co. Cork, daughter of James Bowe, labourer, and Julia Bowe (née Ducey). She was educated at the local national and secondary schools. In 1949 she trained as an…...
Boylan, Patricia
This is a co-subject for the entry on Boylan, Henry Joseph. View the original entry....
Brazil, Dame Johanna
Brazil, Dame Johanna (Sister Mary Phillipa ) (1896–1988), Sister of Mercy, teacher, and nurse, was born 25 December 1896 in Kilfinane, Co. Limerick, daughter of Thomas Brazil, farmer, and Julia Brazil (née Devane). Educated at the local convent national school, she was one of a group…...
Bridgeman, Joanna (Sister Mary Francis)
Bridgeman, Joanna (Sister Mary Francis) (1813–88), Sister of Mercy, educator, and Crimean war nurse, was born in Ballagh, Ruan, Co. Clare, one of four children (two sons and two daughters) of St John Bridgeman and his wife Lucy Reddan. Her mother was a relative of…...
Buckley, Christine
Buckley, Christine (1946–2014), nurse, midwife and advocate for survivors of childhood abuse in religious and state-supported institutions, was born Christine West on 10 October 1946 at Mile End Hospital, London, the daughter of Anna West (née Kershaw) from Longford, and Ariwodo Kalunta…...
Burke, Joan
Burke, Joan (1929–2016), nurse, politician and farmer, was named Hanna Teresa at her birth on 8 February 1928, at Roughgrove House, Bandon, Co. Cork, the last of four children, and the only daughter, of Denis Crowley and Bridgid (‘Cissie’) (née Russell). The family farmed at Roughgrove…...
Bushell, Ellen Sarah ('Nellie')
Bushell, Ellen Sarah (‘Nellie’) (1884–1948), silk weaver, usher and activist, was born on 23 January 1884 at 57 Francis Street, Dublin, to Edward Bushell (d. 1904), a silk weaver, and his wife Ellen (née Walshe). Bushell’s mother was dead by 1901 and Edward had…...
Coffey, Victoria
Coffey, Victoria (1911–99), one of the first female paediatricians in Ireland, was born 16 September 1911 at 108 Brunswick Street, Dublin, the daughter of John Coffey, a weigh-master, and Ellie Coffey (née McCall). Her paternal grandfather, William Coffey, had been lord mayor of Dublin…...
Colgan, Eileen
Colgan, Eileen (1934–2014), actor, was born on 2 January 1934 in Dublin to Charles Colgan, a cabinet maker, and his wife Eileen (née McNamara). She was one of five children (three boys and two girls) and grew up on Russell Street on the north side of the city. Her father and an elder…...
Cosgrave, Mary Anne (Patrick)
Cosgrave, Mary Anne (Patrick) (1863–1900), pioneer nurse in Rhodesia, educationist, and Dominican prioress, was born 22 May 1863 in Summerhill, Co. Meath, one of four children of a member of the Irish Constabulary, who came from Ballysilla, near Oulart Hill, Co. Wexford. Her…...
Cowley, Jane (Sister Mary Teresa)
Cowley, Jane (Sister Mary Teresa) (1857–1914), Sister of Mercy, Boer war nurse, and educator, was born in Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath, daughter of John Cowley and Margaret Cowley (née Loughran). She entered the Convent of Mercy, Strabane, Co. Tyrone, on 2 February 1877, taking the…...
Crowe, Eileen (Alice Izabella)
Crowe, Eileen (Alice Izabella) (1899–1978), actress, was born 2 March 1899 at 1 Carlingford Terrace, Drumcondra, Dublin, daughter of Moses Crowe, grocer, and Theresa Crowe (née Eglinton). From an early age she showed an interest in the theatre, and regularly attended productions…...
Crowley, Mary Frances
Crowley, Mary Frances (1906–90), nurse and educator, was born 1 August 1906 at 12 William Street, Wexford town, the home of her maternal grandparents, James Williams, a retired lighthouse keeper, and his wife Margaret. Mary was the eldest of six children born to John Crowley, a…...
Cummins, Catherine
Cummins, Catherine (1879–1967), Sister of Charity and founder member of Cappagh Orthopaedic Hospital, was born 6 February 1879 in Dublin, one of thirteen children of Patrick Cummins and Mary Cummins (née Kelly). Patrick was the proprietor of four pawnbroking establishments in Dublin, so…...
Delany, Maureen
Delany, Maureen (c.1888–1961), actress, was born in Kilkenny, daughter of Dr Barry Delany, medical officer to the Kilkenny mental home, and his Kerry-born wife (née Nagle). Her father died when she was three months old. She was educated at the Dominican College in Galway…...
Dirrane, Bridget (née Gillan)
Dirrane, Bridget (née Gillan) (1894–2003), nurse, centenarian and memoirist, was born 15 November 1894 in Oatquarter in the townland of Kilmurvey on Inishmore, one of the Aran islands, Co. Galway, the youngest of four boys and four girls born to Joseph Gillan, who wove flannel cloth…...
Dunlevy, Margaret ('Pearl')
Dunlevy, Margaret ('Pearl') (1909–2002), physician and epidemiologist, was born Bridget Margaret Mary Dunlevy on 13 August 1909 at Mountcharles, Co. Donegal, the fifth of six children (four boys and two girls) of George Dunlevy, shopkeeper and merchant, and Maggie Dunlevy (née Doherty…...
Dwyer, Bernie
Dwyer, Bernie (1943–2013), journalist, filmmaker and political activist, was born in Dublin on 14 December 1943 to Mary (née Fagan) and Arthur Hannon , a clerk at Dublin Corporation. She spent her early childhood in Drimnagh, before the family moved to Sutton, Co. Dublin. She left…...
English, Adeline (‘Ada’)
English, Adeline (‘Ada’) (1875–1944), doctor, academic, and nationalist, was born 10 January 1875 in Caherciveen, Co. Kerry, younger daughter of Patrick English, pharmaceutical chemist, and Nora English (née McCardle). She was reared in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, though her father may…...
Flanagan, Pauline
Flanagan, Pauline (1925–2003), actress, was born 29 June 1925 in Sligo town, youngest child of Patrick J. Flanagan and his wife Elizabeth (née McLynn). Her paternal family, originally from Co. Fermanagh, were driven out by anti‐catholic pogroms and resettled in Sligo, where her parents…...
Fleury, Eleonora Lilian
Fleury, Eleonora Lilian (1867–1960), medical doctor, was born in Manchester, England, the eldest daughter of Charles Fleury, a Waterford surgeon of Huguenot stock. Losing her mother at an early age, she appears to have been home-educated before registering as a medical student at…...