Eagar, Margaret Alexandra ('Margaretta')
Eagar, Margaret Alexandra ('Margaretta') (1863–1935), nursery nurse to the Russian imperial family, was born in Limerick on 12 August 1863. She was the fifth of eleven children born to Francis MacGillycuddy Eagar and his wife Frances Holden. From 1855–80, Francis Eagar was governor of…...
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…...
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…...
Gaynor, Anna (‘Sister Mary John’)
Gaynor, Anna (‘Sister Mary John’) (1826–99), Sister of Charity and first superior of Our Lady's Hospice, Harold's Cross, Dublin, was born 17 March 1826 in Athlone, one of six children (five daughters and one son) of John and Anne Gaynor of Roxborough, Co. Roscommon. One of the…...
Gogan, Christina (Sr Mary de Lourdes)
Gogan, Christina (Sr Mary de Lourdes) (1908–2000), Medical Missionary of Mary, was born 21 December 1908, second among eight children of John Gogan, licensed vintner and general merchant, Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath, and Bridget Gogan (née Caul). After local primary school she was…...
Grey, Mona Elizabeth Clara
Grey, Mona Elizabeth Clara (1910–2009), nurse, was born 24 September 1910 in Westridge, Rawalpindi, in the Punjab, then in India, the daughter of Albert Edward Grey and Grace Grey (née Dassing or Dashing). At the time of her birth her father was working as a guard on the North Western…...
Halappanavar, Savita
Halappanavar, Savita (1981–2012), catalyst for change in Irish abortion laws, was born Savita Andanappa Yalagi on 29 September 1981 in Bagalkot, Karnataka province, south-west India, the youngest of three children (two boys, one girl) of Andanappa Yalagi, an electrical engineer with the…...
Hampson, Sara E.
Hampson, Sara E. (fl. 1860–1908), nurse, was probably born in England, but almost nothing is known of her life outside her Dublin career. She was one of the first members trained in the Nightingale School of Nursing at St Thomas's Hospital, London (opened 1860), and worked…...
Hannan, Mary Josephine
Hannan, Mary Josephine (1865–1935?), doctor, was born in Dublin; nothing is known of her parents. One of the earliest female students admitted to study medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, she became in July 1890 the first Irishwoman to graduate…...
Hannelly, Dympna
Hannelly, Dympna (1922–2014), missionary nun, was born Eitne Hannelly on 4 December 1922 to Patrick Hannelly and Annie Hannelly (née Egan) of Tarmon, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon. Known as ‘Enna’ to her family, she had a twin brother Padraig, two other brothers and two sisters. Padraig…...
Hearn, Mary Ellice Thorn
Hearn, Mary Ellice Thorn (1891–1969), gynaecologist and first female fellow of the RCPI, was born 25 February 1891 at 17 St Patrick's Place, Cork, the daughter of William Edward Ashley Cummins (1858–1923), professor of…...
Hedderman, Bridget
Hedderman, Bridget (1872–1943), district nurse, was born on 17 January 1872, in the family home at Querrin, just outside Kilkee, Co. Clare, the eldest of four daughters of Manus and Mary Hedderman (née Nash). Manus Hedderman worked a variety of jobs, including fisherman, boatman and…...
Huxley, Margaret Rachel
Huxley, Margaret Rachel (1855–1940), nursing pioneer, was born in Croydon, Surrey, England, sixth among eight children of William Thomas Huxley (eldest brother of T. H. Huxley, FRS), and his wife, Esther (née Hopkins). She was…...
Jellett, Eva Josephine
Jellett, Eva Josephine (1868–1958), doctor, was born 6 January 1868 at 40 Wellington Row, Dublin, youngest daughter of John Hewitt Jellett (qv), clergyman, mathematician, and provost of TCD…...
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…...
Loughridge, Lavinia Winifred
Loughridge, Lavinia Winifred (1930–2014), nephrologist and physician, was born on 20 May 1930 in Templepatrick, Co. Antrim, the younger of two children of John (‘Jack’) Carson Loughridge, a dispensary doctor in the town, and his wife Winifred Elizabeth Loughridge (née Wallace). Her…...
Lynn, Kathleen
Lynn, Kathleen (1874–1955), medical practitioner and political activist, was born 28 January 1874 in Mullafarry, near Killala, Co. Mayo, second oldest of three daughters and one son of Robert Lynn, Church of Ireland clergyman, and Catherine Lynn (née Wynne) of Drumcliffe, Co. Sligo.…...
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),…...
MacCurtain, Frances (née Foad)
MacCurtain, Frances (née Foad) (1936–98), speech therapist and voice coach, was born 12 October 1936 in Belfast, the only daughter of the two children of Roland Foad, chartered accountant, and his wife, Betty. Her father was a financial director in various government bodies involved in…...
MacManus, Emily Elvira Primrose
MacManus, Emily Elvira Primrose (1886–1978), matron of Guy's Hospital, London, was born 18 April 1886 in Wandsworth, south London, the daughter of Leonard Strong MacManus (d. 1911), a doctor, and his wife Julia Emily (née Boyd). Leonard MacManus was from a catholic gentry family with an…...
MacWhinney, Linda Kearns-
MacWhinney, Linda Kearns- (1888–1951), republican and nurse, was born in July 1888 in Carrowmorris, Dromard, Co. Sligo, daughter of Thomas Kearns of Dromard and Catherine Kearns (née Clarke). She received her primary education at the local national school but was sent to Brussels,…...
Mallon, Mary (‘Typhoid Mary’)
Mallon, Mary (‘Typhoid Mary’) (1869–1938), domestic cook and notorious carrier of typhoid fever, was probably born 23 September 1869 in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, daughter of John Mallon and Catherine Mallon (née Igo), and probably attended national school locally. Emigrating to the USA at…...
Martin, Máire (Marie, Mary) Helena (‘Mother Mary’)
Martin, Máire (Marie, Mary) Helena (‘Mother Mary’) (1892–1975), founder of the Medical Missionaries of Mary, was born 25 April 1892 at Glencar, Marlborough Road, Glenageary, Co. Dublin, eldest among twelve children of Thomas Patrick Martin, partner in T. & C. Martin, a…...
McGeown, Mary Graham (Mollie)
McGeown, Mary Graham (Mollie) (1923–2004), medical doctor and health service pioneer, was born 19 July 1923 into a farming family long established at Prospect Hall, Aughagallon; their large farm was partly in Co. Down and partly in Co. Antrim, but the nearest town, Lurgan, is in Co…...