Adams, Michael
Adams, Michael (1937–2009), publisher and catholic activist, was born in Dublin on 22 June 1937, eldest of three children (two boys and a girl) of Francis Adams, cattle dealer, victualler and JP for Co. Fermanagh, and his wife Mary or Maud (née Atteridge), a protestant and daughter…...
Águila, Don Juan del
Águila, Don Juan del (c.1541?–1603?), Spanish general, was born in Barracco in the province of Avila, Spain. He joined the army, serving in Flanders, in the Mediterranean fighting the Turks, and then in Flanders once more, rising to become a commander of a regiment.…...
Ahern, Catherine Ita ('Kit')
Ahern, Catherine Ita ('Kit') (1915–2007), president of the Irish Countrywomen's Association, senator and TD, was born 13 January 1915 in Athea, Co. Limerick, eldest of eight children of Patrick Liston , a wheelwright and carpenter, and his wife Mary Ann (née McAuliffe). The family…...
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’)
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’) (1932–2002), legal-aid campaigner, was born 4 May 1932 at 154 Bandon Road, Cork city, one of two daughters and two sons of Michael Lynch , labourer, and Eileen Lynch (née Sullivan). Her parents both died early, leaving her in the care of her grandmother,…...
Allen, Dave
Allen, Dave (1936–2005), comedian, was born David Edward Tynan O'Mahony on 6 July 1936 in a nursing home at 37 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin, youngest of three sons of (Gerard John) Cullen Tynan O'Mahony (nicknamed 'Pussy'), journalist, manager of the Irish Times, and raconteur,…...
Archer, James
Archer, James (c.1632–c.1680), military engineer and architect, was born in Kilkenny. His early life remains obscure, but he was a royalist, left Ireland at some point, and entered the French service; he later claimed to have served six years as a…...
Atkinson, Sarah
Atkinson, Sarah (1823–93), philanthropist and author, was born 13 October 1823 in Athlone, Co. Roscommon, eldest of five daughters and one son of John Gaynor , gentleman, and Anna Gaynor. The family moved to Dublin for the sake of the children's education, but no details are known…...
Aylward, Margaret Louisa
Aylward, Margaret Louisa (1810–89), philanthropist and founder of a religious congregation, was born 23 November 1810 in Waterford city, fifth among ten children of William Aylward (d. 1840), merchant, and Ellen Aylward (née Murphy), who also had a son from her first marriage. The…...
Bagenal, Walter
Bagenal, Walter (1614–52), soldier and politician, was eldest son of George Bagenal of Dunleckney, Co. Carlow, and Joan, daughter of Walter Butler (qv), 11th earl of Ormond. The Bagenals originated from Staffordshire in England and only…...
Barnardo, Thomas John
Barnardo, Thomas John (1845–1905), philanthropist, was born 4 July 1845 at 4 Dame Street, Dublin, the fourth son of John Michaelis Barnardo (d. 1874), a wholesale furrier, and his second wife, Abigail Matilda (née O'Brien). His father was born in Havelberg, Prussia, and settled…...
Barnewall, Nicholas
Barnewall, Nicholas (1668–1725), 3rd Viscount Barnewall of Kingsland , soldier, and catholic lobbyist, was born 15 April 1668, son of Henry Barnewall, 2nd Viscount Kingsland of Kingsland, and his second wife, Mary, daughter of Richard Nugent…...
Barrett, John
Barrett, John (d. 1693), soldier and Jacobite, emerged in James II’s (qv) reign (nothing being known of his early life) as the head of the Barrett family who held 400 acres in Castlemore, near Mallow, Co. Cork. MP for Mallow in…...
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…...
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…...
Barry, Garret (Gerat)
Barry, Garret (Gerat) (d. 1646), army officer, entered Spanish military service about 1601, by his own reckoning. It has been suggested that he departed Kinsale with the Spanish army in March 1601 with his father David Fitz Garrot Barry of Rincorran, his mother and three…...
Barry, John
Barry, John (1745–1803), United States Navy captain, was born at Ballysampson, Tacumshane parish, Co. Wexford, son of John Barry, clerk and small farmer, and Catherine Barry (née Kelly). After his family were evicted, they moved to Rosslare and the young Barry went to sea as a cabin boy…...
Battersby, William Joseph
Battersby, William Joseph (1794/5–1873), catholic bookseller and writer, is first mentioned in 1825, in Wilson's Dublin Directory, as a printer at 33 Winetavern Street, Dublin. He was to flourish in the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s, a period of rapidly growing catholic…...
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…...
Bellew, John
Bellew, John (1605/1606–79), politician and army officer, was the eldest son, of the three sons and one daughter, of Patrick Bellew of Lisraney, Co. Louth, and his wife, Mary, daughter of James and Ellice Warren of Warrenstown castle, Co. Louth. He was admitted to Gray's Inn on 9…...
Bellew, Sir John
Bellew, Sir John (d. 1693), 1st Baron Bellew of Duleek , Jacobite colonel, was son of Sir Christopher Bellew of Bellewstown and his wife Frances, daughter of Matthew Plunkett, Lord Louth. His father was made governor of Louth (30 October 1641) with the object of suppressing…...
Belton, Andrew
Belton, Andrew (1882–1970), OBE, soldier, adventurer, and businessman, was born 17 April 1882 in Cleator Moor, Cumberland, son of John and Susannah Belton of Bowthorn Road, Cleator Moor. Educated locally at St Patrick…...
Berkeley, Sir John
Berkeley, Sir John (1607–78), 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton , soldier and politician, was baptised 1 February 1607, fifth and youngest son of Sir Maurice Berkeley of Bruton, Somerset, England, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Killigrew of Hanworth, Middlesex.…...
Bernard, Agnes Morrogh (Mother Mary Arsenius)
Bernard, Agnes Morrogh (Mother Mary Arsenius) (1842–1932), nun, teacher, and founder of Providence Mill, Foxford, Co. Mayo, was born 24 February 1842 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, the eldest child of John Morrogh , of a prominent catholic family from Glanmire, Cork, and Frances…...
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…...
Bhreatnach, Lucy
This is a co-subject for the entry on Breatnach, Deasún. View the original entry....