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,…...
Algar, Joseph
Algar, Joseph (1890–1958), chemist, was born 15 April 1890 at 22 Arnott St, Dublin, eldest of eight children of Herbert Okell Algar, originally from Warwickshire, and Celia Algar (née Kelly) from Dublin. His father, who converted to catholicism on his marriage, was a master tailor…...
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,…...
Anderson, John
Anderson, John (1815–1905), woollen merchant, geologist, bibliographer, and local politician, was born 8 July 1815 near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry. After moving to Belfast he entered (1840) the woollen business in Donegall St. founded by James Young in 1795. Anderson's eminence…...
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…...
Arnott, Sir John
Arnott, Sir John , (1814–98), first baronet, businessman, philanthropist, and politician, was born in Auchtermuchty, Fife, Scotland, on 26 July 1814, the third son of John Arnott (d. 1878), JP, manufacturer, of Greenfield, Auchtermuchty, and…...
Atkins, Henry St John
Atkins, Henry St John (1896–1987), president of UCC, was born in Cork on 19 March 1896, son of Patrick Atkins and Agnes Atkins (née Egan); he was educated at North Monastery school in Cork, and graduated…...
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…...
Ball, John
Ball, John (1818–89), scientist, politician, and mountain traveller, was born 20 August 1818 in Dublin, eldest son among four children of Nicholas Ball (qv), politician and judge, and Jane Ball (neé Sherlock) of Butlerstown, Co.…...
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…...
Barry, Vincent Christopher
Barry, Vincent Christopher (1908–75), chemist, was born at Cork on 17 May 1908, the youngest in the family of seven sons and four daughters of a post office official, James Barry, and his wife, Agnes (née Stack), daughter of a small businessman. After a schooling by the Christian…...
Beirne, Bryan Patrick
Beirne, Bryan Patrick (1918–98), entomologist and pest control expert, was born 22 January 1918 in Ballygeary, Co. Wexford, the elder son of Patrick Beirne, tax inspector with UK Customs and Excise and later the Irish Revenue Commissioners, and his wife Mabel, daughter of…...
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…...