Conway, John Basil (Fr Ambrose)
Conway, John Basil (Fr Ambrose) (1906–86), Cistercian monk, was born 13 March 1906 in Ennis, Co. Clare, one of three children of Jeremiah Francis Conway, a member of the RIC, and Alice Conway (née O'Shea). Conway was educated at…...
Conway, Richard
Conway, Richard (1572–1626), Jesuit, was born in New Ross, Co. Tipperary, son of Patrick Conway; nothing is known of his mother. In 1590 he travelled to Lisbon and studied humanities at the Irish college there. On 22 July 1592 he was received into the Jesuit noviciate at Coimbra.…...
Conway, Thomas
Conway, Thomas (1733–95), French army officer and governor of Mauritius, was born on 27 February 1733 at Templenoe, near Nedeen, Co. Kerry, elder son of James Conway (1711–87), a French army officer, and his wife, Julia, daughter of Denis Mahony of Dromore. The Conways and Mahonys…...
Conway, William John
Conway, William John (1913–77), cardinal, was born 22 January 1913 in Belfast, eldest of four sons and five daughters of Patrick Conway and Annie Conway (née Donnelly). The family home at that time was at Dover St., which linked the Falls and Shankhill Roads. His father, a self-…...
Cooke, Robert Francis
Cooke, Robert Francis (1821–82), catholic priest and author, was born 14 February 1821 in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, son of a businessman; no other details of his family are known. He was educated locally and subsequently studied medicine in Dublin, before becoming an assistant…...
Coppinger, William
Coppinger, William (1753–1831), catholic bishop of Cloyne and Ross, was born 20 May 1753 in St Finbar's parish, Co. Cork, son of Stephen William Coppinger and Joanna Coppinger, a cousin. He was educated in France, where he briefly considered a military career and even applied for…...
Corcoran, Timothy
Corcoran, Timothy (1872–1943), priest and educationist, was born 17 January 1872 at Honeymount, Dunkerrin, Co. Tipperary, eldest son of Thomas Corcoran, a large farmer, and Alice Corcoran (née Gleeson). His father was locally prominent in the Land League and Gaelic Athletic Association…...
Corish, Patrick Joseph
Corish, Patrick Joseph (1921–2013), priest and historian, was born on 17 March 1921 in Ballytarsna near Ballycullane, Co. Wexford, the son of Peter William Corish, a schoolteacher, and his wife Brigid (née O’Shaughnessy). Patrick had five brothers and one sister, and remained close to…...
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…...
Costello, Dudley
Costello, Dudley (c.1600–1667), confederate colonel and tory, was born in the barony of Costello and Gallen, Co. Mayo. He may be the same Col. Dudley Costello who supported Owen Roe O'Neill (qv) after the…...
Costello, Michael Joseph (‘Mickey Joe’)
Costello, Michael Joseph (‘Mickey Joe’) (1904–86), army officer and public servant, was born 2 July 1904 in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary, the eldest of five boys and three girls (three of the children died of influenza in 1917) of Denis Costello of Kilmihill, Co. Clare, and Teresa…...
Cotter, Sir James
Cotter, Sir James (c.1630–1705), soldier and Jacobite, was second of two sons and three daughters of Edmond Cotter, gentleman, of Ballinsperry, Carrigtohill, Co. Cork, and his wife Ellish, daughter of John Connell of Barryscourt, Carrigtohill. James Cotter appears to have…...
Courtney, Michael Aidan
Courtney, Michael Aidan (1945–2003), catholic archbishop and Vatican diplomat, was born 5 February 1945 in Nenagh general hospital, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, youngest child among four sons and three daughters of Aloysius Daniel 'Louis' Courtney (see below), medical doctor, of 23 Summerhill…...
Courtney, Thaddeus Cornelius (‘Ted’)
Courtney, Thaddeus Cornelius (‘Ted’) (1895–1961), engineer, army officer, and businessman, was born at Cork on 13 December 1895, the elder son of Timothy Courtney of Co. Kerry, pensioner of the RIC, and Ellen Courtney (née Shea) of…...
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…...
Coyle, Anthony
Coyle, Anthony (1728–1801), catholic bishop of Raphoe, poet, and antiquarian, was born in Listack, near Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, son of a farmer. Educated at the Irish college in Paris, he was expelled in his fourth year for various mischiefs, including writing a pamphlet…...
Coyne, Edward Joseph
Coyne, Edward Joseph (1896–1958), Jesuit priest, was born 20 June 1896 in Dublin, eldest of five children of William P. Coyne (qv), head of the statistical section of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, and…...
Creagh, John
Creagh, John (1870–1947), Redemptorist priest, was born 19 August 1870 in Thomondgate, Limerick, son of John Creagh, clerk, and Mary Creagh (née Tyrsonnon). Initially educated by the Christian Brothers, he joined the Redemptorist order at 14. In 1887 he was sent to Liverpool, where he…...
Creagh, Peter (‘Piers Crevens’)
Creagh, Peter (‘Piers Crevens’) (c.1640–1705), catholic archbishop of Dublin, was born into a highly reputable Limerick family. He was the great-nephew of Richard Creagh (qv), archbishop of Armagh, and the nephew of Dr John…...
Creagh, Richard
Creagh, Richard (c.1523–c.1588), catholic archbishop of Armagh, was born in Limerick, one of at least three children of Nicholas Creagh, merchant, and his wife, Joan White, both of Limerick. Having been apprenticed to a merchant there, he traded in his own right until…...
Crean, Thomas Joseph
Crean, Thomas Joseph (1873–1923), rugby player, military doctor, and VC holder, was born 19 April 1873 in Morrison's Hotel, Dawson Street, Dublin, the second son and fifth of the eight children of Michael Theobald Crean, barrister of the Irish land commission, and his wife, Emma,…...
Cregan, Donal Francis
Cregan, Donal Francis (1911–95), priest, educationist, and historian, was born 16 May 1911 in Newcastlewest, Co. Limerick, only son among three children of John D. Cregan, shopkeeper, and Elizabeth Cregan (née Foley). He attended (1924–9) Castleknock College, Dublin, after which…...
Crelly, Patrick
Crelly, Patrick (fl. 1640s–1650s), Cistercian abbot of Newry, rose to prominence during the 1640s as agent for and advisor to Randal MacDonnell, 2nd earl of Antrim (qv). In the spring of 1648 Crelly accompanied Antrim,…...
Croke, Thomas William
Croke, Thomas William (1823–1902), catholic archbishop of Cashel, was born on 19 May 1823 at Dromin, Castlecor, near Kanturk, Co. Cork, the third of eight children (six boys and two girls) of William Croke, land agent there to Joseph Deane-Freeman, and of his wife Isabella, daughter of…...
Crolly, George
Crolly, George (1813–78), catholic priest and theologian, was born 11 February 1813 in the townland of Ballyrolly, in the parish of Downpatrick, Co. Down. A son of John Crolly, who farmed at Ballyrolly, and a nephew of William Crolly (…...