Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty
Chancellor, (Lilias) Betty (1910–84), actress, was born 9 January 1910 at 8 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin, the younger daughter of John William Chancellor, a Dublin clockmaker, jeweller, and photographer, and Cicily Chancellor (née Granger). Educated in Dublin at Nightingale Hall and…...
Cherry, Andrew
Cherry, Andrew (1762–1812), actor and playwright, was born 11 January 1762 in Limerick, eldest son of John Cherry, printer and bookseller; nothing is known of his mother. Educated at the Limerick grammar school, he left at the age of 11 to work in Dublin for…...
Chetwood, William Rufus
Chetwood, William Rufus (d. 1766), prompter, publisher, and author, was most probably born in England. Little is known of his early life, but his own accounts, and the fact that he wrote several seafaring adventures, indicate that he had travelled around the world as a young man,…...
Chevron, Philip
Chevron, Philip (1957–2013), musician, songwriter and composer, was born Philip Ryan on 17 June 1957 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, the elder of two children of (Philip) Brendan Ryan (1927–97) and Christine Ryan (née LaGrue), both born in inner city Dublin. He grew up in Lorcan Drive…...
Chichester, George Augustus
Chichester, George Augustus (1769–1844), 2nd marquess of Donegall, major Irish landowner , and noted spendthrift, was born 13 August 1769, eldest of three sons of Arthur Chichester (qv), 5th earl and 1st marquess, and his first wife…...
Clancy, Basil
Clancy, Basil (1907–96), publisher, magazine editor, and journalist, was born Anthony Sebastian Clancy in Coalisland, Co. Tyrone, on 7 July 1907, the seventh of the twelve children of Patrick J. Clancy, JP (d. 1947), linen merchant and…...
Clancy, Thomas (‘Tom’)
Clancy, Thomas (‘Tom’) (1924–90), folk singer and actor, was born 29 October 1924 on William St., Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, seventh child and second son among four sons and seven daughters of Robert Joseph Clancy, accountant, and Johanna Clancy (née McGrath), from a family of…...
Clavell, John
Clavell, John (1601–43), adventurer, was born on 11 May 1601, sixth child and second son of John Clavell and his wife Frances Willoughby of Wootton Glanville in Dorset, England. He was admitted to Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1619, pardoned for decamping with the college plate in…...
Clive (Raftor), Catherine (Kitty)
Clive (Raftor), Catherine (Kitty) (1711–85), comic actress, singer, and writer, was probably born in London on 5 November 1711. Her father, William Raftor or Rafter, was a Kilkenny-born lawyer, who lost his claim on a large estate following his support of…...
Cloney, Sheila
Cloney, Sheila (1926–2009), protagonist in the Fethard-on-Sea boycott, was born Sheila Kelly on 6 May 1926 in Fethard-on-Sea, a village on the Hook peninsula of south-western Co. Wexford, daughter of Thomas Kelly, cattle dealer, of John's Hill (just outside Fethard), and his wife Sheila…...
Cluskey, Mary Elizabeth (‘May’)
Cluskey, Mary Elizabeth (‘May’) (1927–91), actress, was born 18 May 1927 at 83 St Ignatius Road, off Lower Dorset St., Dublin, one of three daughters and two sons of Francis (‘Frank’) Cluskey, butcher and trade unionist, and Elizabeth Mary Cluskey (née Millington). Her father, a close…...
Coffey, Brian
Coffey, Brian (1905–95), poet, academic, teacher, and publisher, was born 8 June 1905 at Glenageary, Co. Dublin, son of Denis J. Coffey (qv), president of UCD, and Maude Coffey (née Quin…...
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…...
Collier, Peter Fenelon
Collier, Peter Fenelon (1849–1909), publisher and newspaper proprietor, was born 12 December 1849 in Myshall, Co. Carlow, son of Robert C. Collier and Catherine Collier (née Fenelon). After an education in local schools he emigrated to America at 17 and entered St Mary's seminary…...
Condon, Richard
Condon, Richard (1937–91), theatre manager, was born 27 July 1937 in Belfast, the eldest son of a local architect. Educated at St Gerald's College, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, he qualified to study medicine at UCG in 1956; however, while…...
Connolly, Sean
Connolly, Sean (1882–1916), actor, trade unionist, and republican, was born 12 April 1882 at 10 Seafort Ave., Sandymount, Dublin, third child and eldest son among eight daughters and eight sons of Michael Connolly, seaman, and Mary Connolly (née Ellis). When his father ceased seafaring…...
Cooper, Austin
Cooper, Austin (b. c.1614, d. a.1690), gardener and strongman, inherited property from his father at Byfleet in Surrey. His father or another relative is said to have held a court appointment under Charles I. Cooper purchased land in England from a Cromwellian…...
Coppin, Louisa (Little Weesy)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Coppin, William. View the original entry....
Corbet, William
Corbet, William (d. 1838?), printer and newspaper proprietor, was in business in Dublin by 1783; he later had premises in Great Britain Street (1788–1810), Sycamore Alley (1813–22), College Green (1823–4), Palace Street (1825–30), and Upper Ormond Quay (from 1831). In 1783 he was…...
Costello, Mary Ann
Costello, Mary Ann (1747–1827), actress and mother of the British prime minister George Canning, was born in Ireland, daughter of Jordan Costello, a Connacht squire. Apparently orphaned at an early age, she was brought up in the care of her maternal grandfather, Col. Guydickens, in…...
Costello, Michael (‘The Amazing Blondini’)
Costello, Michael (‘The Amazing Blondini’) (1922–96), fairground performer and escapologist, was born at a fairground in Dublin in August 1922; both his parents were fairground novelty acts from Tralee, his father a strong man and his mother a fortune teller. He had no formal…...
Cotter (alias O'Brien), Patrick
Cotter (alias O'Brien), Patrick (1760/61–1806), giant and showman, was born at Belgooly, near Kinsale, Co. Cork. His parents were farmers; while no details of his father are available, his mother was still alive at the time of his death and is named in his will as Margaret Cotter…...
Cotter, Sarah
Cotter, Sarah (fl. 1751–92), printer and bookseller, was possibly the sister of Joseph Cotter (d. c.1751), a bookseller operating from under Dick's Coffee House, Skinner Row, Dublin (1744–c.1751). She continued the trade at the same address (1751–74) and…...
Courtenay, Ellen
Courtenay, Ellen (1802–c.1837), accuser of Daniel O'Connell (qv), was born in Co. Cork, daughter of a native of the county. In 1817, at the age of 15, she moved to Dublin, and the catholic bishop of Cork,…...
Cowley, John Ultan
Cowley, John Ultan (1923–98) actor and animal welfare activist, was born 8 September 1923 in Ardbraccan, Navan, Co. Meath, the third child of Patrick Cowley, a small farmer, and his wife Margaret. Educated at the local national school, he left at the age of thirteen to work on the…...