Blackwood, Helena Selina
Blackwood, Helena Selina (1807–67), baroness of Dufferin and Clandeboye , later countess of Gifford, author and songwriter, was born in England (possibly in London or Tunbridge Wells, Kent), second child and eldest daughter of Thomas Sheridan (eldest son of…...
Blomfield, Sara Louisa
Blomfield, Sara Louisa , Lady (1859–1939), Bahá'í pioneer and humanitarian, was born in Knockanevin, Borrisoleigh, near Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the daughter of Matthew (Matthias) John Ryan and his wife Emily (née Crowe). Religious tension between her catholic father and anglo-…...
Boole, Alicia
Boole, Alicia (1860–1940), amateur mathematician, was born 8 June 1860 in Cork into an intellectually gifted family, third of five daughters of English parents: Prof. George Boole (qv) of QCC,…...
Boole, Lucy Everest
This is a co-subject for the entry on Boole, Alicia. View the original entry....
Boyle, Hilary Joyce
Boyle, Hilary Joyce (1899–1988), journalist, broadcaster, and activist, was born 25 October 1899 in south London, second child of Gerald Alexander Thompson, vicar of St Gregory's church, Canterbury, and canon of Canterbury cathedral, and Winifred Helen Thompson (née Hopkins), and…...
Boyle, Ina (Selina Adelaide Philippa)
Boyle, Ina (Selina Adelaide Philippa) (1889–1967), composer, was born 8 March 1889 in Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, daughter of Rev. William Foster Boyle, curate in Powerscourt parish, and his wife Philippa Augusta Jephson. Her father made violins and cellos as a hobby. She grew up at…...
Brugha, Máire MacSwiney
Brugha, Máire MacSwiney (1918–2012), teacher, author and charity worker, was born on 23 June 1918 in Cork to Terence MacSwiney (qv) and Muriel MacSwiney (qv) (née Murphy). From…...
Burchill, Eveline
Burchill, Eveline (1905–87), dance teacher, was born 20 November 1905 in Cork, one of three daughters and four children of James Orr Burchill, managing director of the Singer sewing-machine company, and Lucy Burchill (née Power). The family subsequently moved to Dublin, settling in…...
Bushnell, Anne
Bushnell, Anne (1939–2011), singer, was born on 28 March 1939 in the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, one of four children of John Kavanagh, a motor mechanic, of Arnott Street, Portobello, Dublin, and his wife Evelyn (née Ledwidge). She grew up in Milltown, Dublin, and danced as a child on the…...
Byers, Margaret
Byers, Margaret (1832–1912), educationist, suffragist, and philanthropist, was born 15 April 1832 in Windsor Hill, Rathfriland, Co. Down, fourth child and only daughter of Andrew Morrow , farmer and mill operator, and Margaret Morrow (née Herron). After the death (c.1840…...
Cahill, Mabel Esmonde
Cahill, Mabel (1863–1905), tennis player, was born 2 April 1863 in Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny, twelfth of thirteen children of Michael Cahill, gentleman landowner and barrister-at-law, of Ballyconra House, Ballyragget, and his first wife, Margaret (née Magan), Ballymore, Co. Westmeath (…...
Campbell, Gertrude Elizabeth
Campbell, Gertrude Elizabeth (née Blood ) (1857–1911), writer, journalist, and critic, was the second daughter of Edmond Maghlin Blood (d. 1891), of Thurloe Square, London, and Brickhill, Co. Clare, and Mary Amy Fergusson (d. 1899), of Leixlip, Co. Kildare. Owing to her father's…...
Carlile, Anne Jane
Carlile, Anne Jane (1775–1864), temperance pioneer and philanthropist, was born 8 April 1775 in Rooskey, Co. Monaghan, the youngest child of David Hamill , a farmer and linen merchant, and Martha Hamill (née Armstrong). Both her father and her brother John were connected with the…...
Cashman, Nellie
Cashman, Nellie (1845?–1925), frontier entrepreneur and philanthropist, was born in the mid 1840s near Cobh (Queenstown), Co. Cork. Documentary details of her early life in Ireland and America are few, rendering any chronology of her first twenty-five years largely speculative.…...
Childers, Margaret Mary ('Rita')
Childers, Margaret Mary ('Rita') (1915–2010), civil servant and community activist, was born on 25 February 1915 in the family home at Elgin Road, Dublin, the sixth of eight children of Joseph Dudley , a solicitor, and his wife Marcella (née Vereker). Both parents were from well-…...
Churchill, Frances Anne Emily
This is a co-subject for the entry on Churchill, John Winston Spencer. View the original entry....
Clerke, Agnes Mary
Clerke, Agnes Mary (1842–1907), historian of astronomy and scientific writer, was born 10 February 1842 in Skibbereen, Co. Cork, second child and younger daughter of John William Clerke, manager of the Provincial Bank, Bridge St., and his wife Catherine Mary, youngest sister of the…...
Clinch, Phyllis E. M.
Clinch, Phyllis E. M. (1901–84), scientist, was born 12 September 1901 in Rathgar, Dublin, the fourth daughter of James and Mary Clinch. She entered UCD in 1919 and graduated B.Sc. (1923) 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…...
Cochrane, Jean Crawford
Cochrane, Jean Crawford (1914–2013), educator and activist for women's education, was born on 27 June 1914 in Lifford, Co. Donegal, the eldest daughter of Hugh Crawford Cochrane, a solicitor and under-sheriff for the county, and Lucy Cameron Cochrane (née Boyd). Jean attended school…...
Coghill, Rhoda Sinclair
Coghill, Rhoda Sinclair (1903–2000), pianist, composer, and poet, was born 14 October 1903 in Dublin, the youngest of eight children of Alexander Sinclair Coghill, printing manager, from Thurso, Scotland, and his wife, Rhoda Ann Sinclair (née Baily). Coghill attended Alexandra…...
Conlon, Sarah (née Maguire)
Conlon, Sarah (née Maguire) (1926–2008), campaigner, was born 20 January 1926 in the Falls Road area of Belfast, the daughter of Vincent Maguire and Mary Catherine Maguire; she had three brothers and three sisters. Sarah's life was dominated by work, family and religion. On leaving…...
Conolly, Katherine (Catherine)
Conolly, Katherine (Catherine) (c. 1662–1752), political hostess, landowner, and philanthropist, was the eldest child among four daughters and six sons of Sir Albert Conyngham (qv), later a Williamite general of ordnance, and…...
Conolly, Lady Louisa
Conolly, Lady Louisa (1743–1821), society woman and public benefactor, was born 5 December 1743, perhaps at Goodwood House, Sussex, fifth child of Charles Lennox , 2nd duke of Richmond, and his wife Lady Sarah Cadogan. After her parents’ deaths (1750, 1751) Lady Louisa and two…...
Conroy, Sheila (née Williams)
Conroy, Sheila (née Williams) (1918–2012), trade unionist, social activist and administrator, was born on 22 April 1918 (or 4 April 1917) in Bantry, Co. Cork, only child of Harry and Jane Williams. A Welsh petty officer in the Royal Navy, Harry Williams was stationed at Bantry (1914–…...