Doyle, Jack
Doyle, Jack (1913–78), boxer, actor, singer and playboy, was born Joseph Alphonsus Doyle, 31 August 1913 at 12 Queen Street, Queenstown, Co. Cork, eldest son among four sons and two daughters of Michael Doyle, sailor, of Queenstown, and Anastasia Doyle. His schooling, at St Joseph's…...
Doyle, John
Doyle, John (1930–2010), hurler, was born on 12 February 1930 in Glenbane, Holycross, Co. Tipperary, the only child of Timothy Doyle, farmer, and his wife Margaret (née Spillane). His mother died forty-six days later from blood poisoning, after which his father struggled with raising…...
Doyle, Mick (Michael Gerard)
Doyle, Mick (Michael Gerard) (1940–2004), rugby player and coach, was born 13 October 1940 in his maternal grandparents' house at Currow, Farranfore, Co. Kerry, the elder of two sons of Michael Doyle, a general merchant, publican and poultry farmer, of Castleisland, Co. Kerry, and…...
Drew, Ronnie (Joseph Ronald Augustine)
Drew, Ronnie (Joseph Ronald Augustine) (1934–2008), folk singer, was born 16 September 1934 in 'Beaufort', Glasthule (Sandycove), Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, eldest of three sons and two daughters of Patrick ('Paddy') Drew, carpenter, and Margaret ('Peg') Drew (née Maher), a seamstress…...
Dunne, John (‘Tull’)
Dunne, John (‘Tull’) (1911–90), Gaelic footballer, coach, and administrator, was born 26 December 1911 in Brackernagh, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, the son of William Dunne, carpenter, and his wife, Katie, née Donelan. He was educated in the local Christian Brothers’ school before…...
Dunphy, Sean
Dunphy, Sean (1937–2011), showband and cabaret singer, was born John Michael Dunphy on 30 November 1937 in the family home at 17 London Bridge Road, Irishtown, Dublin, son of Patrick Dunphy, a plasterer, and Mary Dunphy (née Farrell). Following his father into a building trade, he…...
Eglington, Tommy (Thomas Joseph)
Eglington, Tommy (Thomas Joseph) (1923–2004), soccer player, was born 15 January 1923 at 14 Norfolk Market, Great Britain (latterly Parnell) Street, Dublin, son of Christopher Eglington, butcher, and his wife Margaret (née McHugh). In his childhood the family moved to 7 Hazel Road…...
Elliott, Seamus (‘Shay’)
Elliott, Seamus ('Shay') (1934–71), cyclist, was born 4 June 1934 at Old County Road, Crumlin, Dublin, the second of three sons of Jim Elliott, garage owner of Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin, and his wife Nell (née Farrell). His parents were part of the republican contingent that seized the…...
Fahy, Francis Arthur
Fahy, Francis Arthur (1854–1935), songwriter and Irish-language activist, was born 27 September 1854 at Kinvara, Co. Galway, one of eight children of Thomas Fahy, shopkeeper, of Co. Clare, and Celia Fahy (née Marlborough) of Gort, Co. Galway. Educated at Kinvara national school, he…...
Fallon, Sean
Fallon, Sean (1922–2013), footballer and coach, was born on 31 July 1922 in Sligo, one of nine children (six girls and three boys) of John Fallon (1897–1980) and his wife Margaret (1897–1990; née Forde). In 1914 John Fallon quit his job in McArthur’s bakery in Sligo to join the…...
Farrell, Peter Desmond
Farrell, Peter Desmond (1922–99), soccer player, was born 16 August 1922 in Dalkey, Co. Dublin, son of Loughlin Farrell, insurance agent, and Teresa Farrell (née Glynn), of Ruby Cottage, Convent Road, Dalkey. He was educated at the Harold Boys School and later Dún Laoghaire…...
Feehan, John (Seán)
Feehan, John (Seán) (1916–91), publisher and writer, was born 8 September 1916 in Ballinree, Dualla, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, the elder of two sons of Thomas Feehan, teacher, Ballytarsna, and his wife, Catherine O'Connor, teacher, of Dualla. His brother Gerard died aged two, and his…...
Feeney, John (‘Jack’)
Feeney, John (‘Jack’) (1903–67), singer, was born 9 August 1903 in Swinford, Co. Mayo, fourth of seven surviving children (five sons and two daughters) of Patrick Feeney (1865–1914/15), grocer, originally from Co. Leitrim, and Mary Feeney (née Kelly) (1875–1925), a daughter of the…...
Fenning, Seumas
Fenning, Seumas (1904–81), snooker and billiards player, was born 12 February 1904 in Wood Quay, Dublin, one of thirteen children (of whom eleven survived) of Thomas J. Fenning, proofreader and bookseller, and Mary Fenning (née O'Donoghue). He attended a number of schools in the…...
Fenton, Tony
Fenton, Tony (Anthony Fagan, ‘the Dude’) (1961–2015), music broadcaster and disc jockey (DJ), was born Anthony James Fagan in Donnycarney, Co. Dublin, on 25 March 1961, the second of four sons and one daughter to Brendan Fagan, a carpenter with his own business, and his…...
Finn, Edmund
Finn, Edmund (d. 1777), printer, publisher, and bookseller, is known to have been at work in Cork in 1766, but from 1767 he worked at Kilkenny, at St Mary's Churchyard (1767) and then at High Street (1767–77), where he founded, edited, printed, and published an influential twice…...
FitzGerald, Alexis James Oliver
FitzGerald, Alexis James Oliver (1916–85), solicitor and economist, was born 4 September 1916, the fourth child of Alexis FitzGerald and his wife, Elizabeth O'Halloran. He was born, as he would later say himself, ‘under the clock’ in the Waterford Mental Hospital, where his father was…...
Fitzgerald, Eugene (Gene)
Fitzgerald, Eugene (Gene) (1932–2007), politician, was born in Crookstown, Co. Cork, on 21 August 1932; he had at least one brother and one sister. Educated at Crookstown national school and Presentation Brothers' College, Cork, he lived most of his adult life in Bishopstown in the…...
Fitzgerald, Dick (‘Dickeen’)
Fitzgerald, Dick (‘Dickeen’), Gaelic footballer and revolutionary, was born 2 October 1882 in College Street, Killarney, Co. Kerry, one of at least three sons and three daughters of Michael Fitzgerald, a merchant of College Street, and his wife Bridget (née Healy). His primary education…...
Fitzgibbon, Edward
Fitzgibbon, Edward (1803–57), journalist known as ‘Ephemera’, was born in August 1803 in Limerick, son of a land agent; nothing else is known of his family. On the death of his father (1817) he went to London, aged 14, and two years later was articled to a surgeon. Within two…...
Fitzpatrick, Hugh
Fitzpatrick, Hugh (d. 1818), printer and bookseller, was said by an obituarist to be ‘descended from a noble Irish family’ and seems to have been a nephew of Sir Jeremiah Fitzpatrick (qv), of whose will he and his son…...
Flanagan, Seán
Flanagan, Seán (1922–93), GAA footballer and politician, was born 26 January 1922 in Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, second eldest child among four sons and two daughters of Stanislaus Flanagan, national school teacher, and Ann Flanagan (née Spelman). He was educated at St Jarlath's…...
Flannery, Austin
Flannery, Austin (1925–2008), priest, scholar, editor, journalist and social justice campaigner, was born William ('Liam') Flannery on 10 January 1925 at Rear Cross, Co. Tipperary, the eldest of seven children of William K. Flannery and his wife Margaret Flannery (née Butler),…...
Fleischmann, Aloys Georg
Fleischmann, Aloys Georg (1880–1964), composer, conductor, choir master and organist, was born on 24 April 1880 in Dachau, Bavaria, Germany. His father (also Aloys), a highly respected guild craftsman (a master shoemaker), was born in the nearby hamlet of Eisolzried in 1844 and…...
Fleischmann, Maria Theresa Mathilda ('Tilly')
Fleischmann, Maria Theresa Mathilda ('Tilly') (1882–1967), pianist and teacher, was born 2 April 1882 at 14 Dyke Parade, Cork, the second of nine children of German immigrants, Hans Conrad Swertz and his wife Walburga (née Rössler). Her early musical education was largely overseen…...