Burke, John (‘Sean’)
Burke, John (‘Sean’) (1899–1974), champion amateur golfer, was born 26 April 1899 in Moybeg, Ennistimon, Co. Clare, second among eight sons and a daughter of Patrick Burke, farmer, originally from Liscannor, Co. Clare, and Mary Burke (née Hayes) of Moybeg. He was educated at Moy…...
Burns, Thomas (Tommy; ‘The Scotchman’)
Burns, Thomas (Tommy; ‘The Scotchman’) (1898–1991), jockey, was born 13 February 1898 in Ayrshire, Scotland, eldest son and third child of James Burns (d.1954), racehorse trainer, and Jane Burns (née Tait; d. 1931). Educated at Ayr Academy, he quickly eschewed school for the…...
Butler, Isaac
Butler, Isaac (1689/90?–1755), almanac maker, botanist, and antiquary, was by 1725 in business as a bookseller and publisher in Patrick Street, Dublin; he was a quarter-brother of the printers’ guild (1728–31). His first almanac was Advice from the stars (1725), which he…...
Butler, William Archer
Butler, William Archer (1812?–1848), clergyman and professor of moral philosophy, was second son of Pierce Archer Butler and Anna Maria Butler (née Gallwey); their seven children were brought up as Roman Catholics by their mother, though the father, who had several times been…...
Byrne, James Loughlin (‘Locky’)
Byrne, James Loughlin (‘Locky’) (1913–41), hurler, was born 28 April 1913 at 41 Morgan St., Waterford city, the only child of James Byrne, engine driver, and Johanna Byrne (née McGrath). He was educated locally at Mount Sion CBS. A…...
Byrne, Patrick
Byrne, Patrick (1740/41–1814), printer, bookseller, and United Irishman, had a flourishing business in Dublin, at 35 College Green (1779–85) and 108 Grafton Street (1785–99). Byrne's business was probably the largest of its kind in Ireland in the eighteenth century. One indication…...
Byrne, Seán
Byrne, Seán (1955–2003), soccer player, was born 5 February 1955 in Dublin, son of Thomas 'Dessie' Byrne, a labourer and League of Ireland footballer, of St Teresa's Gardens, Dolphin's Barn, Dublin, and his wife Annie (née Fields). Playing initially with the hugely successful…...
Cahill, Harry (Harold Alexander)
Cahill, Harry (Harold Alexander) (1930–2009), international hockey player, was born on 9 June 1930 at 94 Fitzroy Avenue, Drumcondra, Dublin, one of two boys and one girl born to Henry Joshua Cahill, superintendent of stamping in Dublin Castle, and his wife Mary Maeve Cahill (née…...
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 (…...
Cahill, Pearse
Cahill, Pearse (1917–2011), aviator, businessman and race driver, was born Matthew Pearse Cahill (in honour of the executed leader of the 1916 rising) in Dublin on 26 January 1917, son of Hugh Cahill (1883–1966), of Glasnevin, Dublin, and his wife Caroline (née O'Connor). The owner-…...
Caldwell, John ('Johnny')
Caldwell, John ('Johnny') (1938–2009), boxer, was born on 7 May 1938 at 63 Cyprus Street, Belfast, the son of John Caldwell, a joiner, and Bridget Caldwell (née Maguire). During his education at St Comghall's School, Divis Street, his diminutive stature attracted bullying, and at…...
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…...
Campbell, Joseph Graham
Campbell, Joseph Graham (1830–91), chess player, also known as ‘J. G. C.’, and called ‘James G. Campbell’ by G. A. Macdonnell, who knew him, was born in May 1830 either in Belfast or in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, and moved to London during childhood. Honing his skills in the Chess and…...
Campbell, Sir Cecil James Henry
Campbell, Sir Cecil James Henry (1891–1952), company director, sportsman, and soldier, was born 4 May 1891, the second son of James Henry Mussen Campbell (qv), 1st Baron Glenavy, and his wife Emily (née McCullough).…...
Cantwell, Noel (Eucharia)
Cantwell, Noel (Eucharia) (1932–2005), footballer and cricketer, was born 28 December 1932 at 2 Illen Villas, Mardyke Walk, Cork, one of five sons and a daughter of Michael Cantwell, a master tailor, and his wife Hannah (née Daly) (d. 1941). He was educated at St Joseph's national…...
Canty, Joseph (‘Kidder’)
Canty, Joseph (‘Kidder’) (1894–1971), jockey, was born 20 June 1894 in Kilfrush, Knocklong, Co. Limerick, youngest of eleven children of John Canty, farmer, and Mary Canty (née MacNamara). In 1911 he became an apprentice jockey to …...
Carden, John Rutter
Carden, John Rutter (1811–66), landlord, was born 5 February 1811, eldest among six sons and a daughter of John Carden (1772–1822) of Barnane, near Templemore, Co. Tipperary, landowner, DL, and high sheriff (1796) of the county, and Ann Carden…...
Carey, John Joseph ('Johnny', 'Jackie')
Carey, John Joseph ('Johnny', 'Jackie') (1919–95), footballer, was born 23 February 1919 at 4 Adelaide Place, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, the son of John Carey, a van driver, and Sarah Carey (née Byrne). Educated at Westland Row CBS, he…...
Carey, Mathew
Carey, Mathew (1760–1839), author, bookseller and publisher, was born 28 January 1760 in Dublin, one of five sons to Christopher Carey, a baker who prospered provisioning the British navy, and Mary Carey (née Sheridan). Small and lame from infancy (having been dropped by his nurse),…...
Carpenter, Nathanael
Carpenter, Nathanael (1589–1628), scholar and clergyman, was born 7 February 1589 in Northleigh, Devon, England, where his father, John Carpenter (d. 1621), had a living as a clergyman. No details of his mother are known. He matriculated (June 1605) at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and…...
Carr, Joseph (Joe) Benedict
Carr, Joseph (Joe) Benedict (1922–2004), amateur golfer and businessman, was born 18 February 1922 in his grandmother's house in Inchicore, Dublin, the fifth of seven children of George Waters and his wife Mary ('Missie') (née McDonough). His parents were in financial difficulties…...
Carroll, Noel
Carroll, Noel (1941–98), athlete and public relations officer, was born 7 December 1941 in Annagassan, Co. Louth, second among four children of Paddy Carroll, farm labourer and fisherman, and Bridget Carroll (née Carroll) of Annagassan. He was educated locally at St Finian's…...
Carroll, William (‘Willie’)
Carroll, William (‘Willie’) (c.1880–c.1930), boxer, gymnast, rope-climber, and co-founder of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, was born in Moore St., Dublin, but there are no details of his background or family life. A strong, highly talented athlete, Carroll…...
Carter, Cornelius
Carter, Cornelius (d. 1734), printer, was admitted to the Dublin printers’ guild in 1696 but was never sworn and, though listed until 1716, paid no quarterage. His press was housed at different addresses in Fishamble Street (1696–1727). He began his career as a pamphleteer and…...
Casey, Philip
Casey, Philip (1841–1904), handball player, known as Phil Casey, was born in Shannon Street, Mountrath, Queen's County (Co. Laois), in 1841, the son of Patrick and Brigid Casey. He was educated at the Patrician College, Mountrath, where he began to play handball on the college's three-…...