Arkless, Brede (née Boyle)
Arkless, Brede (née Boyle) (1939–2006), rock climber and mountain guide, was born 10 August 1939 in Moston, Manchester, England, the daughter of James Boyle, a fitter, and his wife Mary (née Harrison). Born prematurely while her Dublin-resident parents were visiting family in Manchester…...
Ball, John
Ball, John (1818–89), scientist, politician, and mountain traveller, was born 20 August 1818 in Dublin, eldest son among four children of Nicholas Ball (qv), politician and judge, and Jane Ball (neé Sherlock) of Butlerstown, Co.…...
Barrett, (Denis) Cyril
Barrett, (Denis) Cyril (1925–2003), Jesuit priest, art critic and historian, and philosopher, was born Denis Barrett in Dublin on 9 May 1925 (Cyril was his name in religion). He was the son of Denis Barrett, the last assistant commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. His…...
Bates, Daisy May
Bates, Daisy May (1859–1951), welfare worker for Aborigines, anthropologist, and eccentric, was born 21 October 1859 in Roscrea, Co. Tipperay, third among six children of James Dwyer , catholic tradesman and blacksmith, and Bridget Dwyer (née Hunt). Her twin brother, Francis, died…...
Bulfin, William
Bulfin, William (1863–1910), journalist in Argentina and travel writer, was born at Derrinlough House, near Birr, King's County (Offaly), and baptised 14 November 1863, fourth son in the family of ten sons and one daughter of William Bulfin, a strong farmer, and his wife Ellen (née…...
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…...
Butler, William Francis
Butler, William Francis (1838–1910), soldier and author, was born 31 October 1838 in a farmhouse at Ballyslateen, Golden, Co. Tipperary, youngest child among four sons and three daughters of Richard Butler (1792–1870), a modest landowner and large tenant farmer of Suirville, Co.…...
Coffey, Peter
Coffey, Peter (1876–1943), priest and professor ofphilosophy, was born 27 April 1876 in Rathrone, Enfield, Co. Meath, son of Andrew Coffey, farmer, and Bridget Coffey (née Cosgrove). Educated at the model school, Trim, the diocesan seminary, Navan, and St Patrick's College,…...
Collins, Jerome James
Collins, Jerome James (1841–81) meteorologist, Arctic explorer, and founder of Clan na Gael, was born 17 October 1841 in Cork city, the son of Mark Collins, a lime and saltworks owner of South Main Street, Cork, and his wife Ellen (née Ryan). He attended St Vincent's Seminary,…...
Conolly, Violet
Conolly, Violet (1899–1988), authority on Soviet Russia and traveller, was born 11 May 1899 at Fernville, Glasnevin, Co. Dublin, the eldest of six children, five daughters and one son, of Thomas Conolly, a master builder, and his wife, Teresa (née McQuaid), of Stormanstown, Co.…...
Corkery, Daniel
Corkery, Daniel (Ó Corcora, Domhnall ) (1878–1964), writer, cultural philosopher, and literary critic, was born 14 February 1878 at Gardiner's Hill, Cork city, one of five children of William Corkery and Mary Corkery (née Barron). The Corkerys were of carpentering stock for four or five…...
Cosgrave, Mary Josephine
Cosgrave, Mary Josephine (c.1877–1941), social worker and local politician, was born in Naas, Co. Kildare, the daughter of James William Daly and Jane Daly. Educated at St Mary's Convent in Naas, she went on to study at St Andrews University, from where she graduated LLA…...
Costigan, Christopher
Costigan, Christopher (1810–35), explorer, was third son of Sylvester Costigan, distiller, of Thomas St., Dublin, and Catherine Costigan (née Fitzsimons or Fitzmont), formerly of Toddstown, Co. Meath. He was educated at Clongowes Wood College (1819–26) and, for a period, at…...
Crean, Thomas (‘Tom’)
Crean, Thomas (‘Tom’) (1877–1938), sailor and Antarctic explorer, was born either on or shortly before 16 February 1877 at Gurtuchrane, near Anascaul, Co. Kerry, one of eight sons and three daughters of Patrick Crean, farmer, and Catherine Crean (née Courtney). (His birth certificate…...
Crofton, Sir John Wenman
Crofton, Sir John Wenman (1912–2009), physician, scientist and public health campaigner, was born on 27 March 1912 at the family home, 55 Merrion Square South, Dublin, the only son (between two sisters) of William Mervyn Crofton, physician and bacteriologist, and his wife Mary…...
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’)
Cusack, Margaret Anna (‘The nun of Kenmare’) (1829–99), nun and author, was born 6 May 1829 at Coolock, Co. Dublin, the elder of two children of Dr Samuel Cusack and his wife, Sarah (née Stoney). Early life and conversion to catholicism She was educated privately, learning informally…...
Eustace, John Chetwode
Eustace, John Chetwode (1762/3–1815), catholic priest and writer, was born in Co. Kildare. Both his parents were reputed to belong to gentry families, his father's in that county. It seems likely that through his father, whose name is not known, he was descended from Benjamin…...
Fitzpatrick, Thomas (‘Broken Hand’)
Fitzpatrick, Thomas (‘Broken Hand’) (1799–1854), American frontier fur trapper, guide, and agent to the tribes of the central plains, was born in Co. Cavan, one of three sons and four daughters of Mary Fitzpatrick (née Kiernan) and her husband, whose forename is not known. A catholic,…...
Flanagan, Edward Joseph
Flanagan, Edward Joseph (1886–1948), catholic priest and founder of Boys Town, was born 13 July 1886 at Ballymoe, Co. Roscommon, son of John Flanagan, herdsman, and Nora Flanagan (née Larkin). One of eleven children, he was first educated at a local school, Drimatample, and…...
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel
Grimshaw, Beatrice Ethel (1870–1953), author and traveller, was born 3 February 1870 at Cloona House, Dunmurry, Co. Antrim, fourth child among two sons and four daughters of Nicholas William Grimshaw of Belfast, former director of the Ulster Spinning Company turned wine-and-oil merchant…...
Harnett, Philip
Harnett, Philip (1943–96), Jesuit priest, was born 6 January 1943 in Dublin, the third child of Patrick Harnett and Ursula Treacy. He had two brothers, John and Patrick, and three sisters, Anne, Catherine, and Mary. Following an education at Pembroke School, Ballsbridge, and…...
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John)
Hennig, Paul Gottfried Johannes (John) (1911–86), scholar and businessman, was born 3 March 1911 in Leipzig, Germany, fourth of five children of Fürchtegott Max Hennig, protestant theologian and teacher, and his wife Berta Johanna (neé Clemen) who was from a family of distinguished…...
Hurley, Michael Anthony
Hurley, Michael Anthony (1923–2011), ecumenist and theologian, was born on 10 May 1923 in Ardmore, Co. Waterford, the eldest of four children (two boys and two girls) of Michael Hurley, a small businessman, and his wife Johanna (née Foley), who kept a guest house. He won a…...
Kavanagh, James Blake
Kavanagh, James Blake (1822–86), priest, nationalist, and philosophical and scientific writer, was born in Kilballyowen, in the parish of Killaveny, Co. Wicklow, son of Thomas Kavanagh and Mary Kavanagh (née McDonald). He received his early education at St Peter's College, Wexford…...
Kinlen, Dermot Patrick
Kinlen, Dermot Patrick (1930–2007), barrister, judge and penal reformer, was born 24 April 1930 in Dublin, the eldest of two sons and one daughter of Louis P. Kinlen, of Darwin Hall, 200 Rathfarnham Road, Dublin, a building contractor, and his wife Aileen (née O'Donnell). Educated…...