Joy, Robert
Joy, Robert (1722–85), printer, manufacturer, and philanthropist, was born probably in Belfast, second son of Francis Joy (qv), attorney, paper manufacturer, and printer, and Margaret Joy (née Martin). He was named for his maternal…...
Kavanagh, Peter Paul
Kavanagh, Peter Paul (1916–2006), writer and critic, was born 19 March 1916 in Mucker, Iniskeen, Co. Monaghan, youngest of ten children of James Kavanagh, shoemaker and small farmer, and his wife Bridget (née Quinn). His godfather was his elder brother, the poet…...
Kennedy, Kieran
Kennedy, Kieran (1935–2013), economist, was born on 14 July 1935 in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, the fourth of five sons of Patrick Kennedy, a garda, and his wife Margaret (née Callahan). As his father was transferred frequently, Kieran spent much of his early life alone with his grandmother…...
Kenny, Kevin John
Kenny, Kevin John (1881–1954), advertising pioneer, commercial manager and publisher, was born on 22 June 1881 at 12 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin, one of eight children of Michael C. Kenny, a lithographic printer and Fenian, and Catherine Kenny (née Fleming), a book-folder (cloth…...
Kilian (Cilian)
Kilian (Cilian) (d. 689), bishop of Würzburg, was according to native tradition born in the present townland of Cloghballybeg in the parish of Mullagh, Co. Cavan. He went to the Continent with eleven companions and was martyred in 689 in Würzburg with two co-workers, whose names…...
Kilian (Cilian, Cillianus, Chillenus)
Kilian (Cilian, Cillianus, Chillenus) (d. 670) of Aubigny (near Arras, northern France) was a hermit-saint and evangeliser. He is associated with his fellow Irishman St Fiacre (qv) (d. 670) of Brie and with St Faro of Meaux. In the Lives…...
King, Cecil Harmsworth
King, Cecil Harmsworth (1901–87), publisher, was born 20 February 1901 at Poynter's Hall, Totteridge, Hertfordshire, England (home of his grandmother, Geraldine Harmsworth (qv)), second son and fifth child among seven children of…...
King, Jeremiah
King, Jeremiah (1868–1927), historian, printer, and publisher, was born 11 February 1868 in Groin, in the parish of Aghadoe, Co. Kerry, elder of two sons of Laurence King, carpenter, of Currow, and Ellen King (née Counihan), farmer, of Madam's Height, Groin. Early in King's life…...
Laichtín
Laichtín (d. 622) son of Toirbín, abbot of Achad Úr (Freshford, Co. Kilkenny), is a shadowy figure reputed to have been born in the sixth century. Pádraig Ó Riain has argued that he was a Christianised version of the Celtic divinity Lug, whose festival, Lugnasa, was celebrated on…...
Laisrén (Mo-Laisse)
Laisrén (Mo-Laisse) (d. 639/41), bishop of Lethglenn (Leighlin, Co. Carlow), and saint in the Irish tradition, was according to his genealogy son of Cairell, who belonged to the Dál nImde, a population group located among the Ulaid (Ulstermen). A tract on the mothers of the…...
Lassar
Lassar (6th cent.?), foundress and first abbess of Cluain Laigen (Clonlyon, parish of Kilmore, Co. Meath), and saint in the Irish tradition, can be traced to Cenél Lóegaire, a dynasty affiliated to the Uí Néill. She is said to have been a daughter of Fergus son of Fedelmid, a…...
Lawrence, John Fortune
Lawrence, John Fortune (1833–97), sporting merchant and publisher, was born 13 January 1833 in Dublin, the eldest of six brothers and five sisters (three of each reaching adulthood) of William Lawrence (d. 1887), a clerk of works at the General Post Office (GPO), and his wife Elizabeth…...
Leathley, Joseph
Leathley, Joseph (d. 1757), ‘college binder’, printer, and bookseller, joined the Dublin printers, guild in July 1719, having been sworn a freeman of the city earlier in the year. He initially undertook a small number of joint publishing ventures with other members of the trade in…...
Liadain
Liadain (early 6th cent.), foundress and first abbess of Cell Liadain (Killyon, near Birr, Co. Offaly) and a saint in the Irish tradition, was, according to hagiographical convention, the widowed mother of St Ciarán (qv), founder of Saigir (…...
Liber (Mo-Libbo)
Liber (Mo-Libbo) (d. 620), abbot of Aghaboe, church founder and saint in the Irish tradition, probably belonged to Dál nAraide. Although his connection with that dynasty is not certain it features strongly in the genealogies, and his cult is firmly rooted in the territory of Uí…...
Lloyd, Edward
Lloyd, Edward (fl. 1700–1732), coffee house proprietor, publisher, and writer, was born in England and probably moved to Dublin in the 1690s. Nothing is known of his parents. A namesake, Edward Lloyd (d. 1713), founded (c.1688) Lloyd's coffee house in London, which…...
Logan, Michael J. (Ó Lócháin, Micheál)
Logan, Michael J. (Ó Lócháin, Micheál) (1836–99), editor, publisher, and ‘father of the Gaelic language movement’ in America (Ford, 1899), was born 29 September 1836 at Currach Doire (Curraghderry), Baile an Mhuilinn (Milltown), near Tuam, Co. Galway, son of Patrick Logan, a small…...
Mac-Caille
Mac-Caille (d. c.489), bishop and abbot of Cruachán Breg Éile (Croghan Hill, barony of Lower Philipstown, Co. Offaly), and saint in the Irish tradition, was reputedly the son of Darerca, sister of St Patrick…...
Mac-Caírthinn
Mac-Caírthinn (d. 506), bishop and disciple of St Patrick (qv) and founder of the church of Clochar (Clogher, Co. Tyrone). Nothing is known of his ancestry other than that the Uí Maicc Caírthinn were one of the septs of…...
Mac Cuilinn
Mac Cuilinn (d. 496/7), founder and first bishop of Lusk and a saint in the Irish tradition, is assigned by the pre-Norman genealogists to the ruling lineage of Cianachta, which provided local kings of the coastal region between north Co. Dublin and Louth. His father is named as…...
Mac Cuill
Mac Cuill (5th–6th cent.), founder and bishop of St Maughold's in the Isle of Man, and saint in the Irish tradition, is linked by the genealogists to the Uí Bairrche dynasty of Leinster. This places him among a group of church founders that includes…...
Mac Nisse
Mac Nisse (d. c.514), bishop of Condere (Connor, Co. Antrim), saint in the Irish tradition, and according to the hagiographers a disciple of St Patrick (qv), was son of Fáebrach son of Erc, who probably…...
Mac Táil
Mac Táil (d. 550), founder and first bishop of Cell Chuilinn (Kilcullen, Co. Kildare), and saint in the Irish tradition, belonged in all probability to a lineage of the Éoganachta. Although his personal name is given in his obit as Éogan, and attempts have been made to link him to…...
Máedóc (Áed, Áedán, Mogue)
Máedóc (Áed, Áedán, Mogue) (d. 625/6), founder and bishop of Ferns, Co. Wexford, is patron saint of the diocese of Ferns and of Drumlane (Co. Cavan) and Rossinver (Co. Leitrim). Later tradition says that his name Áed was changed to the hypocoristic form Máedóc (Mo-Áed-óc meaning…...
Máedóc (Áed, Áedán, Mogue)
Máedóc (Áed, Áedán, Mogue) (d. c.656/60), founder and first abbot of Cluain Mór Máedóc (Clonmore, Co. Carlow) and saint in the Irish tradition, was a son of Éogan son of Bruidge, and so belonged to Síl mBruidge, a discard lineage of the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. He is therefore…...