Mitchel, Charles Gerald
Mitchel, Charles Gerald (1920–96), actor and broadcaster, was born 8 November 1920 at Montpelier Manor, Monkstown, Co. Dublin, third among four children of Albert David Mitchel, manufacturer of religious goods, and Netta Mitchel (née Fitzgerald), also a company director, from…...
Montgomery, James
Montgomery, James (1870–1943), filmcensor, was born 8 October 1870 in Dublin, son of Thomas Montgomery and Mary Montgomery (née Dempsey), of Lime St., Dublin. Educated at CBS, Westland Row, he worked on the engineering staff of the…...
Moore, Kieron
Moore, Kieron (1924–2007), actor and catholic activist, was born Ciarán Ó hAnnracháin in Skibbereen, Co. Cork, on 5 October 1924, one of four sons and two daughters of the Gaelic Leaguer and political activist Peadar Ó hAnnracháin (1873–1965) and his wife Máire Ní Dheasúna (Desmond) (…...
Moore, Theophilus
Moore, Theophilus (c.1730–c.1809), almanack compiler, may have been born in King's Co. (Offaly), but details of his life are scant and conflicting. John McCall (qv) in his comprehensive ‘History of Irish almanacks’ (written 1878; unpublished…...
Morgan, Dermot
Morgan, Dermot (1952–98), comedian, was born 31 March 1952 in a nursing home at 7 Herbert Place, Dublin, third child and elder son among two sons and two daughters of Donnchadh Morgan (d. 1974, suddenly in his early 50s), a civil servant, native of Thurles, Co. Tipperary, and Hildegarde…...
Murphy, Arthur
Murphy, Arthur (1727–1805), dramatist, actor, and lawyer, was born 27 December 1727 at his mother's family home at Cloonyquin, Co. Roscommon, the fifth (and second surviving) child of Richard Murphy, a prosperous Dublin merchant, and his wife, Jane (née French) (d. 1761). Following…...
Murphy, John
Murphy, John (c.1755–1832), engraver and educational publisher, was born in Cork city and reared in its northern suburbs, around Mallow Lane. At the age of seventeen he emigrated to London, led by his ‘predilection for the Fine Arts and a desire to cultivate an inclination for…...
Nolan, Thomas
Nolan, Thomas (1872/3–1939), newspaper editor and publisher, was educated at the CBS, Tralee, Co. Kerry; few other details of his early life are available. As a young man he joined the clerical staff of J. B. Healy, building…...
Ó Cuinneagáin, Gearóid Seán Caoimhín
Ó Cuinneagáin, Gearóid Seán Caoimhín (1910–91), political activist and publisher, was born 2 January 1910 at Belfast, the third child of Sean Cunningham and his wife Caitlín. He was educated in Belfast, at St Brigid's school, Malone Rd, and the …...
O'Daly, John
O'Daly, John (1800–78), writer and publisher, was born 5 February 1800 in Fernane, Cappoquin, Co. Waterford, eldest among three sons and three daughters of Eamonn O'Daly and Brigid O'Daly (née Kyley). He was educated at a local hedge school before going to work, in 1826, for the…...
O'Dea, Denis
O'Dea, Denis (1903–78), actor, was born 26 April 1903 in Dublin, the only child of Michael O'Dea, RIC officer, and Katherine O'Dea (née Neilson), both originally from north Co. Kerry. At the time of Denis's birth they were living at…...
O'Dea, James Augustine (‘Jimmy’)
O'Dea, James Augustine (‘Jimmy’) (1899–1965), actor and comedian, was born 26 April 1899 at 11 Lower Bridge St., Dublin, over his parents’ toyshop in the historic but dilapidated Liberties. Both parents, twice-widowed James O'Dea and his third wife, Martha (née O'Gorman), former…...
O'Donovan, Frederick Michael ('Fred')
O'Donovan, Frederick Michael ('Fred') (1929–2010), theatrical impresario, theatre and radio producer, and public figure, was born 27 May 1929 at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin, the fourth of six sons of John O'Donovan, of 53 Casino Road, Croydon Park, Fairview,…...
Ó Faracháin, Roibeárd (Farren, Robert)
Ó Faracháin, Roibeárd (Farren, Robert) (1909–84), poet, broadcaster, and director of the Abbey Theatre, was born Robert Farren on 24 April 1909 in Lower Grand Canal St., Dublin, son of Henry Farren, stone-cutter, and Catherine Farren (née Gray). His father, who played a prominent role…...
O'Herlihy, Dan (Daniel Peter)
O'Herlihy, Dan (Daniel Peter) (1919–2005), actor, was born 1 May 1919 at Odessa Cottage, Wexford town, son of John Robert O'Herlihy, a civil servant from Cork who later worked in the Department of Industry and Commerce, and his wife Ellen (née Hanton), from Wexford; they had at least…...
O'Keeffe (O'Keefe), John
O'Keeffe (O'Keefe), John (1747–1833), actor and dramatist, was born 24 June 1747 at Abbey St., Dublin, into a catholic family. Educated locally by Fr Austin, he showed some talent as a painter and was enrolled at the Dublin Society schools. However, his mind soon turned to the…...
Ó Laoghaire, Colm
Ó Laoghaire, Colm (1919–2007), filmmaker, was born on 8 September 1919 in Dublin, the only son of Jeremiah O'Leary (see below), an Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) official, and his wife Philomena ('Mimi') O'Leary (née Plunkett). Mimi was a daughter of Count…...
O'Leary, Liam
O'Leary, Liam (1910–92), writer, film director, and archivist, was born William O'Laoghaire on 25 September 1910, the son of Donnachadh O'Laoghaire, a teacher, and his wife, Alice (née Burke), of South Main Street, Youghal. He spent most of his childhood in Wexford, and was…...
Ó Lochlainn, Colm
Ó Lochlainn, Colm (1892–1972), printer, publisher and Gaelic scholar, was born William Gerard O'Loughlin at Drumcondra, Dublin, on 11 October 1892, the second of four surviving children (from six) of John O'Loughlin, publisher, and his wife Delia Bridget (née Carr), whose family were…...
O'Malley, Patrick Pearse
This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Malley, Mary (Margaret). View the original entry....
O'Neill, James
O'Neill, James (1845–1920), actor, was born 14 October 1845 in Rosbercon, Co. Kilkenny, sixth of the nine children of Edmond O'Neil (also Neil, Neill, or O'Neill), labourer, and his wife (and cousin) Mary Neill. After struggling in the famine years, Edmond O'Neill emigrated (May…...
Peyton, Patrick Joseph
Peyton, Patrick Joseph (1909–1992), Holy Cross priest and radio and television evangelist (‘the Rosary Priest’), was born 9 January 1909 in Carracastle, near Ballina, Co. Mayo, sixth of the nine children of John Peyton (1868–1934), county road repair worker, and Mary Gillard Peyton (…...
Purcell, Noel
Purcell, Noel (1900–85), actor, was born Patrick Joseph Noel Purcell on 23 December 1900 at 11a Lower Mercer Street, Dublin, the elder of the two children of Pierce Purcell, auctioneer, and his second wife, Catherine Purcell (née Hoban), antique dealer. Educated at the Synge…...
Quigley, Godfrey
Quigley, Godfrey (1923–94), actor, theatre manager and director, was born 5 May 1923 in Jerusalem, Palestine Mandate, the son of Eugene Patrick Quigley, a military official from Co. Sligo, and his American born wife Lillian (née Broderick). His father had been awarded the MC during the…...
Ryan, Kathleen
Ryan, Kathleen (1922–85), actress, was born on 8 September 1922 above her parents' shop on Camden Street, Dublin, the first of eight children of James (Seamus) Ryan (qv) and his wife Agnes Ryan (qv) (née Harding).…...