The Dictionary of Irish Biography regularly publishes new entries on important figures who have died in recent times, and on ‘missing persons’ – previously overlooked figures deserving fresh interest. Our most recent additions are listed below.
Entries published early 2023
- Arkless, Brede (née Boyle) (1939–2006), rock climber and mountain guide
- Bailey, Mary (‘Lady Bailey’) (née Westenra) (1890–1960), aviator
- Barry, Alice (1608–c. 1667), 1st countess of Barrymore
- Bernard, James Francis (1850–1924), 4th earl of Bandon, landowner and kidnapping victim
- Blackshaw, Basil (1932–2016), artist
- Boyle, Elizabeth (1613–1691), countess of Cork and Burlington
- Boyle, Margaret (1623–1689), 1st countess of Orrery
- Charlton, Jack (1935–2020), soccer player and manager
- Conolly, Thurloe (1918–2016), artist
- Copley, Clara (‘Ma’) (1865–1949), boxing promoter
- Crookshank, Anne Olivia (1927–2016), art historian
- Daly, Edward Kevin (1933–2016), catholic bishop and social activist
- Davis, Derek (1948–2015), broadcaster
- Devenish, John James (c. 1669–1739), military officer
- Flood, Finbarr (1938–2016), soccer player, managing director of Guinness brewery and chairman of the Labour Court
- Fuller, Stephen (1899–1984), farmer, political activist and survivor of the 1923 Ballyseedy massacre
- Gill, Mollie (Ní Giolla, Máire) (1891–1977), camogie player and administrator
- Hannan, Edward Joseph (1836–1891), catholic priest
- Hederman, Anthony (‘Tony’) (1921–2014), barrister, attorney general and supreme court judge
- Higgins, Aidan Charles (1927–2015), writer
- Irvine, George (1877–1954), republican, language activist and campaigner
- Kennedy, Percy William (‘Darby’) (1914–2016), aviator and founder of Weston aerodrome
- Kennedy, Sir Robert (c. 1584–1668) baronet, landowner, member of parliament and exchequer official
- Lalor, Joseph (1811–1886), psychiatrist
- Mayne, Ethel (Ethelind) Frances Colburn (1865–1941), novelist, short story writer, biographer and translator
- McEnery, Michael Joseph (1858–1940), archivist, antiquarian, deputy keeper of the Public Record Office of Ireland
- Molyneaux, James Henry (1920–2015), Ulster Unionist Party leader
- Moore, Dorothy (née King; other married name Dury) (1612/13–1664), woman of letters
- O'Brien, Anne Monica (1956–2016), soccer player
- O'Rourke, Owen (1660–1743), soldier, courtier and diplomatic agent
- Pulter, Lady Hester (1605–78), author
- Rea, Joe (1938–2007), farm leader
- Rivers, Elizabeth Joyce (1903–64), artist
- Seaton, Molly (Mary Anne) (1905–74), soccer player
- Stewart, Louis (1944–2016), jazz guitarist
- Sugrue, Elizabeth (‘Lady Betty’) (1740/50–1807), executioner
- Tadc (d. 1023), son of Brian Bórama
- Waddington, Leslie (1934–2015), art dealer
- Waller, Bolton Charles (1890–1936), journalist, soldier, public servant, peace activist and clergyman
Entries published September 2022
- Bannard Cogley, Daisy (1884–1965), theatre director and producer, actor and singer
- Blake, Caroline (1835–1919), landlord and hotelier
- Boal, Desmond Norman Orr (1928–2015), lawyer and politician
- Burrowes, Wesley (1930–2015), writer, creator of Glenroe
- Cashier, Albert (1843–1915), soldier in the American civil war
- Craig, John Duncan (1830–1909), clergyman and man of letters
- De Tomanzie, Ethens (1841–86), doctor, politician and impostor
- Delahunt, Katherine (1956–2015), first female solicitor appointed to the Circuit Court
- Devlin, Liam (1877–1964), revolutionary, publican and industrialist
- Doyle, Jimmy (1939–2015), hurler
- Eddery, Patrick (Pat) James John (1952–2015), flat racing jockey and racehorse trainer
- Friel, Brian (1929–2015), playwright and writer
- Gallagher, Michael Paul (1939–2015), Jesuit theologian, writer and lecturer
- Gallaher, Francesca (Fannie) Mary (1854–1936), writer
- Haughey, Edward Enda (1944–2014), Baron Ballyedmond, businessman and politician
- Henderson, Cathy (1963–2014), artist
- Heron, (Mary) Dorothea (1896–1960), first woman to be admitted as a solicitor in Ireland
- Irwin, Florence (1883–1965), educator
- Judge, Michael (1921–2015), writer and teacher
- Maher, Fr Tommy (1922–2015), hurling coach
- Mahon, Bríd (Bridget) (1918–2008), folklorist
- Mansfield, Jim (1939–2014), businessman
- McCann, James (‘Jim’) (1944–2015), singer
- McCormack, Percy (Percival Davis) (1929–2015), nuclear scientist, rocket engineer, pilot and physician
- McGinn, Michael (‘Mick’) (1850/51–1916), Fenian
- Murphy, John (c. 1755–1832), engraver and educational publisher
- Murray, James Andrew (1840–1921), businessman
- Ní Bhrolcháin, Muireann (1955–2015), academic and activist
- O’Callaghan, Donal (1891–1962), lord mayor of Cork, chairman of Cork County Council and TD
- O’Donohue, Maura (1933–2015), missionary doctor and public health campaigner
- O’Donovan, Fred (1884–1952) actor, film maker, theatre manager and television director
- O’Duinn, Seán (1873–1952), teacher, propagandist and trade representative
- O’Flanagan, Michael (‘Mick’) (1922–2015), soccer and rugby international
- O’Herlihy, Bill (1938–2015), broadcaster, journalist and public relations consultant
- Randles, Eileen (1937–2015), teacher, education leader and nun
- Redmond, Mary (1950–2015), solicitor and founder of the Irish Hospice Foundation
- Reid, Christina (1942–2015), playwright
- Rice, Noreen (1936–2015), artist
- Smith, Michael (1942–2014), poet, translator, editor and publisher
- Tullio, Paolo Luigi Mario (1949–2015), restaurant owner, writer and food critic
- Walsh, Sr Patricia (1942–2015), missionary nurse
- Wogan, Sir Terry (1938–2016), broadcaster
- Woulfe, Tom (1915–2015), Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) administrator and civil servant
Entries published March 2022
- Anderson, Gerry (1944–2014), broadcaster
- Arden, John (1930–2012), playwright and novelist
- Browne, Jeremy Ulick (1939–2014), 11th marquis of Sligo and entrepreneur
- Cassidy, Joseph (1933–2013), archbishop and preacher
- Colgan, Eileen (1934–2014), actor
- Colleary, (James) Gordon (1941–2014), travel entrepreneur and publisher
- Conlon, Gerard (‘Gerry’) (1954–2014), victim of a miscarriage of justice
- Cooke, Barrie (1931–2014), artist
- Doonican, Val (1927–2015), singer and musician
- Ellis, James (‘Jimmy’) (1931–2014), actor and theatre director
- Farrell, Brian (1929–2014), broadcaster and academic
- Farrell, Edmund Anthony (1946–2014), businessman
- Fitzpatrick, John Michael (1948–2014), urologist and surgeon
- Fitzsimons, Jack (1930–2014), architect, writer and politician
- Gibson, Norman (1931–2014), economist and university administrator
- Gill, Earl William (1932–2014), musician
- Healy-Rae, Jackie (1931–2014), politician
- Hogan, Jim (1933–2015), athlete
- Jones, Jimmy (1928–2014), footballer
- Kee, Robert (1919–2013), journalist, broadcaster and historian
- Loughridge, Lavinia (1930–2014), nephrologist and physician
- McAughtry, Sam (1921–2014), writer and broadcaster
- McCluskey, Constantine (1915–2013), civil rights campaigner
- McCluskey, Patricia (1914–2010), civil rights campaigner
- McKee, Maud (1954–2014), medical doctor and therapist
- Nealon, Ted (1929–2014), journalist, broadcaster and politician
- Nevin, Donal (1924–2012), trade unionist and historian
- Nowlan, Kevin B. (1921–2013), historian and conservationist
- O’Connor, Jerome Murphy- (1935–2013), biblical scholar
- O’Hara, Maureen (1920–2015), actor
- Porter, Robert Wilson (1923–2014), lawyer and politician
- Robson, Christopher (‘Chris’) (1941–2013), architect and activist
- Scott, Francis Leslie (1928–2008), chemist
- Scott, Patrick (1921–2014), artist
- Thornberry, Cedric Henry Reid (1936–2014), lawyer and UN official
- Walsh, Joe (1943–2014), government minister
Entries published September 2021
- Barry, Billie (1927–2014), stage school founder
- Brodie, Malcolm (1926–2013), sports journalist
- Byrne, John (1919–2013), property developer
- Corish, Patrick Joseph (1921–2013), priest and historian
- Darby, John (1941–2012), social and political scientist
- Deasy, Joseph (1922-2013), Marxist writer
- Donnelly, Catherine (1948–2014), advertising copywriter
- Dunlop, Robert (1938–2014), baptist minister and ecumenist
- Fallon, Sean (1922–2013), footballer and coach
- Foreman, Philip (1923–2013), engineer and chief executive
- Gilmartin, Tom (1935–2013), property developer and businessman
- Gorman, John (1923–2014), soldier, policeman, businessman and politician
- Halappanavar, Savita (1981–2012), catalyst for change in Irish abortion laws
- Hannelly, Dympna (1922–2014), missionary nurse
- Hardiman, Áine (1926–2013), nun, teacher and community activist
- Hart, Peter (1963–2010), historian
- Hayes, Margaret (1954–2014), civil servant
- Kennedy, Kieran (1935–2013), economist
- Kyle, Jack (1926–2014), rugby player and surgeon
- Lentin, Louis (1933–2014), theatre, film and television producer and director
- McKeever, Ian (1970–2013), mountaineer and charity fundraiser
- Mould, Daphne (1920–2014), author, geologist, photographer
- Nicholson, Ernest Wilson (1938–2013), biblical scholar
- O Ceallacháin, Seán Óg (1923–2013), sports broadcaster and hurler
- O’Keeffe, Paddy (1923–2013), editor, businessman and farmer
- O’Reilly, Joan Gertrude (1924–2014), hockey player
- Reihill, John Philip (1933–2013), coal and oil importer
- Tallon, Ronald (1927–2014), architect
- Tighe, Joan (1922–2014), journalist, editor and historian
- Weaver, John (1923–2013), soldier and physician
Entries published March 2021
- Buckley, Christine (1946–2014), nurse and advocate for survivors of childhood abuse in state institutions
- FitzGerald, Garret (1926–2011), economist, politician and taoiseach
- Healy, Dermot (1947–2014), novelist, poet, memoirist and playwright
- Paisley, Ian (1926–2014), Lord Bannside, protestant revivalist and politician
- Reynolds, Albert (1932–2014), businessman, politician and taoiseach