Australia

Agnew, Sir James Wilson (1815–1901), premier of Tasmania (1886–7), was born 2 October 1815 at Ballyclare, Co. Antrim, son of James William Agnew, physician, and Ellen Agnew (née Stewart). Educated at London, Paris, and Glasgow, he trained as a doctor and graduated…

Balfe, John Donnellan (1816–80), politician, journalist, and British government spy, was born in Co. Meath, son of James Balfe, gentleman, and Sara Balfe (née Sutherland). He was educated at Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare, and had a brief career in the British army, joining…

Barrington, George (1755–1804), celebrated pickpocket, was born George Waldron in October 1755 at Maynooth, Co. Kildare, son of Henry Waldron, silversmith, and his wife, a mantua-maker and midwife whose maiden name was Naish. Educated locally, he benefited from the patronage of a…

Barry, Mother Mary Gonzaga (1834–1915), pioneer Loreto sister in Australia, was born Mary on 24 July 1834 in Wexford town, the eldest of seven children of John Barry, bank manager, and Elizabeth Barry (née Cowan). Mamie, as she was known, lived with her maternal grandmother and…

Barry, Sir Redmond (1813–80), barrister and judge, was the fifth of thirteen children of Major-general Henry Green Barry (1770–1838) and Phoebe Barry (née Drought) of Ballyclough, Co. Cork. His early education was at Curtain's Academy, Cork. At the age of twelve he entered Bexley Hall…

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…

Brazil, Dame Johanna (Sister Mary Phillipa ) (1896–1988), Sister of Mercy, teacher, and nurse, was born 25 December 1896 in Kilfinane, Co. Limerick, daughter of Thomas Brazil, farmer, and Julia Brazil (née Devane). Educated at the local convent national school, she was one of a group…

Burke, Robert O'Hara (1820/21?–1861), police officer and explorer, was born at Issercleran House, near Loughrea, Co. Galway, second son of James Hardiman Burke (1788–1854), high sheriff (1826), and his wife Anne (d. 1844), daughter of Robert O'Hara of Raheen, Co. Galway. The family…

Butler, Edward (1824?–1879), editor, barrister, and politician, was born in Co. Kilkenny, son of Michael Butler, farmer, and Mary Butler (née Joyce). First educated at Kilkenny College, he received third-level instruction at the lay college, Maynooth, in the late 1830s. By 1847 he…

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…

Callan, Margaret (née Hughes) (Thornton MacMahon) (c.1817–c.1883), writer, teacher, and nationalist, was born in Newry, Co. Down, the daughter of Phillip Hughes, a local flax buyer, and his wife, Susan Gavan, of Latnamard, Co. Monaghan, the aunt of…

Clune, Patrick Joseph (1864–1935), catholic archbishop of Perth, was born 27 January 1864 at Ruan, Co. Clare, fifth of eleven children of James Clune, farmer, and Margaret Clune (née Lynch). Educated at St Flannan?s College, Ennis, he entered All Hallows College, Dublin, where he…

Cooney, Edward (1867–1960), evangelist, was born 11 February 1867 in Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, one of twelve children of William Rutherford Cooney, a prosperous anglican draper, and his methodist wife Emily (née Carson). He was educated at Enniskillen Model School and Portora…

Cuffe, Otway Frederick Seymour (1853–1912), benefactor and Gaelic revivalist, was born 11 January 1853 in London, third and youngest son of John Otway O'Connor Cuffe (1818–1865), 3rd earl of Desart (an Irish title), and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Lucy Campbell (1822–1898), third daughter…

Cunningham, Philip (d. 1804), United Irishman and leader of the most serious convict insurrection in Australian history, was born c.1770 at Gleann Liath (Moyvane), near Listowel, Co. Kerry. He moved to Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, in the 1790s to work as a publican and a mason…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Curran, Thomas. View the original entry.

Dalton, James (1834–1919), Irish-Australian merchant and pastoralist, was born 24 May 1834 at Duntryleague, Co. Limerick, third child of James Dalton, farmer, and his first wife Ellen (née Ryan). While Ellen was pregnant with James, his father assisted in the failed kidnapping of a…

Dalton, Joseph (1817–1905), Jesuit priest and missioner, was born in Co. Waterford at Slieveroe or Glenmore 12 February 1817, third of two sons and four daughters of Patrick Dalton and his wife Mary Foley, who married on 15 January 1809. In 1841 they were living at 11 Michael St…

Daly, Anne (1860–1924), superior general of the Sisters of Charity, Australia, was born 28 May 1860 in Tipperary, the ninth child of John Daly, blacksmith, and Mary Daly (née Cleary). Around 1865 the family emigrated to Australia and settled at Braidwood, New South Wales. Anne was…

Daly, Sir Dominick (1798–1868), colonial administrator, was born 11 August 1798 at Ardfry, Co. Galway, third son of Dominick Daly of Benmore, Co. Galway, and his wife Joanna Harriet, daughter of Joseph Blake of Ardfry, widow of Richard Burke of Glinsk, and sister to Joseph Henry Blake,…

Dooley, James Thomas (1877–1950), New South Wales premier, was born 26 April 1877 at Carrick Crean, Co. Longford, fourth son of Thomas Dooley, farmer, and Elizabeth Dooley (née O'Connor). The family emigrated to Australia when James was a child, landing in Brisbane on 1 August…

Doyne, William Thomas (1823–77), railway engineer, was born in April 1823 at Old Leighlin, Co. Carlow, second son of the Rev. Thomas Doyne and Sophia Doyne (née Armstrong). At the age of 16 he entered the University of Durham and studied engineering for a year. In 1840 he was…

Drummond, James (1786?–1863), botanist, was born near Forfar, Angus, Scotland, probably in late 1786 or early 1787, as he was baptised in the parish church of Inverarity on 8 January 1787. He was the eldest child among two sons and two daughters of Thomas Drummond (b. 1757), a…

Dry, Richard (1771–1843), United Irishman and later farmer and businessman in Tasmania, was born in 1771 near Wexford town, son of a gentleman farmer. He became a weaver, based himself in Dublin, and worked in cooperation with his brother Thomas Dry (sometimes spelt Drye), a clothier.…

Dwyer, Michael (1772–1825), United Irishman, was born in Camara, west Wicklow, the eldest son of John Dwyer, a tenant farmer, and his wife, Mary (née Byrne). He had three brothers and three sisters. In 1784 the Dwyers moved to a small sheep farm at Eadestown in the remote and…