Co. Galway

Gilmore, Patrick Sarsfield (1829–92), musician and bandmaster, was born 25 December 1829 at Ballygar, Co. Galway, son of Patrick J. Gilmore, stonemason, and Mary Gilmore (née Sharkey). Initially destined for the priesthood, he was sent to work in a shop in Athlone, Co. Westmeath,…

Gleeson, William Joseph (‘Bill’) (1901–82), businessman, was born 24 July 1901 in Caropaden, Dunmore, Co. Galway. The distinguished Galway GAA family, the Mahons, were cousins of the Gleesons. He received his primary education at…

Glynn, Patrick McMahon (1855–1931), politician and lawyer in Australia, was born 25 August 1855 in Gort, Co. Galway, third among eleven children of John McMahon Glynn (1824–79), owner of a large general store, and Ellen Glynn (née Walsh; 1835–1918). Patrick was educated by the…

Glynn, Sir Joseph (1869–1951), catholic social activist and writer, was born 25 April 1869, at The Square, Gort, Co. Galway, the second son of John McMahon Glynn, merchant, and Ellen Glynn (née Walsh). He was educated at Blackrock College, Dublin, graduating…

Gregory, (Isabella) Augusta (1852–1932), Lady Gregory, writer, folklorist and patron of the arts, was born Isabella Augusta Persse at Roxborough House, Co. Galway, on 15 March 1852. She was the ninth of thirteen children (eight boys and five girls) of Dudley Persse and his second wife…

Gregory, Robert (c.1727–1810), director of the East India Company and politician, was born in Co. Galway, son of Henry Gregory, probably a merchant, and his wife, Mary Shawe, of a leading Galway family. The Gregorys are first traced in Kerry in the early seventeenth century…

Griffin, Michael Joseph (1892–1920), catholic priest, was born 18 September 1892 near Gurteen, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, one of five children of Thomas Griffin (d. 1914), farmer and chairman of Galway county council (1912–14), and Mary Griffin (neé Kyne). He was educated at…

Halappanavar, Savita (1981–2012), catalyst for change in Irish abortion laws, was born Savita Andanappa Yalagi on 29 September 1981 in Bagalkot, Karnataka province, south-west India, the youngest of three children (two boys, one girl) of Andanappa Yalagi, an electrical engineer with the…

Harris, Frank (1856–1931), writer, was born James Thomas Harris on 14 February 1856 in Galway city, fourth among five children of Thomas Vernon Harris, customs shipmaster, and his wife, Anne Thomas, both Welsh nonconformists. Their father being appointed to various ships, the family…

Harris, Matthew (1825–90), revolutionary and agrarian radical, was born in Roscommon town, son of Peter Harris, a farmer from Athlone, Co. Westmeath, and his wife Ann Harris. After attending a hedge school, he worked for several years as a labourer in the building profession before…

Haverty, Joseph (1794–1864), portrait and subject painter, was born in Galway. Nothing is known of his early life and artistic training. In 1814 he submitted a painting from Galway to the Hibernian Society of Artists exhibition in Dublin, and by the following year he had taken up…

Healy, John (1841–1918), catholic archbishop of Tuam and historian, was born in Ballinafad, Co. Sligo, on 14 November 1841, second and eldest surviving child of the four sons and three daughters of Mark Healy and his wife, Mary (née Gallagher), who were both schoolteachers. As a…

Healy, Thomas Gerard (‘Gerry’) (1913–1989), Trotskyist party-leader, was born in Ballybane, Co. Galway, on 3 December 1913, the eldest of four children of Michael Healy, a well-off farmer of Ballybane, and Margaret Mary (née Rabbitte). Healy fabricated aspects of his…

Heron, Denis Caulfield (1824–81), lawyer and politician, was born 16 February 1824 in Dublin, eldest son of William Heron, esq., of Newry, Co. Down, and his wife Mary, daughter of Thomas Maguire, merchant, of Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. He was educated at Downside School, near…

Heusaff (Heussaff), Alan (1921–99), Breton nationalist, pan-Celticist, and meteorologist, was born 23 July 1921 in Sant-Ivi, Cornouaille, Brittany, son of Sébastien Heussaff, small farmer, and Jeanne Heussaff (née Faron). Reared in a Breton-speaking household, he was educated at the…

Hogan, James (1898–1963), revolutionary, historian, and political scientist, was born 16 October 1898 at Cloonmain, Kilrickle, near Loughrea, Co. Galway, seventh child among four sons and five daughters of Brigid Hogan (née Glennon) and Michael F. Hogan, a considerable farmer and…

Hogan, Patrick J. (‘Paddy’) (1891–1936), politician, farmer, and solicitor, was born 30 May 1891 at Cloonmain, Kilrickle, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, one of four sons and five daughters of Michael J. Hogan (d. 1913), extensive farmer and chief inspector with the estates commission, and…

Horne, Sir Andrew John (1856–1924), obstetrician, was born 8 August 1856 in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, younger of two children of Junius Horne, general merchant, property- and landowner, and Frances Horne (née Banfield). He was educated at Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare (1868–…

Hynes, Francis Alexander (‘Frank’) (1912–94), civil servant, was born 30 May 1912 in Galway city, son of Patrick Joseph Hynes, post office clerk, and Norah Elizabeth Hynes (née Dyas). The family lived on St Brendan's Road, Galway. Educated locally, he joined the civil service in May…

Johnson, Philip Francis (1835–1926), political activist and labour organiser, was born at Mallow, Co. Cork. He was well educated and travelled widely as a youth, spending eight years in India and visiting the South Sea Islands. He had returned to Ireland by the late 1850s, and…

Jones, Liam (1935–2000), stockbroker, was born 6 October 1935 in Liverpool, England, second son of two sons of William Jones and Molly Jones (née Barry), teacher, of Dublin. Following the death of his father (1936) shortly after his birth, the family returned to Dublin (1936)…

Joyce, Myles (1837?–1882), victim of a miscarriage of justice, was the second of three sons of Shaun Joyce of Cappanacreha, Co. Galway, a desolate and isolated townland in the parish of Ross in the Joyce Country bordering Co. Mayo. Myles Joyce, a small farmer at Cappanacreha, who…

Joyce, Pierce Charles (1878–1965), British army officer, was born 23 June 1878 in Galway, the son of Pierce John Joyce, JP and high sheriff of Galway, and Selina Henrietta Joyce (née Mahon), the daughter of Charles Mahon, JP and DL of Co. Mayo; there was also a younger brother who…

Keane, Rita (1923–2009), traditional singer and musician, was born on 31 December 1923 in the townland of Carragh, Caherlistrane, Co. Galway, one of eight children (four daughters and four sons) of Matt Keane and his wife May (née Costello; d. 1978), who were farmers. Rita attended…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Kelly, (Patrick) Colm. View the original entry.