Co. Longford

Kiernan, Catherine Brigid (‘Kitty’) (1893–1945), hotelier, and fiancée of Michael Collins (qv), was born 26 January 1893 in Granard, Co. Longford, fifth child and fourth daughter among six daughters and one son of Peter Kiernan, a…

Lane, George (c.1620–83), 1st Viscount Lanesborough , politician and administrator, was born near Elphin, Co. Roscommon, eldest son of Sir Richard Lane of Tulsk, Co. Roscommon, and his second wife, Mabel, daughter and heir to Gerald Fitzgerald. His English grandfather…

Lovett, Ann (1968–84), schoolgirl, was born in Cobh, Co. Cork, on 6 April 1968, the seventh of nine children (three girls and six boys) of Diarmuid Lovett (d. 1987), builder and publican, and his wife Patricia (née MacNamee, d. 2015). EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION The Lovett family moved…

Mac Eoin, Seán (1893–1973), soldier and politician, was born John Joseph McKeon, 30 September 1893, at Ballinlough, Granard, Co. Longford, eldest of five sons and three daughters of Andrew McKeon, blacksmith and farmer, of Molly, Aughnacliffe, Co. Longford, and Katherine McKeon (…

Martin, John (c.1756–p.1801?), Augustinian priest and United Irishman, was born in Muckerstaff, Granard, Co. Longford; little is known of his early life. He joined the Augustinian order and made his final profession at Salamanca in January 1781. On his return to…

Mullooly, Joseph (1812–80), Dominican priest and archaeologist, was born 19 March 1812 at Lanesborough, Co. Longford, the son of Gilbert Mullooly, farmer, and his wife Brigid (née Dowd). He went to Italy 1840, took the Dominican habit at La Quercia as a member of the Irish…

O'Beirne, Thomas Lewis (c.1747–1823), pamphleteer, polemicist, and bishop, was born at Farnagh, Co. Longford, son of Lewis O'Beirne, a Roman catholic farmer, and Margaret O'Beirne (née O'Meagher). Educated locally, and at Saint-Omer in Flanders, he and his brother were…

O'Brien, James (‘Bronterre ’) (1804–64), chartist, was born in Granard, Co. Longford, in February 1804. He was the son of a wine, spirit, and tobacco merchant, Daniel O'Brien, and his wife, Mary Kearney. James was baptised in the catholic faith in February 1804, as was a sister, in…

O'Reilly, Brendan (1929–2001), athlete, broadcaster, entertainer, and songwriter, was born 14 May 1929 in Granard, Co. Longford, one of six children of James P. O'Reilly, shopkeeper and musician, and Catherine O'Reilly (née Donegan). The family moved to Dublin when Brendan was…

This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Cathal Riabach. View the original entry.

Samthann (d. 739), saint and abbess of Cluain Brónaig (Clonbroney, Co. Longford), was the daughter of Diamrán of the Ulster Dál Fiatach and of his wife Columba, who is not otherwise known. Unlike many other Irish saints, a historical person can be discerned under the layered…

Valentine, John (b. 1857, d. p. 1945), businessman and political activist, was born at Longford town, the son of a blacksmith. Valentine was educated at the national school in Irvinestown, Co. Fermanagh, where his family moved in the early 1870s. As ‘a bare-footed boy’…

Whitton, Eleanor Constance (1879–1956), campaigner for animal welfare, was born in Co. Longford, the daughter of the Rev. Alexander Beatty, Church of Ireland minister. She appears to have been educated locally. In 1902 she married Henry M. Whitton, registrar of the court of appeal…

Wilson, Sir Henry Hughes (1864–1922), 1st baronet, soldier, and politician, was born 5 May 1864 at his family home at Currygrane, near Ballinalee, Co. Longford, the second son of four sons and three daughters of James Wilson, a landowner, and his wife, Constance Grace Martha Wilson…