Spain

Eustace, James (1530–85), of Harristown, 3rd Viscount Baltinglass , was eldest son and heir of Sir Roland Eustace, 2nd Viscount Baltinglass, and his wife Joan, daughter of James Butler, Lord Dunboyne. The family was firmly catholic and James had as his tutor a priest and relative…

Finn (O'Finn), Edmund (Edward) (1767–1811), United Irishman and soldier in the French army, was born in Co. Cork, one of at least two sons of a respectable small farmer and provision merchant; no further details are known of his parents. Information on him is scattered and at times…

Gallagher, Redmond (1914–2006), businessman and motor-racing enthusiast, was born in the family home at Dunwiley House in Stranorlar, Co. Donegal, on 27 February 1914, the youngest child of Henry Gallagher and his wife Eileen (née Cullen). He represented the third generation of a…

Gately, Stephen Patrick (1976–2009), pop singer and entertainer, was born 17 March 1976 at the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, third son and fourth child among four sons and one daughter of Martin Francis Gately, house painter and decorator, and Margaret Gately (née Martin), homemaker and…

Halliday, Fred (Simon Frederick Peter) (1946–2009), academic, writer and public intellectual, was born on 22 February 1946 in Dublin, the youngest of three sons of Arthur Halliday, a quaker shoe manufacturer, and Margaret Mary 'Rita' Halliday (née Finigan), of Dundalk. He was educated…

Hilliard, Robert (‘Bob’) Martin (1904–37), clergyman, boxer, and revolutionary, was born 7 April 1904 in New St., Killarney, Co. Kerry, one of six children of Robert M. Hilliard, a wealthy protestant draper, and Alice Hilliard (née Martin). The family subsequently resided at…

Kelly, Michael (1898/9–1937), republican and soldier in Spain, was born in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway. A member of the IRA, he was active in the Republican Congress in London in the 1930s and was on the editorial committee of its newspaper,…

Kennedy, Percy William (‘Darby’) (1914–2016), aviator and founder of Weston aerodrome, was born on 11 June 1914 in Barronrath, Straffan, Co. Kildare, one of nine children, to Edward ‘Cub’ Kennedy, breeder of racehorses (including the famous stallion the Tetrarch), and his wife Beryl…

Lecky, Squire Thornton Stratford (1838–1902), master mariner, cartographer, and writer on navigation, was born in Downpatrick, Co. Down, fifth son of Holland Lecky of Castle Lecky, Magilligan, Co. Londonderry, and Ballyholland House, Co. Down, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of the…

Lynch, Joseph Lawrence (‘Joe’) (1926–2001), actor and singer, was born 16 July 1926 in Mallow, Co. Cork, son of Jim Lynch, engine driver, and Madge Lynch (née Delany), bookbinder. He was educated at the North Monastery CBS in Cork city and…

Lynch (Lince), Dominic (Domingo) (1622–1697), Dominican priest and theologian, was born 4 August 1622 in Co. Galway, the son of Peter Lynch and Mary Skerret. He was a member of the illustrious Lynch family of that county: his paternal grandparents were Peter Lynch and Mary Kirwan…

Lynch, Richard (1611–47), Jesuit priest and rector of the Irish college, Seville, was born in Galway. His family background and early years are undocumented. He left Ireland in 1630 for Spain, where he was admitted to the Irish college in Seville. The college was to prove central…

Malone, William (1586–1656), Jesuit, was born 6 December 1586 in Dublin, the son of Simon Malone, a local merchant, and his wife, Margaret Bexwick from Manchester. He studied humanities at Douai before entering the Society of Jesus on 24 September 1606 at Sant’ Andrea, Rome. After…

McCarthy, Niall St John (1925–92), lawyer and judge, was born in Cork on 25 May 1925, the sixth of seven children of Joseph A. McCarthy, an engineer who was later called to the bar and became a circuit court judge, and his wife, Rose A. O'Neill. The family shortly afterwards moved…

McGrotty, Eamon (1911–37), Christian Brother and socialist republican, was born 12 July 1911 in Derry city, fourth child among four sons and two daughters of Edward McGrotty, a well-off cattle-dealer and shopowner, and Catherine McGrotty (née Kennedy), daughter of a prosperous…

McLaughlin, Thomas Anthony (1896–1971), engineer and originator of the Shannon scheme, was born 14 June 1896 in Dublin Road, Drogheda, Co. Louth, son of Peter McLaughlin, excise officer, and Sarah McLaughlin (née McCabe). Having graduated from…

Moore, Gary (1952–2011), rock musician, was born Robert William Gary Moore on 4 April 1952 near the Stormont estate off the Upper Newtownards Road in east Belfast, one of five children of Bobby Moore, a ballroom manager, and his wife Winnie. His father ran the Queen's Hall ballroom in…

Moore, John (1767–99), ‘president of the government of Connacht’, was the third of seven children born in Alicante, Spain, to George Moore (1729–99), merchant, of Ashbrook and Moore Hall, Co. Mayo, and Alicante, and Catherine de Killikelly of Lydican Castle, near Gort, Co. Galway…

Moore, Sir John (1761–1809), British soldier, was born 13 November 1761 in Trongate, Glasgow, eldest surviving son of Dr John Moore (1729–1802), distinguished physician and author, and his wife, Jeanie, daughter of the Rev. John Simson, professor of divinity at Glasgow University.…

Murphy, Joseph (1923–2001), founder of Tayto crisps, was born 15 May 1923 beside the Liberties in Dublin, one of four sons and one daughter of Thomas Murphy, builder, and Molly Murphy (née Sweeney), who owned a wallpaper and paint shop on Thomas St. He was educated at Synge St.…

O'Dempsey, Edmund (d. 1658), catholic bishop of Leighlin, was the son of Terence O'Dempsey, Viscount Clanmalier, and probably his first wife, Mary, daughter of Sir Maurice Fitzgerald of Lucagh, Co. Kildare. Clanmalier was a powerful catholic landowner whose 22,000 acres at…

O'Donnell, Hugh Balldearg (Balderick, Balderock) (d. c.1704), soldier and sometime Jacobite, was son of John O'Donnell of Co. Donegal, soldier in the Spanish army, and Catherine O'Rourke. His early life remains obscure; he may have been born in Spain, and at some point he…

O'Donnell, ‘Red’ Hugh (Ó Domhnaill, Aodh Ruadh) (c.1572–1602), Gaelic lord, was the eldest son of Sir Hugh O'Donnell (qv) and…

Ó Gallchobhair, Éamonn (Eamonn O'Gallagher) (1900–82), composer and music critic, was born Edward Joseph Gallagher on 30 September 1900 in Dundalk, Co. Louth, the second eldest of at least five children (one girl and four boys) of Edward Gallagher (d. 1918), a Scottish-born plumber and…

O'Mahony, Daniel (d. 1714), ‘le fameux O'Mahoni’, soldier and hero of Cremona, was born in Dromore, Co. Kerry, son of Dermod (Danby) O'Mahony and his wife Mary (née Moriarity). Little is known of his early life. He served as a captain in King…