Dictionary of Irish Biography

#DIBLives Happy #InternationalDayofWomenJudges Judge Mella Carroll forged a path for women in Irish law: she was the first female chair of the Bar Council of Ireland and the first female High Court judge. Her rulings are regularly cited in judicial reviews. www.dib.ie/biography/ca...

#DIBLives In June 1866 800 Fenians, led by John O’Neill (b. #OTD 1834), launched an invasion of Canada, hoping to exploit Anglo–American tensions & perhaps spark a war. Part of the plan was to capture Quebec & make it the seat of the Irish Republic-in-exile. www.dib.ie/biography/on...

Happy #InternationalWomensDay Founded to investigate science, literature and antiquities, @ria.ie encouraged debate between scholars of diverse background & interests so long as they were male. Our blog, 'Skirting the issue', looks at the first women of the Academy www.dib.ie/blog/skirtin...

#DIBNewLives For most of the 1920s Paul Murray was one of the foremost names in London theatre & even his trademark moustache was a talking point. He revelled in his stardom, talking up his innovations in staging, booking and pricing arrangements. www.dib.ie/biography/mu...

#DIBNewLives ‘[He] would arrive at the Shelbourne in a top hat and cape...So flamboyant a sight was he...that I wanted to cheer.' Patron of the arts & founder of Claddagh Record Garech Browne made an enormous contribution to the preservation of Irish culture. www.dib.ie/biography/br...

Illustration is a water colour by Louisa Beaufort, entitled a Connemara net-maker. It shows a lady and gentleman on the quays with nets, water, cobbled, stone, clouded sky. Uploaded to Wikipedia by JaneMaxwell63

#DIBNewLives Born in July 1781 and at a time when women’s intellectual contributions were rarely publicly disseminated, Louisa Beaufort was among the first in Ireland to publish in her own name and to contribute original antiquarian research. www.dib.ie/biography/be...

#DIBNewLives Educational researcher Tom Kellaghan was integral to the 1969 establishment of the Special Education Centre which aimed to better prepare local children largely from highly disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds for the demands of formal schooling. www.dib.ie/biography/ke...

#DIBLives Deeply committed to social justice & alleviating the burdens of poverty & ill-health (which she noted fell heaviest on women), with characteristic modesty Maura O'Donohue (b. #OTD 1933) described her own career as merely ‘getting other people to do their bit’. www.dib.ie/biography/od...

#DIBLives 'There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold.' Music promoter 'Gentleman Jim' Aiken (d. #OTD 2007) lured international bands to play in the north even while the Troubles raged. In 1971 Led Zeppelin debuted 'Stairway to Heaven' in Belfast. www.dib.ie/biography/ai...

#DIBLives
'...And said, "No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and bravery!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free,
They shall never sound in slavery.'
(Thomas Moore, 'The Minstrel Boy)

Irish writer, poet and lyricist Thomas Moore died #OTD 1852. www.dib.ie/index.php/bi...

#DIBLives Born #OTD 1891, anaesthetist & gynaecologist Dr Mary Hearn was elected first female fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in 1924. RCPI's Mary Hearn Research Room & Dr Mary Hearn Park in Cork are named in her memory. www.dib.ie/biography/he... @womenmedireland.bsky.social

In April 1900 the USS Holland became the 1st submarine officially commissioned by the US Navy. It was named for its inventor, John Philip Holland (b. #OTD 1841), whose idea was initially dismissed as the ‘fantastic scheme of a civilian landsman’. www.dib.ie/biography/ho...

#DIBLives #OTD in 1317 a large Scottish army headed by Edward Bruce and Robert Bruce encamped at Castleknock within sight of Dublin's defensive walls. In panic, Dubliners burned the suburbs of the city and broke the bridge across the river. The Bruces went south. www.dib.ie/biography/br...

#DIBLives Limerickman George Browne (d. #OTD 1792) had an extraordinary life: he was a galley slave, part of his skull was repaired with silver plate & he carried a coffin in protest for 10 years when refused permission to retire by Catherine the Great. www.dib.ie/biography/br...

#DIBLives In 1920 the King's Inns benchers resolved "that women shall be admitted on precisely the same terms as men". Averill Deverell (b. #OTD 1893) and Frances Kyle were the first women admitted & on 2 November 1921 Deverell was called to the Irish bar. www.dib.ie/index.php/bi...

#DIBLives Known as ‘Mr Cable’, Wicklow man Robert Halpin (b. #OTD 1836) oversaw the laying of the first transatlantic cables from Ireland to America in 1866, French cable in 1869 & Bombay to Suez cable in 1870 - in all more than 26,000 miles of cable connecting the world. www.dib.ie/biography/ha...

#DIBLives Raised in an orphanage in Cabra, Dublin Thomas ‘Bang Bang’ Dudley ‘fired’ on the citizens of Dublin with a large brass key. Often his ‘victims’ joined in the wild-west pantomime, shooting back, clutching at ‘wounds’ & ‘dropping dead’. He was born #OTD 1906. www.dib.ie/biography/du...

#Women&GirlsinScienceDay Academic & particle physicist Anne Kernan was a huge advocate for women in science, on one occasion funding a trip to CERN for an undergrad she had never met, meeting her at the airport and paying for her accommodation until funding came through. www.dib.ie/biography/ke...

#DIBLives One of the first female surgeons in New York city, Gertrude B. Kelly (b. #OTD 1862) worked in slums & tenements where she frequently assisted poor patients. Her experience undoubtedly contributed to the development of her activist political views. www.dib.ie/index.php/bi...

#DIBblog With Irish actors, writers & filmmakers nominated in this year's Academy awards, our latest blog looks at some of our earliest Oscar nominees & winners including Fr Edward J. Flanagan, an Oscar ‘winner’ who was never actually nominated for an Academy award. www.dib.ie/blog/spotlig...

#NewDIBLives As a geographer, Dr Anne Buttimer placed human lived experiences at the centre of geographical studies. Amongst many other honours and awards, in 2012 she won the Vautrin Lud prize, widely regarded as the discipline of geography’s equivalent of a Nobel prize. www.dib.ie/biography/bu...

#NewDIBLives
Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave's time in office coincided with a period of grave economic difficulty, exacerbated by violence in the North and his own conservatism. Hall’s Pictorial Weekly nicknamed his finance minister ‘Richie Ruin, minister for hardship’. www.dib.ie/biography/co...

#NewDIBLives
'She was the unscary center of it all...a force of steadiness & calm.’ The first Irishwoman to hold a Michelin star, Myrtle Allen's philosophy of cooking was grounded in seasonality, simplicity & respect for ingredients - revolutionary ideas in 1960s Ireland. www.dib.ie/biography/al...

‘From the cabins and the ditches, in their charred, uncoffin'd masses...’
In Jan. 1847 The Nation magazine published poet, nationalist & feminist Jane 'Speranza' Wilde's (d. #OTD 1896) poem 'The Famine Year', the first major poetic response to the Great Famine. www.dib.ie/biography/wi... #DIBLives

Everybody knew, nobody said’.
#OTD in 1984, Ann Lovett lay down in the rain in the grotto behind St Mary's Church, Granard & gave birth to a full-term baby boy. She was found alive around 4pm by three schoolboys but died later that day. www.dib.ie/biography/lo... #DIBLives

"On Raglan Road on an autumn day I met her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue."
After hearing Luke Kelly (d. #OTD 1984) singing in the Bailey pub, poet Patrick Kavanagh requested he interpret his poem ‘On Raglan Road’. www.dib.ie/biography/ke... #DIBLives

We are delighted to announce the publication of our first quarterly newsletter LifeLines: News from the Dictionary of Irish Biography.
You can read it here: mailchi.mp/ria.ie/grang...
And sign up here: mailchi.mp/d44f57115e53...

'All the best spies eat at Gaj's'.
B. #OTD 1919, Margaret Gaj’s eatery in the heart of 'Baggatonia' welcomed a diverse clientele. Garda special branch often dropped in to check who was there, leading the restaurant to advertise 'All the best spies eat at Gaj's'. www.dib.ie/biography/ga... #DIBLives

Every evening Mnsgr Hugh O'Flaherty stood on the steps of St Peter's Basilica in view of armed German soldiers, making himself available to Jews, dissidents, deserters & Allied soldiers. More than 4,000 escaped occupied Rome with his help. www.dib.ie/biography/of... #HolocaustMemorialDay #DIBLives

On its opening night #OTD 1907, J. M. Synge's ‘Playboy of the Western World’ caused riots in the Abbey Theatre. His portrayal of the Irish as a drunken, feckless peasantry caused outrage, as did the mention of ladies' undergarments.
www.dib.ie/biography/sy... #DIBLives @ria.ie