List of Irish people: Definition and Links by Encyclopedian.com

This is a list of famous Irish people.

It covers

people who come from the island of Ireland, which includes people from both Irish territories, the Republic of Ireland and the province of Northern Ireland.
people of Irish descent who identified themselves or involved themselves with Ireland (eg, Eamon de Valera, Princess Grace of Monaco),
people who chose to adopt an Irish identity or Irish citizenship (eg, Daniel Day Lewis).

Some people born on the island of Ireland, particularly from Northern Ireland, also regard themselves as British. Perhaps because of the extent of Irish emigration, talented people of Irish birth or descent have become known throughout the world.

Table of contents

1 Art

1.1 Architecture
1.2 Actors
1.3 Music
1.4 Dance
1.5 Writing

2 Politics

3 Science and technology

4 Sport

5 Other

Art

Francis Bacon, painter
Robert Ballagh, painter, Aosdána
John Behan, sculptor, Aosdána
John Coll[?], sculptor
Pauline Bewick[?], Aosdána
Louis le Brocquy, Saoi of Aosdána, painter
Dorothy Cross, various media, Aosdána
Edward Delaney, sculptor, Aosdána
Evie Hone[?] stained glass
Gene Lambert[?], painter, Aosdána
Sir William Lavery[?] painter
Daniel Maclise[?]
Anne Madden, Aosdána
William Orpen[?]
Patrick Pye, sculptor, painter and stained glass artist, Aosdána
Camille Souter, painter, Aosdána
Imogen Stuart, sculptor, Aosdána
Jack B Yeats[?]
Patrick Collins[?], Saoi of Aosdána
Tony O'Malley[?], Saoi of Aosdána

Dance

Writing

George Barrington
John Banville[?], novelist
Samuel Beckett, Saoi
Brendan Behan[?], playwright, novelist
Roddy Doyle[?], novelist
Brian Friel, playwright, member of Aosdána
Oliver Goldsmith - novelist and dramatist
Seamus Heaney, Saoi of Aosdána
James Joyce, novelist
Neil Jordan[?], author, film director, member of Aosdána
Patrick Kavanagh[?],poet
Francis Ledwidge, poet
Thomas Moore - poet
Edna O'Brien[?] - novelist, member of Aosdána
Sean O'Casey[?], playwright
George Bernard Shaw,novelist, playwright,
Laurence Sterne - novelist
Bram Stoker (author of Dracula)
Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, novelist and satirist
John Millington Synge[?] - dramatist
Oscar Wilde, novelist, poet, satirist
William Butler Yeats, poet
Richard Brinsley Sheridan, playwright
Martin Mc Donagh[?], playwright
Walter Macken[?], novelist
Cecil Frances Alexander[?]
William Allingham, poet
Brian O'Nolan[?] (aka Myles na Gopaleen[?], Flann O'Brien[?]), novelist/columnist
Christy Browne[?] - author of My Left Foot
Francis Stuart[?], Saoi of Aosdána
Sebastian Barry[?], novelist, member of Aosdána
Dermot Bolger[?], novelist, member of Aosdána
Clare Boylan[?], Aosdána
Pearse Hutchinson[?], Aosdána
Rita Ann Higgins[?], poet, member of Aosdána
Jennifer Johnston[?], member of Aosdána
Benedict Kiely[?], Saoi of Aosdána
Tom Kilroy[?], member of Aosdána
Christopher Nolan, poet, member of Aosdána
Frank O'Connor[?], short story writer
John McGahern[?], novelist, member of Aosdána
Seamus Deane[?], member of Aosdána
Carlo Gébler[?], member of Aosdána
Michael Longley[?], member of Aosdána
Frank McGuinness[?], member of Aosdána
Richard Murphy[?],poet, member of Aosdána
James Plunkett[?], member of Aosdána
William Trevor[?], writer, member of Aosdána
Lady Gregory, playwright and founder of the Abbey Theatre
Deirdre Purcell[?]
Marina Carr[?], Aosdána
Ciarán Carson[?], Aosdána
Leland Bardwell[?], Aosdána
Philip Casey[?], Aosdána
Harry Clifton[?], Aosdána
Michael Coady[?], Aosdána
Dermot Healy[?], Aosdána
Aidan Higgins[?], Aosdána
Adrian Kenny[?], Aosdána
Ulick O'Connor[?], Aosdána
Julia Ó Faoláin[?], Aosdána
Seán Ó Faoláin[?], Saoi of Aosdána
Anthony Cronin[?], Aosdána
Margaretta D'Arcy[?], Aosdána
Theo Dorgan[?], Aosdána
Robert Greacen[?], Aosdána
Eamon Delaney[?]
Oliver St John Gogarty[?]
Mary Lavin[?], Saoi of Aosdána
James Clarence Mangan[?] poet
Aubrey de Vere[?] poet
Sir Samuel Ferguson[?] poet
George Russell[?], AE

Politics

Eamon de Valera (born in USA) Taoiseach (1932-1948; 1951-54; 1957-1959) President of Ireland (1959-1973)
Padraic Pearse - poet, teacher and leader of the Easter Rising
James Connolly - Scottish-born socialist, founder of the Labour Party[?] and Easter Rising participant
W.T. Cosgrave - President of the Executive Council (prime minister) (1922-1932)
Mary Harney[?], deputy Prime Minister (Tánaiste) & leader of the Progressive Democrats
Desmond O'Malley - founder and first leader of the Progressive Democrats
Tim Healy - politician and Governor-General of the Irish Free State (1922-28)
Domhnall Ua Buachalla Fianna Fáil TD[?] turned Governor-General (1932-36/7)
Douglas Hyde - founder of the Gaelic League, President of Ireland (1938-1945)
Patrick Hillery - Irish EEC Commissioner & President of Ireland (1976-1990)
Mary Robinson, President of Ireland (1990-1997)
Mary McAleese, President of Ireland (1997-present)
Bertie Ahern, prime minister (the Taoiseach) and leader of Fianna Fáil
Gerry Adams - politician & leader of Sinn Féin
Wolfe Tone[?] - nationalist leader
David Trimble - former First Minister of Northern Ireland[?] and leader of the Ulster Unionist Party
Brian Lenihan[?] - Tánaiste & defeated presidential candidate
Roger Casement - human rights campaigner turned revolutionary
Michael Collins - assassinated President of the Provisional Government[?]
Gerry Fitt[?] - politician & first leader of the SDLP
John Hume - MP, MEP and second leader of the SDLP
Garret FitzGerald - politician and Taoiseach (1981-2, 1982-87)
Charles Haughey - politician and Taoiseach (1979-81; 1982; 1987-92)
Countess Markiewicz[?] - politician
Rev. Ian Paisley MP, MEP, MLA - politician and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
Charles Stewart Parnell - politician and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party[?]
Boyle Roche[?] - eighteenth century politician and member of the Irish House of Commons
Edmund Burke
Arthur Griffith - President of Dáil Éireann (Jan-Aug 1922) & 1921 Treaty delegation leader
David Norris - senator, Joycean scholar and gay rights campaigner
Lord Edward Fitzgerald - eighteenth century aristocratic revolutionary
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington - member of Irish House of Commons, military leader and British Prime Minister
Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford Irish-born UK politician, cabinet minister and author.
Pat Cox[?] - President of the European Parliament[?]
Brian Boru - High King of Ireland
Rory O'Connor - High King of Ireland
Dermot McMurrough[?] - King of Leinster[?]
Garret Fitzgerald[?] - the Great Earl of Kildare[?]
Patrick Sarsfield[?] - Earl of Lucan - military leader
Willam Joyce[?] - Lord Haw Haw[?] - Nazi propagandist
Robert Emmet - leader of 1803 rebellion
Henry Joy McCracken[?] - Ulster leader of 1798 rebellion
Daniel O'Connell - The Liberator[?] - leader of campaign for Catholic Emancipation[?]
Isaac Butt - Home Rule leader
Michael Davitt[?] (1846-1906) - founder of the Land League[?]
John Redmond - Home Rule leader
Eoin MacNeill[?] - founder-member of the the Gaelic League[?]
Thomas J Clarke[?] - signatory of 1916 Proclamation[?]
The O'Rahilly[?] - 1916 leader
Joseph Plunkett[?] - signatory of 1916 Proclamation
Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa[?] - veteran Fenian leader (d. 1915)
Seán Mac Diarmada[?] - signatory of 1916 Proclamation
Thomas MacDonagh[?] - signatory of 1916 Proclamation
Eamonn Ceannt[?] - signatory of 1916 Proclamation
Tomás MacCurtain[?] - Lord Mayor of Cork (d. 1920)
Terence MacSwiney[?] - Lord Mayor of Cork (d. 1920)
Arthur Griffith - Home Rule leader (d. 1922)
Seán Lemass[?] - Taoiseach
General Eoin O'Duffy[?] - leader of the Blueshirts
John A Costello - Taoiseach (1948-51),(1954-57)
Noel Browne[?] - controversial Health Minister (1948-51)
Seán MacBride[?] - IRA chief, minister (1948-51),lawyer and founder member of Amnesty International
TK Whitaker[?] - architect of post-war economic development
Liam Cosgrave - Taoiseach(1973-77)
Frederick Boland[?] - Diplomat and Irish delegate to UN
Lord Edward Fitzgerald - aristocratic rebel in 1798 rebellion[?]
Henry Grattan- 18th century defender of Irish parliamentary independence and opponent of the Act of Union
Thomas D'Arcy McGee, promoter of a federal union for the Canadian provinces

Science and technology

Nicholas Comins[?] (binaural stethoscope)
John Phillip Holland[?] (submarine designer)
John Boyd Dunlop[?] (pneumatic tyre[?])
William Rowan Hamilton (quaternions; mathematical physics)
George Francis FitzGerald[?] - physicist
George Stokes

Sport

Eddie Irvine[?], Formula One driver
Paul McGinley[?], golfer
George Best[?], footballer
Dave McAuley[?], boxer
Barry McGuigan, boxer
Jonjo O'Neill[?], jockey[?]
Roy Keane[?], footballer
Colm O'Rourke[?], Gaelic Athletic Association GAA footballer
Sean Boylan[?], long-time manager of All-Ireland winning Meath[?] football team
Mick O'Dywer[?], successful gaelic inter-county football manager
Sonia O'Sullivan[?], Olympic medal winner
Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed, 19th century mountaineer
Eamon Coughlan[?], runner
Ruby Walsh[?], jockey
Eamon Dunphy[?], soccer player turned media commentator and broadcaster
Michelle Smith[?] - disgraced Olympic swimming medal-winner
Ronnie Delaney[?] - Olympic medal winner/athletics
Mick McCarthy - former Republic of Ireland manager
John Pius Boland[?] - double Olympic medal-winner/tennis,1896
Pat O'Callaghan[?] - Olympic gold medal/hammer, 1928, 1932
Bob Tisdall[?] - Olympic gold medal/400mH, 1932
John Treacy[?] - Olympic silver medal/marathon, 1984

Other

Emily O'Reilly - journalist, Ombudsman and Information Commissioner
James Hamilton[?] - Director of Public Prosecutions
Harry Clarke - stained glass artist
Michael Mills[?] - Ombudsman
Kevin Murphy, Ombudsman and Information Commissioner
Arthur Guinness[?] - brewer[?]
Terry Wogan - TV and radio "personality"
Gay Byrne - broadcaster and presenter of the Late Late Show (1962-1999)
Eamonn Andrews - TV personality, producer and businessman
Graham Norton - TV personality and actor
Pat Kenny - broadcaster & presenter of the Late Late Show (1999-present)
George Berkeley - philosopher
Desmond Connell[?], Cardinal Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland[?]
Lord Eames[?], Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland
Jim Duffy - Irish advisor to Australia's Republic Advisory Committee
Lord Killanin, former head of the International Olympic Committee
St. Patrick - Welsh born Irish patron saint
St. Brigid[?] - Irish saint and bishop
St. Aidan of Lindisfarne
Dermot Morgan[?] - satirist and star of Father Ted
Lord Henry Mountcharles[?] - rock impressario, owner of Slane Castle[?], politician
Edward Arthur Henry Pakenham, 6th Earl of Longford[?] - Gate Theatre[?] manager
Lady Mary Heath[?] - early aviator
Michelle Burke [?]- twice Oscar-winner for make-up
Philip Treacy - milliner
Norah Barnacle[?] - wife of James Joyce
Sir Alfred Chester Beatty
Sir Horace Plunkett[?] - founder of co-operative movement
Sir Anthony J F O'Reilly[?] - Independent Newspapers[?] and head of Heinz, 1979-1996
Kitty O'Shea[?] - mistress of Charles Stewart Parnell
Edward Martyn[?] - co-founder of the Irish Literary Theatre[?]
James Larkin[?] - labour leader
William Martin Murphy[?] - Dublin Employers Association[?] (1911)
Johannes Scotus Erigena[?] - theologian (b. 810)
Ernest Shackleton - explorer
Grace O'Malley - Granuaile[?],Gráinne Mhaol[?], pirate queen
Edward McLysaght - Chief Herald of Ireland, 1943-54
Gerard Slevin - Chief Herald of Ireland, 1954-81
Patricia Donlon[?] - Chief Herald of Ireland, 1995-97
Donal Begley[?] - Chief Herald of Ireland, 1981-95
Brendan O Donoghue[?] - Chief Herald of Ireland, 1997-date
Niall FitzGerald, honorary KBE, chief executive Unilever
Eliza Lynch, mistress of Francisco López[?], Paraguayan dictator