List of Irish people
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(Redirected from List of Irish scientists, engineers and inventors)
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
This is a list of Irish people who were born in Ireland and have lived there for most of their lives. Also included on the list are people who were not born in Ireland, but have been raised as Irish, have lived there for most of their lives or have adopted Irish citizenship (e.g., Daniel Day-Lewis).
See also: Demography and politics of Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland
Contents |
[edit] Art
For a more comprehensive list, see List of Irish artists.
[edit] Architecture
- George Ashlin
- Angela Brady
- George Drumgoole Coleman
- Sir Thomas Drew
- Yvonne Farrell
- Eileen Gray
- James Hoban – designer of White House
- Francis Johnston
- Sheila O'Donnell
- Thomas Parke
- Edward Lovett Pearce
- Kevin Roche
- Michael Scott
- Michael Stapleton
[edit] Actors
- Gerard McCarthy – actor, Hollyoaks
- Sara Allgood – actress
- Jonas Armstrong – actor , star of the BBC series Robin Hood
- Spranger Barry – actor
- Patrick Bergin – film actor
- Sarah Bolger – actress, notably The Tudors (Princess Mary Tudor), Spiderwick Chronicles
- Stephen Boyd – film actor
- Kenneth Branagh – actor on stage, film and TV, The Harry Potter movies
- Brid Brennan – actress
- George Brent – Hollywood actor
- Harry Brogan – actor
- Pierce Brosnan – actor, best known as James Bond from 1994 to 2005
- Gabriel Byrne – TV and film actor
- Todd Carty – TV stage film actor and director
- Elaine Cassidy – Film actress
- Tony Clarkin – actor/ stage/ TV/ radio/ film and voice over artist
- Kerry Condon – actress
- Michael Colgan (actor) – actor
- Ada Dyas – actress
- D'Arcy Corrigan – Hollywood actor
- Catherine Cusack – stage and TV actor, daughter of Cyril Cusack
- Cyril Cusack – actor of stage, film and TV (born in South Africa)
- Niamh Cusack – TV actress, daughter of Cyril Cusack
- Sinéad Cusack – stage, film and TV actress, daughter of Cyril Cusack, married to Jeremy Irons
- Sorcha Cusack – film and TV actress, daughter of Cyril Cusack
- Daniel Day-Lewis – English-born Oscar winner
- Thomas Doggett – actor
- Patrick Dempsey – actor, best known for his role in Grey's Anatomy (born in United States)
- Alison Doody – actress, best known for her role in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Roma Downey – actor, best known for her role as Monica in the TV series Touched by an Angel
- Tommy Duggan (actor) – actor
- Hilton Edwards – co-founder of the Gate Theatre, born in UK
- Kate Fahy – stage actress
- Colin Farrell – Hollywood actor
- Michael Fassbender – Hollywood actor
- Barry Fitzgerald – Abbey Theatre actor turned Hollywood star
- Fionnula Flanagan – actress
- Brenda Fricker – Oscar winner
- Bronagh Gallagher – actress
- Sir Michael Gambon – theatre, TV and film actor, e.g. Harry Potter films
- Charles K. Gerrard – Hollywood actor
- Douglas Gerrard – Hollywood actor
- Aidan Gillen – actor, The Wire, Game of Thrones, Queer as Folk (UK)
- Brendan Gleeson – actor, e.g. Harry Potter films
- Richard Harris – actor, e.g. Harry Potter films
- Forrester Harvey – Hollywood actor
- Amy Joyce Hastings – actress
- Valene Kane - actress (The Fading Light)
- Amy Huberman – actress
- Brendan Kelly (actor) – actor
- David Kelly – actor
- J. M. Kerrigan – Abbey actor
- Joanne King – actress
- Dervla Kirwan – actress, Ballykissangel, Goodnight Sweetheart
- Evanna Lynch – actress, e.g. Harry Potter films
- Joe Lynch – TV actor
- F. J. McCormick – Abbey actor
- Micheál Mac Liammhóir – co-founder of the Gate Theatre, born in UK
- Patrick McGoohan – actor and creator of The Prisoner
- Barry McGovern – Stage, Film and TV actor
- Katie McGrath – Film and TV actress
- Colm Meaney – Hollywood actor
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers – Film and TV actor
- Charles Mitchel – actor and newsreader
- Colin Morgan – TV actor
- Edward Mulhare – actor, Captain Daniel Gregg in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Knight Rider
- Cillian Murphy – actor
- Derek Murphy (actor) – actor
- Devon Murray – actor, Seamus Finnigan in the Harry Potter movies
- Liam Neeson – actor
- Jim Norton – Character actor
- Chris O'Dowd – actor and comedian
- Ardal O'Hanlon – actor and comedian
- Joan O'Hara – actress
- Maureen O'Hara – actress
- Milo O'Shea – actor
- Robert Sheehan - actor
- Maureen O'Sullivan – actor, mother of Mia Farrow
- Peter O'Toole – Oscar winner
- Glenn Quinn – actor
- Stephen Rea – actor
- Saoirse Ronan – actress
- Sarah Ryan – actress, appeared in Nora, The Secret of Roan Inish, Waking Ned
- Fiona Shaw – actress, The Harry Potter movies
- Arthur Shields – actor (younger brother of Barry Fitzgerald)
- Niall Tóibín – actor and comedian
- Stuart Townsend – actor and boxer
- Spencer Tracy - actor
- Richard Wall - actor
[edit] Comedians
See also Category:Irish comedians
- Dave Allen – comedian
- Ed Byrne – comedian
- Jimmy Carr – comedian
- Risteárd Cooper – comedian
- Neil Delamere – comedian
- Brendan Grace – comedian
- Sean Hughes – comedian
- Jon Kenny – comedian
- Denis Leary – comedian
- Andrew Maxwell – comedian
- Dylan Moran – comedian
- Colin Murphy – comedian
- Dara Ó Briain – comedian
- Conan O'Brien – comedian
- Ardal O'Hanlon – comedian
- Hector Ó hEochagáin – comedian
- Jimmy O'Dea – comedian
- David O'Doherty – comedian
- Pat Shortt – comedian
- PJ Gallagher-comedian
- Tommy Tiernan – comedian
- Harry Bailey – comedian
- Graham Norton
- Dermot Morgan -Comedian/actor/radio personality
[edit] Music
[edit] Music – Individuals
[edit] Music – Individuals – A to C
- Gerald Barry – Aosdána
- Derek Bell – harpist
- Mary Bergin – tin whistler
- Wallis Bird – singer, songwriter
- Frances Black – singer
- Mary Black – singer
- Big Tom – lead singer of Big Tom and The Mainliners
- Bono (real name: Paul Hewson) – lead singer of U2
- Ciaran Bourke – singer/guitarist
- Brian Boydell – composer
- Brídín Brennan – singer
- Moya Brennan – musician
- Chris de Burgh - singer,songwriter, musician
- Joe Burke – accordionist
- Kevin Burke – fiddler
- Nicky Byrne – singer of Westlife, songwriter
- Eamonn Campbell – guitarist/producer
- Vivian Campbell – co-lead guitarist of Def Leppard
- Seán Cannon – singer/guitarist
- Paddy Casey – singer/songwriter
- Patrick Cassidy – composer
- Willie Clancy – uilleann piper
- Julia Clifford – traditional fiddle player
- Michael Coleman – fiddler
- Finghin Collins – pianist
- Tadhg Cooke – singer
- Phil Coulter – composer
- Nadine Coyle – singer in British band Girls Aloud
[edit] Music – Individuals – D to K
- Damian McGinty – Celtic Thunder
- Damien Dempsey – singer/songwriter
- Dana Rosemary Scallon – MEP-singer turned politician
- Joe Derrane – button & piano accordions
- Ronnie Drew – singer/guitarist
- The Edge – guitarist/singer of U2
- Kian Egan – singer of Westlife, songwriter
- Séamus Ennis – uilleann piper
- Enya (real name: Eithne Ní Bhraonáin) – singer/songwriter
- Órla Fallon – singer, harpist
- Ciarán Farrell – composer
- Mark Feehily, singer of Westlife – songwriter
- Angela Feeney – opera singer
- John Field – composer (creator of the nocturne)
- Shane Filan – singer of Westlife, songwriter
- Jem Finer – banjoist and guitarist
- Mick Flannery – singer/songwriter
- Gavin Friday – singer
- Finbar Furey - singer/ songwriter, uillean piper, 5 string banjo player, actor
- Bobby Gardiner – accordionist
- Mark Geary – singer
- W. H. Grattan Flood – author and musicologist
- Rory Gallagher – blues/rock guitarist
- James Galway – flautist
- Bob Geldof – songwriter, singer of the Boomtown Rats, activist
- Bernadette Greevy – mezzo-soprano
- John and Edward Grimes – X Factor 2009
- Marc Gunn – autoharper, singer/songwriter, and podcaster, formerly of the Brobdingnagian Bards
- Carmel Gunning – tin whistler
- Lisa Hannigan – singer/songwriter
- Glen Hansard – Oscar winning singer/songwriter
- Harrie (Ann Harrington) – singer/songwriter Harrie and the Maniax
- Hamilton Harty – composer and arranger
- Catherine Hayes – opera singer
- Gemma Hayes – singer
- George Harrison – singer/songwriter and founding member of The Beatles
- Christie Hennessy – singer/songwriter
- Niall Horan - Singer in group, One Direction
- Paul David Hewson – also known as Bono, lead singer and principal lyricist of U2
- Red Hurley – singer
- Brian Irvine – composer
- Fergus Johnston – Aosdána
- Dolores Keane – singer
- Richard Kearns – Classical Composer
- Ronan Keating – singer/songwriter
- Paddy Keenan – uilleann piper
- Lisa Kelly – singer
- Luke Kelly – singer
- Brian Kennedy – singer
- Paddy Killoran – fiddler
- Dave King – singer/songwriter
- David Kitt – musician
[edit] Music – Individuals – L to P
- Damien Leith – singer/songwriter, winner of Australian Idol 2006
- Josef Locke – singer
- Johnny Logan – singer/songwriter
- Cora Venus Lunny – violinist
- Dónal Lunny – musician
- Phil Lynott – Thin Lizzy frontman
- Jimmy MacCarthy – singer/songwriter
- Mickey MacConnell – singer/songwriter
- Geraldine McGowan – folk singer
- Susan McKeown – GRAMMY award-winning vocalist and songwriter
- Shane MacGowan – English born singer/songwriter
- Sean Mackin – backup vocals and violinist of Yellowcard
- Sean Maguire – violinist
- Sarah Makem – singer
- Tommy Makem – singer-songwriter
- Enda Markey – singer
- Philip Martin – pianist, Aosdána
- Gwendolyn Masin - violinist, author, pedagogue
- Larry Mathews – singer/songwriter, violinist
- John Count McCormack – singer
- Eleanor McEvoy – singer/songwriter
- Brian McFadden – singer/songwriter
- Barney McKenna – banjo player
- Geraldine McMahon – harpist
- John McSherry (musician) – uilleann piper
- Paul McSherry – guitarist
- Patrick Monahan – singer/songwriter, solo artist/member of Train
- Christy Moore – singer/songwriter
- Gary Moore – guitarist/singer/songwriter
- Van Morrison – singer/songwriter
- Lee Mulhern – singer/songwriter
- Samantha Mumba – singer, actress
- Mundy – singer/songwriter
- Róisín Murphy – singer
- Ruby Murray – singer
- Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh – musician
Eímear Noone - conductor and composer
- Turlough Carolan – 17th century harpist and composer ("Last of the Bards")
- Dáithí O'Cléirigh – percussionist/producer
- Maura O'Connell – singer
- Máirtín O'Connor – accordionist
- Sinéad O'Connor – singer
- Daniel O'Donnell – country-and-western singer
- Danny O'Donoghue-singer The Script lead singer
- Mary O'Hara – harpist/singer
- Mícheál Ó hEidhin – musician
- Liam O'Flynn – uilleann piper
- Seán Ó Riada – composer and musician
- Dolores O'Riordan – singer/songwriter/guitarist
- Gilbert O'Sullivan – pop singer/songwriter/pianist
- Una Palliser - violinist, violist, singer
- Brendan Phelan - songwriter
- Tommy Peoples – fiddler
[edit] Music – Individuals – Q to Z
- Carmel Quinn – singer
- Paddy Reilly – singer/guitarist
- Damien Rice – singer/songwriter
- Leo Rowsome – uilleann piper
- Frank Ryan – tenor
- Sharon Shannon – traditional musician
- John Sheahan – fiddler
- Mark Sheehan – guitarist The Script
- Chris Singleton – singer/songwriter
- Donal Skehan – singer
- Bruce Springsteen – singer/songwriter, Irish ancestry
- Carly Smithson – singer
- Patsy Touhey – piper
- Paddy Tunney – singer
- Liam Weldon – singer, songwriter
- Sean Dempsey – singer, songwriter, producer
- Andy White – singer/songwriter
- Ian Wilson – Aosdána
- James Wilson – Aosdána
[edit] Dance
- Jean Butler – Irish Dancer
- Breandán de Gallaí – Irish dancer
- Tristan MacManus - Ballroom and Latin dancer, Dancing with the Stars (U.S. season 13)
- Lola Montez (Eliza Gilbert) – dancer, courtesan
- Dame Ninette de Valois – ballet
- Bill Whelan – composer
- Michael Flatley – choreographer, dancer
- Tom Martin - Modern interpretive dancer/robot specialist
[edit] Writing
For a more comprehensive list, see List of Irish novelists.
[edit] Writing – A to C
- William Allingham – poet
- John Banville – novelist
- George Barrington
- Sebastian Barry – novelist, Aosdána
- Samuel Beckett – Saoi
- Brendan Behan – playwright, novelist
- Maeve Binchy – novelist
- Dermot Bolger – novelist, Aosdána
- Clare Boylan – Aosdána
- Patrick Brontë – poet
- Stephen Brown (author) – writer, bibliographer
- J. B. Bury – historian
- William Carleton – novelist
- Marina Carr – Aosdána
- Seathrún Céitinn (Geoffrey Keating)
- Austin Clarke
- Brian Cleeve – author
- Brian Coffey – poet
- Eoin Colfer – author
- Flaithri O'Maolconaire – writer, translator
- Eoghan Corry – journalist and author
- Anthony Cronin – Aosdána
[edit] Writing – D to K
- Thomas Osborne Davis – writer, poet
- Seamus Deane – Aosdána
- Eamon Delaney
- Frank Delaney
- Greg Delanty – poet
- Denis Devlin – poet
- Roddy Doyle – novelist
- Margaretta Eagar – memoirist
- Garth Ennis – comic writer
- Sir Samuel Ferguson – poet
- Roderick Flanagan – Historian
- Brian Friel – playwright, Aosdána
- F. Scott Fitzgerald – novelist
- Oliver Goldsmith – novelist and dramatist
- Oliver St. John Gogarty
- Augusta, Lady Gregory – playwright and founder of the Abbey Theatre
- Hugo Hamilton – author
- Dermot Healy – Aosdána
- Randolph Healy – Poet
- Seamus Heaney – Saoi of Aosdána, Nobel Laureate
- Aidan Higgins – Aosdána
- Pat Ingoldsby – poet, playwright, television performer
- Jennifer Johnston – Aosdána
- Neil Jordan – author, film director, Aosdána
- James Joyce – novelist
- Trevor Joyce – poet
- Herminie Templeton Kavanagh – author
- Patrick Kavanagh – poet
- Benedict Kiely – Saoi of Aosdána
- Caitlín R. Kiernan – American novelist and paleontologist
- Anatoly Kudryavitsky – poet
- Sister Margaret Anna Cusack – the "Nun of Kenmare", patriot and controversialist
[edit] Writing – L to P
- Derek Landy – skulduggery pleasant series
- Mary Lavin – Saoi of Aosdána
- Francis Ledwidge – poet
- Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu – gothic novelist
- C. S. Lewis – author of the Chronicles of Narnia
- Michael Longley – Aosdána
- Oliver MacDonagh – historian
- Seosamh Mac Grianna – Gaelic author
- Walter Macken – novelist
- James Clarence Mangan – poet
- Malachi Martin – horror writer
- Edward Martyn – playwright, art patron and political activist
- Frank McCourt – writer
- Martin McDonagh – playwright
- John McGahern – novelist, Aosdána
- Frank McGuinness – Aosdána
- Gerard McKeown – writer
- Paula Meehan – poet
- John Montague – poet
- Thomas Moore – poet
- Paul Muldoon – poet
- Richard Murphy – poet, Aosdána
- Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill – poet
- Christopher Nolan – poet, Aosdána
- Edna O'Brien – novelist, Aosdána
- Seán O'Casey – playwright
- Frank O'Connor – short story writer
- Ulick O'Connor – Aosdána
- Máirtín Ó Direáin – Irish-language poet, Aosdána
- Peadar O'Donnell – Novelist, autobigrapher and revolutionary
- Harry O'Donovan – scriptwriter
- Dennis O'Driscoll – poet
- Seán Ó Faoláin – Saoi of Aosdána
- Liam O'Flaherty – novelist, short story writer
- Brian O'Nolan (aka Myles na gCopaleen – Flann O'Brien) – novelist/columnist
- Philip O'Sullivan Beare- writer, historian
- James Plunkett- Aosdána
[edit] Writing – R to Z
- Gabriel Rosenstock – poet
- George William Russell – (known under the pen-name AE), writer and critic
- Maurice Scully – poet
- George Bernard Shaw – novelist, playwright
- Richard Brinsley Sheridan – playwright
- James Simmons – poet
- Michael Smith – poet
- Paul Smith – novelist, playwright
- Annie M. P. Smithson – novelist
- Geoffrey Squires – poet
- Laurence Sterne – novelist
- Bram Stoker – author of Dracula
- Francis Stuart – Saoi of Aosdána
- Jonathan Swift – Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, novelist and satirist
- John Millington Synge – dramatist
- William Trevor – writer, Aosdána
- William Wall – novelist, poet
- Oscar Wilde – novelist, poet, satirist
- Macdara Woods – poet
- Maev-Ann Wren – writer
- William Butler Yeats – poet and Nobel laureate
[edit] Business
- Donie Cassidy – businessman and TD
- Niall FitzGerald – honorary KBE, chief executive Unilever
- Arthur Guinness – brewer
- Pat McDonagh – founder of Supermac's
- J. P. McManus – businessman
- Denis O'Brien – businessman
- Michael O'Leary – CEO of Ryanair
- David J. O'Reilly – CEO of Chevron
- Anthony J F O'Reilly – Independent Newspapers and head of Heinz, 1979–1996
- Margaret Rudkin - Founder of Pepperidge Farm
- Tony Ryan – founder of Ryanair and Guinness Peat Aviation
- Peter Sutherland – Chairman of BP Plc, and Chairman of Goldman Sachs International and formerly Ireland's representative at the European Commission
[edit] Science, Education and Technology
- Robert Adrain (1775–1843) – scientist, mathematician and United Irishman
- Thomas Andrews – chemist & physicist
- Francis Beaufort (1774–1857) – hydrographer, developed a scale for classifying wind strength
- John Stewart Bell (1928–1990) – atomic physicist, 'Bell's Inequalities'
- John Desmond Bernal (1901–1971) – X-ray crystallography
- George Boole (1815–1864) – inventor of Boolean algebra
- Louis Brennan (1852–1932) – principle of a guided missile, wire-guided torpedo
- Pádraig de Brún (1889–1960) – scholar and mathematician
- Lucien Bull (1876–1972) – high speed photography, modern electrocardiogram (ECG)
- Jocelyn Bell Burnell (1943– ) – discovered pulsars
- Nicholas Callan (1799–1864) – inventor of the induction coil and discoverer the principle of the dynamo
- Aeneas Coffey (1780–1852) – heat exchanger, inventor of the column still
- William Monad Crawford – entomologist
- William Dargan – railway engineer
- David Doak (b. 1967) - scientist, video game developer and entepreneur
- Shane Curran - software developer, entrepreneur
- Frederick G. Donnan – chemist
- Michael Everson – expert in writing systems and Unicode, born in USA
- Harry Ferguson – engineer, designer of the modern farm tractor, inventor of the three-point hitch
- George FitzGerald (1851–1901) – theoretical physicist, 'Fitzgerald-Lorenz Contraction'
- John Robert Gregg (1868–1948) – Gregg shorthand system
- William Rowan Hamilton – quaternions; mathematical physics
- John Philip Holland (1841–1914) – submarine designer
- Ellen Hutchins (1785–1815) – botanist
- John Joly (1857–1933)- photometer, colour photography
- Richard Kirwan (1733–1812) – meteorologist
- Robert Mallet (1810–1881) – seismology
- Alexander Mitchell (1780–1868) – lighthouse and marine engineer
- Richard O'Keefe – computer scientist
- Frank Pantridge – Inventor of the mobile defibrilator
- Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet (1819–1903) – mathematician, physicist, 'Stokes Theorem' and Stokes-Navier Equations'
- George Johnstone Stoney (1826–1911) – atomic physicist, named the 'electron' and measured its charge
- John Lighton Synge (1897–1995) – mathematician
- William Thomson – Lord Kelvin (1824–1907), physicist
- John Tyndall (1820–1893) – physicist
- Ernest Walton – physicist, 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics
- Mary Ward (1827–1869)- microscopist
- John Richardson Wigham (1829–1906) – inventor and lighthouse engineer
- Thomas Wynne (1942-2005) - Inventor, mechanic and engineer
[edit] Sport
See also: List of footballers (Gaelic football)
- Packie Bonner – soccer player
- George Best – soccer player (Northern Ireland)
- Andre Botha (cricketer) – cricketer
- Jeremy Bray (cricketer) – cricketer
- Andrew Bree – swimmer
- Brian Burke – general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs (National Hockey League)
- John Pius Boland – double Olympic medal-winner/tennis,1896
- Kenny Carroll – cricketer
- Michael Carruth – Olympic gold medal winner/boxing
- Eamonn Coghlan – runner
- Séamus Coleman – footballer
- Enda Colleran – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Ray Cummins – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Brendan Cusack - fencer
- Liam Daish – soccer player
- Gordon D'Arcy – rugby union player
- Paul Darragh – showjumper
- Ron Delany – Olympic medal winner/athletics
- Ken Doherty – former World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association champion
- John Doyle – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Mick Doyle – rugby union player
- Mick Doyle – Muay Thai and kickboxing
- Damien Duff – soccer player
- Kieran Dynes- NASCAR Driver
- Eamon Dunphy – former soccer player, media commentator and broadcaster
- Seamus Elliott – professional cyclist
- Stephen Farrelly – current WWE wrestler
- Dave Finlay – former WWE wrestler
- Seán Flanagan – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Sharon Foley – track and field athlete
- Mick Galwey – rugby player and coach
- Edmond Gibney – equestrian
- Shay Given – soccer player
- Johnny Giles – soccer player
- Peter Gillespie – cricketer
- Pádraig Harrington – golfer
- Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed – 19th century mountaineer
- David Healy – soccer player (Northern Ireland)
- Kevin Heffernan – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Denis Hickie – rugby player
- Ray Houghton – soccer player
- Denis Irwin – soccer player
- Eddie Jordan – racing driver and Formula 1 team owner
- Trent Johnston – cricketer
- Bryan Kaplan – Inventor of Beer Pong
- John Keane – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Robbie Keane – soccer player
- Roy Keane – soccer player
- Eddie Keher – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Seán Kelly – cyclist
- Joe Keohane – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Kevin Kilbane – soccer player
- Michael Kinane – jockey
- Ham Lambert – rugby union and cricket player
- Tommy Langan – Gaelic footballer, member of he Football Team of the Millennium
- Dave Langford-Smith – cricketer
- Jim Langton – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Alan Lewis – rugby referee
- Jack Lynch – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium , politician
- Eddie Macken – horse showjumper
- Mick Mackey – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Owen Madden – soccer player
- Daniel Marten – cyclist
- Dave McAuley – boxer
- Kevin McBride – boxer
- Willie John McBride – rugby union player
- W. Michael McCabe – soccer player
- Kyle McCallan – cricketer
- David McCann – cyclist
- Mick McCarthy – former Republic of Ireland soccer manager
- Wayne McCullough – Olympic Silver Medalist / WBC World Boxing Champion
- John McEnroe – former World's No. 1 tennis player
- Paul McGinley – golfer
- Owen Roe McGovern - former Gaelic football player for Cavan. An All-Ireland player.
- Paul McGrath – soccer player
- Barry McGuigan – former world Featherweight boxing champion
- Catherina McKiernan – athlete
- Jimmy McLarnin – boxer
- Lory Meagher – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Jason Molins – cricketer
- John Mooney – cricketer
- Paul Mooney – cricketer
- Eoin Morgan – cricketer
- Geordan Murphy – rugby union player
- Seán Murphy – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Tommy Murphy – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Kevin O'Brien – cricketer
- Niall O'Brien – cricketer
- Vincent O'Brien – Voted Greatest horse trainer of all time by Racing Post
- Pat O'Callaghan – Olympic gold medal/hammer, 1928, 1932
- Martin O'Connell – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Mick O'Connell – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Patrick O'Connell – Real Betis/FC Barcelona manager, 1930s
- Paul O'Connell – rugby player
- Cian O'Connor – show jumper who had Olympic gold medal taken from him
- Shane O'Connor - Alpine skier, Olympian 2010
- Nick O'Donnell – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Brian O'Driscoll – rugby union player
- Ronan O'Gara – rugby union player
- Dan O'Keeffe – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Malcolm O'Kelly – rugby union player
- Jonjo O'Neill – jockey
- Seán O'Neill – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Tony O'Reilly – rugby union player
- Derval O'Rourke – World Indoor Champion and European Silver Medalist
- William Porterfield – cricketer
- J. J. O'Reilly – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Peter O'Sullevan – horse racing commentator
- Eddie O'Sullivan – rugby coach
- Gillian O'Sullivan – World Championships Silver Medalist
- Sonia O'Sullivan – Olympic silver medalist
- Paddy Phelan – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Guy Polden – triathlete
- Seán Purcell – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Niall Quinn – soccer player
- Bobby Rackard – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Boyd Rankin – cricketer
- Tony Reddin – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Christy Ring – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Nicolas Roche – cyclist
- Stephen Roche – cyclist
- Alain Rolland – rugby referee
- Glenn Ross- Strongman
- Mark Scanlon- cyclist
- Tom Sharkey – boxer
- Mikey Sheehy – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Michelle Smith – Multi gold medalist 1996 Olympics
- Des Smyth – golfer
- Dr. Bethel Solomons – rugby union forward, Ireland national team, Olympic team silver
- Pat Spillane – Gaelic footballer, member of the Football Team of the Millennium
- Steve Staunton – soccer player
- Jim Stynes – Champion Australian rules footballer
- Bob Tisdall – Olympic gold medal/400mH, 1932
- John Treacy – Olympic silver medal/marathon, 1984
- Ruby Walsh – jockey
- Ronnie Whelan – soccer player
- Brian Whelahan – member of the hurling Team of the Millennium
- Andrew White – cricketer
- Joe Wickham – former FAI President and soccer player
- Keith Wood – rugby union player
[edit] Others
- Emma Barrett - Multi-talented.
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington – Field Marshal(Defeated Napoleon at Waterloo), Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and British Prime Minister
- Peter Lacy – Russian Field Marshal
- José de Ribas – Imperial Russian Admiral, wars with Ottomans
- Aidan of Lindisfarne – Saint
- Steve Allen – Irish/American musician, comedian, writer and first host of The Tonight Show
- Rosanna Davison – Miss World 2003
- Eamonn Andrews – TV personality, producer and businessman
- Todd Andrews – civil servant
- Sir Alfred Chester Beatty – Mining magnate
- George Berkeley – Philosopher
- Seán Brady – Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland
- Brigid of Kildare – Irish saint and bishop
- Brigh Brigaid – 1st century Irish judge
- Amanda Byram – Broadcaster
- Gay Byrne – Broadcaster and presenter of The Late Late Show (1962–1999)
- Graham Cantwell – Director
- Nellie Cashman – Gold prospector in the United States; born in County Cork
- Harry Clarke – stained glass Artist
- Desmond Connell – Roman Catholic Cardinal of Ireland
- Tom Crean – Explorer
- Moya Doherty – Impressario
- Bishop James Doyle – Bishop
- Jim Duffy – Irish advisor to Australia's Republic Advisory Committee
- Saint Dymphna – Irish saint
- Margaretta Eagar – Limerick Born Governess to the last Russian Royal Family
- Robin Eames – Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland
- Johannes Scotus Eriugena – Theologian (b. 810)
- Michael Anthony Fleming – Bishop of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
- Brian Gibbons – Welsh politician
- Glenda Gilson – Model
- Veronica Guerin – Journalist, murdered by drug-dealers in 1996
- Mary, Lady Heath – Early aviator
- Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet – Pioneer settler of America
- Pat Kenny – Broadcaster & Presenter of The Late Late Show (1999–present)
- Lord Killanin – former head of the International Olympic Committee
- James Larkin – Labour leader
- Eliza Lynch – Mistress of Francisco Solano López, Paraguayan dictator
- Catherine McAuley – Founder the Sisters of Mercy
- Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh – Scribe, Translator, Historian and Genealogist
- Catherine McGuinness – Justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland, President of the Law Reform Commission
- Edward MacLysaght – Chief Herald of Ireland, 1943–54
- Martin Maher – Famed cadet instructor at the United States Military Academy
- Diarmuid Martin – Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland
- Edward Martyn – Co-founder of the Irish Literary Theatre
- John McKenna – Liverpool FC manager
- Annie Moore – 1st Person to pass through Ellis Islands Immigration system
- John Moore – Director
- Dermot Morgan – Satirist and star of Father Ted
- Kevin Murphy – Ombudsman and Information Commissioner
- Ronan Murphy - Notable student
- Seosamh Ó Duibhginn- Writer, Editor, Publisher, Republican and Gaelic language activist.
- Graham Norton – TV personality and actor
- Pat O'Connor – Director
- Gráinne O'Malley – Gráinne Ní Mháille, pirate queen
- Emily O'Reilly – Journalist, Ombudsman and Information Commissioner
- Katharine O'Shea – Mistress of Charles Stewart Parnell
- Saint Patrick – Irish patron saint
- Horace Plunkett – founder of co-operative movement
- Phoebe Prince – Victim of bullycide
- Ernest Shackleton – Explorer
- Gerard Slevin – Chief Herald of Ireland, 1954–81
- Ed Sullivan – Irish/American entertainment writer and television host
- Timothy Smiddy – Academic, Economist, Ireland's first ambassador
- Philip Treacy – Milliner
- Ryan Tubridy – Entertainer
- Louis Walsh – Music manager and television personality
- Terry Wogan – TV and radio "personality"
