This is a list of famous Irish people. Perhaps because of the extent of Irish emigration, talented people of Irish birth or descent have become known throughout the world.
Art
Architecture
Actors
- Pierce Brosnan
- Gabriel Byrne
- Cyril Cusack (born in South Africa)
- Niamh Cusack
- Sorcha Cusack
- Brenda Fricker
- Richard Harris
- Victor McLaglen
- Colm Meaney
- Liam Neeson
- Peter O'Toole
- Stephen Rea
- Barry Fitzgerald
- Colin Farrell
- Daniel Day Lewis (born in UK, now Irish citizen)
- Fiona Shaw
Music
- Bono (real name: Paul Hewson), lead singer of U2
- Sinead O'Connor
- Mary O'Hara
- The Corrs
- Dana - singer turned politician
- James Galway - musician
- Ronan Keating
- Christy Moore
- Van Morrison
- Bob Geldof
- John Field, composer (creator of the "nocturne")
- The Chieftains
- Christy Moore
Dance
- Michael Flatley, dancer
- Bill Whelan - choreographer
- Dame Ninette de Valois, ballet
Writing
- George Barrington
- John Banville
- Samuel Beckett
- Brendan Behan
- Roddy Doyle
- Brian Friel, playwright
- Oliver Goldsmith - novelist and dramatist
- Seamus Heaney
- James Joyce
- Patrick Kavanagh
- Francis Ledwidge
- Thomas Moore - poet
- Edna O'Brien - novelist
- Sean O'Casey
- George Bernard Shaw
- Laurence Sterne - novelist
- Bram Stoker (author of "Dracula")
- Jonathan Swift
- John Millington Synge - dramatist
- Oscar Wilde
- William Butler Yeats
Politics
- Eamon de Valera (born in USA) prime minister (1932-1948; 1951-54; 1957-1959) President of Ireland (1959-1973)
- Padraic Pearse - poet, teacher and nationalist leader
- James Connolly
- W.T. Cosgrave - President of the Executive Council (prime minister) (1922-1932)
- Mary Harney, deputy Prime Minister (Tánaiste) & leader of the Progressive Democrats
- Tim Healy, politician and Governor-General of the Irish Free State (1922-28)
- Mary Robinson, president (1990-1997)
- Mary McAleese, president (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
- Roger Casement - nationalist leader
- Michael Collins - assassinated President of the Provisional Government
- Gerry Fitt - politician & first leader of the SDLP
- Garrett Fitzgerald - politician and Taoiseach (1981-2, 1982-87)]]
- Charles Haughey - politician and Taoiseach (1979-81; 1982l 1987-92)
- Countess Markiewicz - politician
- Ian Paisley - politician and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party
- Charles Stewart Parnell - politician
- Boyle Roche - politician
- Edmund Burke
Science and technology
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
Other
- Harry Clarke - stained glass artist
- Arthur Guinness - brewer
- Terry Wogan - TV and radio "personality"
- Eamonn Andrews - TV personality
- Graham Norton - TV personality
- George Berkeley - philosopher
See also: List of people by nationality