List of Irish people

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

Jack B Yeats
Daniel Maclise
Louis le Brocquy
Robert Ballagh
John Behan
Pauline Bewick
Edward Delaney
Gene Lambert
Patrick Pye
Camille Souter
Imogen Stuart
Evie Hone
Sir William Lavery
William Orpen

Architecture

James Hoban (designer of White House)
Kevin Roche
Eileen Gray

Actors

Pierce Brosnan - Navan-born James Bond Actor
Gabriel Byrne
Cyril Cusack (born in South Africa)
Niamh Cusack
Sorcha Cusack
Brenda Fricker - Oscar winner
Richard Harris
Victor McLaglen
Colm Meaney
Liam Neeson
Peter O'Toole
Stephen Rea
Barry Fitzgerald - Abbey Theatre actor turned Hollywood star
Colin Farrell
Daniel Day Lewis (born in UK, now Irish citizen)
Fiona Shaw
Micheál MacLiammoir - British born co-founder of the Gate Theatre
Hilton Edwards - British born co-founder of the Gate Theatre
Joe Lynch - TV actor
Milo O'Shea

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
The Fury Brothers and Davy Arthur
Christy Moore
Luke Kelly
Daniel O'Donnell
Samantha Mumba
Westlife
Boyzone
Brian Kennedy
Gerald Barry

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
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
Martin Mc Donagh
Cecil Frances Alexander
William Allingham
Patrick Kavanagh
Brian O Nolan (Myles na Gopaleen)
Christy Browne
Francis Stuart
Sebastian Barry
Dermot Bolger
Clare Boylan
Pearse Hutchinson
Rita Ann Higgins
Jennifer Johnston
Benedict Kiely
Tom Kilroy
Christopher Nolan
Frank O'Connor
John McGahern
Seamus Deane
Brian Friel
Carlo Gebler
Michael Longley
Frank McGuinness
Richard Murphy
James Plunkett
William Trevor

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 - eighteeth century aristocratic revolutionary
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.

Science and technology

Nicholas Comins (binaural stethoscope)
John Phillip Holland (submarine designer)
John Boyd Dunlop (pneumatic tyre)

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 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
Eamon Coughlan, runner

Other

Harry Clarke - stained glass artist
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
Neil Jordan - cinema director and author
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 Movement
St. Patrick - Welsh born Irish patron saint
St. Brigid - Irish saint and bishop
Grace Kelly - Irish American actress who married Prince Ranier III of Monaco
Lord Henry Mountcharles - rock impresario, owner of Slane Castle, politician
6th Earl of Longford - Gate Theatre manager