Most of de Valera’s biographers have dealt with the mystery of the Irish statesman’s paternal ancestry with varying degrees of scepticism

He was the father of the sky scraper but Chicago architect Louis H. Sullivan also had his paternal ancestry firmly rooted in Clonakilty Cork

February 9th, 2023, marks one hundred years since writer Brendan Behan was born at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin.

Mae Coghlin’s parents were Michael Coughlin and Bridget Gorman. Mae or Mamie was born to the couple in Brooklyn in 1897

Maureen O’Hara, one of the most successful Irish women in Hollywood, was born Maureen Fitzsimons, at Ranelagh, on the 17th August 1920

This year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of composer Frederick May in Dublin. Historyeye looks into his family tree

P.L. Travers was a direct descendant of an earlier writer, Samuel “Premium” Madden, (1686-1765) a pioneer of the science fiction genre

Historyeye looks at two surviving religious censuses taken in Wexford in the mid 19th century.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame actor had Irish grandparents on his mother’s side. They were Luke Conlon (Louth) and Mary McAllister (Antrim).

Writer Brendan Behan (born on this day 98 years ago) was nothing if not a proud Dubliner. He was particularly proud that the Behans had...

A quick glance at the surnames in Marion Davies’s family tree shows that the major ancestral influence was Ireland.

When it came to his ancestry, there was so much more to Richard Harris than just Limerick or even Ireland.

Claire Trevor's Irish grandparents were Robert Morrison and Mary Chambers. Appropriately both came from Holywood (the one in Co. Down).

Irish stained glass artist Harry Clarke had Yorkshire ancestry. His father Joshua was born in Leeds in 1859 to Godfrey Clark & Fanny Naylor

The writer of A Room with a View and Howard’s End had Irish ancestry through his father, Edward Morgan Llewellyn Forster.

Diana Rigg maintained that Yorkshire shaped her character greatly. But records show that Rigg's ancestors had ancient Lancashishire roots.

For the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen- Belsen Camp, Historyeye charts the life of an Irish doctor who was there, P.J. Fox.

Elizabeth O'Kelly (née Sykes) left 30 million euros to several Irish charities in her will. Historyeye charts her family background.

Georgina Manning was the youngest daughter of Susan Gibson and Robert Manning, chief engineer to the Board of Works. The Mannings, a prosperous Church of Ireland family, had strong links to Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow and to Waterford City. Robert had been born in Normandy in 1816 where his father, William, had been an adjutant at the Battle of Waterloo.