Welcome to the Dictionary of Irish Biography
The Dictionary of Irish Biography, a collaborative project between Cambridge University Press and the Royal Irish Academy, is the most comprehensive and authoritative biographical dictionary yet published for Ireland. It contains 9,014 signed biographical articles which describe and assess the careers of subjects in all fields of endeavour, including politics, law, religion, literature, journalism, architecture, painting, music, the stage, science, medicine, engineering, entertainment and sport.
Biography of the Day
Behan, Brendan Francis (1923–1964)
by Colbert KearneyBehan, Brendan Francis (1923–64), writer, was born 9 February 1923 in Holles St. Hospital, Dublin, eldest of five children of Frank Behan, a house painter then imprisoned as a republican, and Kathleen Behan (née Kearney) (qv), sister of Peadar Kearney (qv), author of ‘The soldier's song’, which would become the Irish national anthem. (Kathleen had been married to Jack Furlong, a 1916 veteran who died of influenza in 1918, leaving his widow with two sons, Sean and Rory.) From childhood he display...
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The Dictionary of Irish Biography, a project of the Royal Irish Academy, is funded by the Higher Education Authority.