Famous people who grew up or lived in Ireland

Bono1960–1978

📍 Cedarwood Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 11, Ireland

Paul Hewson's family moved to 10 Cedarwood Road, a new street of pebble-dashed houses between Finglas and Ballymun on Dublin's north side, when he was six weeks old, and he grew up there…

Bram Stoker1847–1860

📍 15 Marino Crescent, Clontarf, Dublin 3, Ireland

I was born in this house on Marino Crescent in Clontarf, a curved terrace facing the sea on Dublin's north side, the third of seven children. I was so sickly that I could not stand or walk…

Brian O'Driscoll1979–1997

📍 Clontarf, Dublin 3, Ireland

Brian O'Driscoll was born in Dublin in January 1979 and grew up in Clontarf, a comfortable, leafy suburb on Dublin Bay's north shore, with its seafront promenade and the wide green spaces…

Cillian Murphy1976–1996

📍 Ballintemple, Cork, Ireland

Cillian Murphy grew up in Ballintemple, a leafy suburb on the south-east side of Cork city, near the River Lee and the old Blackrock road. His father, Brendan, worked for the Department of…

Éamon de Valera1882–1975

📍 Bruree, County Limerick, Ireland

I was born Éamon de Valera on the 14th of October 1882 in New York City, the son of a Spanish father and Irish mother, and was sent to Ireland as a child to be raised by my grandmother in…

Ernest Shackleton1874–1880

📍 Kilkea House, Kilkea, Co. Kildare, Ireland

I was born in February 1874 at Kilkea House, a farmhouse in the rolling country of south County Kildare, five miles from Athy, the second child and eldest son in what would become a large…

Hozier1990–2008

📍 Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

Andrew Hozier-Byrne, known as Hozier, was born in March 1990 in Bray, County Wicklow, a seaside town south of Dublin, and grew up in the Wicklow countryside, among the green hills, glens…

James Joyce1882–1884

📍 41 Brighton Square, Rathgar, Dublin 6, Ireland

I was born in a red-brick terrace at 41 Brighton Square in Rathgar in February 1882, the eldest surviving child of a charming, hard-drinking father and a gentle, devout mother. We lived in…

Niall Horan1993–2010

📍 Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, Ireland

Niall Horan was born in Mullingar, County Westmeath, in September 1993, and grew up in this busy market town in the Irish Midlands, surrounded by lakes, farmland and the River Brosna. His…

Ninette de Valois1898–1905

📍 Baltyboys, Blessington, County Wicklow, Ireland

I was born Edris Stannus in June 1898 at Baltyboys House, an eighteenth-century manor house near Blessington, in the hills of County Wicklow, Ireland, the second daughter of Lieutenant…

Oscar Wilde1855–1878

📍 1 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Ireland

We moved to No. 1 Merrion Square when I was a year old, and it was home for twenty-three years — a tall corner house on Dublin's most fashionable square. My father, Sir William, an eminent…

Sinéad O'Connor1966–1981

📍 Glenageary, Co. Dublin, Ireland

I was born in Glenageary, in south County Dublin, in 1966, the third of five children. My childhood was difficult, and I wrote about it honestly in my memoir Rememberings: home was not…

W.B. Yeats1872–1874

📍 Sligo, Co. Sligo, Ireland

I was born in Dublin and spent much of my boyhood in London, where my father painted portraits and money was always short; but the place I belonged to was Sligo, the western seaport home of…