Famous Irish a to z

Gerry Adams is president of Sinn Féin, the political wing of the Irish Republican Army.

John Bodkin Adams is best known for standing trial in the suspicious deaths of 163 former patients in England.

Thomas Andrews was the principle architect for the infamous RMS Titanic. He died in the sinking, on April 15, 1912.

20th century Irish novelist, playwright and poet Samuel Beckett penned the play Waiting for Godot. In 1969, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Athlete George Best played for Manchester United and was named European Footballer of the Year in 1968. His brief career ended by the time he was 25.

Maeve Binchy was the author of various literary works, including 16 novels. Her most popular books include Light a Penny Candle, Echoes, Circle of Friends and Tara Road.

Bono is the frontman of the Irish rock band U2. He's also known for participating in global charity efforts.

Kenneth Branagh is an Irish-born English stage and motion-picture actor, director and writer who is best known for his film adaptations of Shakespearean plays.

Maeve Brennan was an Irish short story writer and journalist known for her wit, charm and tragic end.

Irish actor Pierce Brosnan is best known for his recurring role as British spy James Bond in the popular James Bond film series.

Christy Brown was a writer with cerebral palsy who penned the autobiography My Left Foot, which was adapted into a film starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

British astronomer Jocelyn Bell Burnell assisted in constructing a large radio telescope and discovered pulsars, cosmic sources of peculiar radio pulses.

Painter John Butler Yeats was the father of poet William Butler Yeats and artist Jack Butler Yeats. His portrait of John O'Leary is considered his best work.

Actor and producer Gabriel Byrne was involved in many successful films, including Little Women, The Usual Suspects, Vanity Fair and Julie and Julia.

Darren Clarke is a professional golfer known for his eccentricity and for playing through adversity to great success.

Adam Clayton is a Grammy Award-winning bass guitarist for the politically active rock and roll band U2.

Michael Collins was a hero of the Irish struggle for independence, who directed guerrilla warfare during the intensification of the Anglo-Irish War.

Irish singer Enya performed with her family's band Clannad before making it big with her solo album Watermark in 1988.

Actor Michael Fassbender has starred in the films 300, Inglorious Basterds, Centurion, Dangerous Method, Prometheus and the comic-book-based X-men: First Class.

William Findley's long political career began after the Revolutionary War. He believed in limiting the power of government in order to protect people's rights.

James Galway is an internationally renowned flutist who includes both classical and contemporary works in his repertoire.

Irish actor Michael Gambon is best known for his role as Albus Dumbledore in five of the seven J.K. Rowling Harry Potter films. Prior to his role as Dumbledore, Gambon was known as one of the leading thespians of his generation.

Bob Geldof is best known as the singer of the band the Boomtown Rats and for his political activism, particularly anti-poverty efforts in Africa.

Brendan Gleeson is an Irish actor whose role as Mad-Eye Moody in the Harry Potter films has made him known around the world.

Journalist Arthur Griffith was a founder of the Irish nationalist movement (Sinn Féin) and briefly served as President of the Irish Republic in 1922.

Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness was the grandson of Arthur Guinness, the founder of Guinness Brewery. Benjamin Guiness made the stout beer brand famous.

Irish actor Richard Harris is best known for his performances as King Arthur in Broadway's Camelot and Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films.

Seamus Henry is a renowned Irish poet and professor who won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

On the big screen, actor Ciaran Hinds is best known for his work in period dramas. He made his debut as one of the medieval knights in 1981’s Excalibur.

Niall Horan is best known as the only Irish-born member of the boy band One Direction.

Mary Harris Jones (aka "Mother Jones") was a union activist. She founded the Social Democratic Party, and helped establish the Industrial Workers of the World.

James Joyce was an Irish, modernist writer who wrote in a ground-breaking style that was known both for its complexity and explicit content.

Siva Kaneswaran is a young Irish model and singer best known for his movie-star looks and as a member of the British boy band the Wanted.

Irish dramatist Lady Gregory, also known as Isabella Augusta, collaborated with William Butler Yeats and J.M. Synge to found the Irish National Theater and the Abbey Theater company.

James Larkin was an Irish labor organizer and activist who founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union.

Sean MacBride was an Irish politician and the former chief of staff of the IRA

Shane McGowan is an Irish singer-songwriter who founded the folk-punk band the Pogues.

Tommy Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.

Colum McCann is an Irish born writer best known for his works of fiction published as novels and short stories.

Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt wrote the biography Angela’s Ashes after retiring from teaching for 30 years in New York City.

Rory McIlroy is an Irish golfer best known for winning the 2011 U.S Open and the 2012 PGA Championship, becoming the youngest player to win a PGA Tour playoff.

During the 2000s, actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers continued to shine in a wide array of film genres. Notable films include 2001’s Prozac Nation with Christina Ricci.

Spike Milligan was an Irish writer and comedian best known for his work on The Goon Show.

Thomas Moore was an Irish poet, satirist, composer, singer and close friend of Lord Byron.

Prolific novelist Iris Murdoch won a Booker Prize for The Sea, the Sea. In 2001, she was portrayed by Kate Winslet and Judy Dench in the biographical film Iris.

Cillian Murphy is an Irish movie actor known for the diversity of his roles in films ranging from Breakfast on Pluto to Batman Begins, and for his bright blue eyes.

Liam Neeson is an Irish actor known for his strong leading-man roles and for his role as Qui-Gon Jinn in the three prequels to Star Wars.

Irish nationalist and playwright Sean O’Casey wrote about life in the slums of Dublin, in plays like The Shadow of a Gunman and The Plough and the Stars.

Daniel O'Connell was a 19th century Irish political leader. He worked to repeal of the Act of Union which combined Ireland and Great Britain.

With her signature shaved head, Sinead O'Connor emerged with a powerful and expressive voice, complex songs, and a fair share of controversy.

Maureen O'Hara was an Irish-born actress who was billed alongside Hollywood's leading men in a slew of swashbuckling features in the 1940s.

Milo O'Shea was an Irish actor known for starring on the BBC sitcom Me Mammy and in Staircase, Broadway's first serious depiction of homosexual men.

Maureen O'Sullivan was an actress best known for playing Jane in the Tarzan film series opposite Johnny Weismuller.

Irish actor Stephen Rea is well-known for his roles in V for Vendetta, Interview with the Vampire and The Crying Game.

British artist Jamie Reid designed artwork for the Sex Pistols album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, which includes the song "Anarchy in the U.K." His artistic style helped define the look of the English punk rock scene of the late 1970s.

Bobby Sands was an Irish nationalist who led a hunger strike in prison in 1981. He was elected Member of Parliament during the strike and died May 5, 1981.

Irish writer Bram Stoker is best known for authoring the classic horror novel Dracula (1897).

Jonathan Swift was an Irish author and satirist. Best known for writing Gulliver's Travels, he was dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.

Irish republican and rebel Wolfe Tone led a French military force to Ireland during the insurrection of 1798.

Ronan Tynan is Irish classical singer, most famous for his renditions of "God Bless America" at the Yankee Stadium during important games.

Irish author Colm Tóibín is famous for literary works about Irish society, creativity and homosexuality. His most popular novels include The Blackwater Lightship and The Master.

Author Oscar Wilde published several acclaimed works, including The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Importance of Being Earnest.

William Butler Yeats was one of the greatest English-language poets of the 20th century and received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.