Famous People from Ireland

• Abrahamson, Lenny (Dublin)

  The Oscar-nominated director of the 2015 film Room

• Banville, John (Wexford)

  The Irish novelist who won the Booker Prize for The Sea

• Beckett, Samuel (Dublin)

  Irish-French author of Waiting for Godot

• Bono (Dublin)

  Lead singer of the rock band U2

• Boyle, Robert (Lismore Castle)

  17th century chemist who came up with Boyle's law

• Brosnan, Pierce (Navan)

  The actor who played James Bond in the 1990s

• Buckley, Jessie (Killarney)

  The singing star of the indie film 'Wild Rose'

• Enya (Gweedore)

  Singer of "Orinoco Flow" ("Sail Away")

• Farrell, Colin (Dublin)

  The star of Alexander and Miami Vice

• Gambon, Michael (Dublin)

  Headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films

• Geldof, Bob (County Dublin)

  The singer who organized the Live Aid concerts

• Jones, Mary Harris "Mother" (Cork)

  Labor leader known as the "grandmother of agitators"

• Joyce, James (Rathgar (near Dublin))

  Author of Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake

• Keoghan, Barry (Dublin)

  The innocent kid in the movie 'Dunkirk'

• Mescal, Paul (Anaheim)

  The Oscar-nominated star of the 2022 film Aftersun

• Murdoch, Iris (Dublin)

  Alzheimer's stricken author of The Sea, The Sea

• Murphy, Cillian (Cork) (Douglas)

  Chief gangster Tommy Murphy on the BBC series Peaky Blinders

• O'Connor, Sinead (Dublin)

  The bald-headed Irish singer of "Nothing Compares 2U"

• Power, Samantha (Dublin)

  The Irish-born Pulitzer Prize winner who became the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.

• Rhys-Meyers, Jonathan (Dublin)

  Star of Woody Allen's Match Point

• Rooney, Sally (Castlebar)

  The Irish author of 'Normal People'

• Shackleton, Ernest (Kilkee)

  Leader of The Endurance expedition to Antarctica

• Shaw, George Bernard (Dublin)

  The author of Pygmalion

• Stoker, Bram (Clontarf)

  The author who wrote Dracula

• Swift, Jonathan (Dublin)

  The satirical Irish author of Gulliver's Travels

• Wilde, Oscar (Dublin)

  The author of The Importance of Being Earnest

• Yeats, William Butler (Dublin)

  Irish poet and playwright

See: Index by Birthplace