List of Famous people born in Ireland
Michelle O'Neill
Michelle O'Neill is an Irish politician serving as deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland since 2020. She has served as Vice President of Sinn Féin since 2018 and has been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Mid Ulster since 2007.
Jeremy McConnell
Jeremy McConnell is an Irish model and reality television star.
Adam Rooney
Adam Christopher David Rooney is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for National League club Solihull Moors. He previously played for Stoke City, spent spells on loan at Yeovil Town, Chesterfield and Bury, was a regular first-team member for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and played for Birmingham City and had a loan spell at Swindon Town. He played for Oldham Athletic and spent four-and-a-half seasons with Aberdeen before returning to England to sign for Salford City.
Edna O'Brien
Josephine Edna O'Brien is an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. Philip Roth described her as "the most gifted woman now writing in English", while a former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, cited her as "one of the great creative writers of her generation".
William C. Campbell
William Cecil Campbell is an Irish biologist and parasitologist with American citizenship, known for his work in discovering a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworms, for which he was jointly awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. He helped to discover a class of drugs called ivermectins, whose derivatives have been shown to have "extraordinary efficacy" in treating River blindness and Lymphatic filariasis, among other parasitic diseases affecting animals and humans. Campbell worked at the Merck Institute for Therapeutic Research 1957–1990, and is currently a research fellow emeritus at Drew University.
Pádraig Harrington
Pádraig Peter Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008. He spent over 300 weeks in the top-10 of the world rankings, and reached a career-high ranking of third in July 2008.
Philomena Lee
Annie Philomena Lee is an Irish woman whose life was chronicled in the 2009 book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith. The book was made into a film titled Philomena (2013), which was nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Lead Actress for Judi Dench's portrayal of Philomena, and Best Picture.
Dermot Kennedy
Dermot Joseph Kennedy is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician. He is best known for his 2019 single "Outnumbered" and his 2020 single "Giants". He is signed to Interscope Records in the US, and Island Records for the rest of the world. His debut major-label studio album, Without Fear, was released on 4 October 2019.
Lisa Kelly
Lisa Kelly is an Irish singer of both classical and Celtic music and voice teacher. She has taken part in many musical theatre productions and concerts, and is a founding and former member of the musical group Celtic Woman.
Davy Russell
Davy Russell is an Irish National Hunt jockey. He has been Irish jump racing Champion Jockey three times, and has won the Grand National (twice), the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.