List of Famous people born in Leinster, Ireland

Michael McKevitt was an Irish republican and paramilitary leader. He was the Provisional Irish Republican Army's Quartermaster General. After the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, he formed the Real IRA in protest. His role in the Real IRA led to him being convicted of directing terrorism as the leader of the paramilitary organisation.

Colin Arthur O'Donoghue is an Irish actor and musician, best known for portraying Captain Killian "Hook" Jones on the TV show Once Upon a Time. He appeared in the 2011 horror thriller film The Rite (2011) as a skeptical novice priest, Michael Kovak. He is also portraying Gordon Cooper on Disney+ Original Series The Right Stuff. He starred in Dolly Parton's Heartstrings as J.J. Sneed

Ferdia Walsh-Peelo is an Irish actor and musician. He is best known for playing Conor "Cosmo" Lawlor in his debut film Sing Street in 2016, and as King Alfred the Great in Vikings.

Dame Ninette de Valois was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, later establishing the Royal Ballet, one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century and one of the leading ballet companies in the world. She also established the Royal Ballet School and the touring company which became the Birmingham Royal Ballet. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of ballet and as the "godmother" of English and Irish ballet.

Mabel Esmonde Cahill was an Irish female tennis player, active in the late 19th century, and was the first foreign woman to win a major tennis tournament when she won the 1891 US National Championships.

Francis "Frank" Murphy was an Irish athlete, who specialised in middle-distance running. He earned a silver medal by finishing in second place in the 1500 metres event at the 1969 European Athletics Championships. He competed at the Summer Olympics in 1968 and 1972. He was also a 1500 m runner-up to Henryk Szordykowski at the 1970 European Athletics Indoor Championships. He died on 5 January 2017 at the age of 69.

Aidan Patrick O'Brien is an Irish horse racing trainer. Since 1996, he has been the private trainer at Ballydoyle Stables near Rosegreenin County Tipperary for John Magnier and his Coolmore Stud associates.

Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, was an Anglo-Irish politician and colonial administrator. He was styled as Viscount Wellesley until 1781, when he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Mornington. In 1799, he was granted the Irish peerage title of Marquess Wellesley. He first made his name as Governor-General of India between 1798 and 1805, and he later served as Foreign Secretary in the British Cabinet and as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was the fifth Governor-General of India (1798-1805). In 1799, he invaded Mysore and defeated Tipu the Sultan of Mysore after a huge battle portraying Tipu as a cruel tyrant needing to be put down.

Lady Margaret Butler, Lady Boleyn was an Irish noblewoman, the daughter and co-heiress of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond. She married Sir William Boleyn and through her eldest son Sir Thomas Boleyn, was the paternal grandmother of Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII of England, and great-grandmother of Anne and Henry's daughter, Elizabeth I of England.

Gerard FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, also known in Irish as Gearóid Óg, was a leading figure in 16th-century Irish History. In 1513 he inherited the title of Earl of Kildare and position of Lord Deputy of Ireland from his father.