Imircigh cháiliúla

Famous Irish emigrants

97 people born in Ireland who made their name somewhere else: founding fathers and Fenians, bishops and bandmasters, premiers, prospectors and admirals. A selection, not a ranking. Each one is linked to the article we checked, and the county is given only where that article names it.

Where they went

The United States (51) · Canada (8) · Australia (12) · New Zealand (4) · Latin America (11) · Britain (7) · Europe, Asia and Africa (4) · By county of birth

The United States — 51
Canada — 8
Australia — 12
New Zealand — 4
Latin America — 11
Britain — 7
Europe, Asia and Africa — 4
By county of birth
Doubts and omissions
Quick answers
Who was the first immigrant through Ellis Island?

Annie Moore, on 1 January 1892, off the steamship Nevada. Her article says she arrived from County Cork and sailed from Queenstown; it does not give her birthplace.

Which Irish emigrants founded navies?

John Barry of Tacumshane, County Wexford, is credited by some as ‘The Father of the American Navy’; William Brown of Foxford, County Mayo, created Argentina’s navy and was its first admiral.

Which county has the most people on this list?

County Cork, with 18. This is a selection, not a count of all emigrants: it says nothing about which county sent the most people abroad.

Source

Each entry was read from the person’s own English Wikipedia article (October 2026): the infobox birthplace and the article text. Where an article gives a town but no county (Lisburn, Ballinasloe, Clifden, Ramelton, Glenavy), or only ‘Ireland’, no county is assigned. Belfast is left without a county, as elsewhere on this site. The selection leans to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and to people with full articles; it is a starting point, not a census.

Where the Irish went → · Emigration, decade by decade → · Emigrant ships → · Irish place names abroad → · The Irish in the American Civil War → · Irish women →