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Journalist, author, bibliophile and aviator Michael O’Toole was born in 1938 in Hospital, County Limerick. He was educated by the Presentation Sisters and the De La Salle Brothers and then in the Polytechnic in Central London. He was a postgraduate student of literature at Trinity College, Dublin.

O’Toole worked as a journalist with the Limerick Weekly Echo, Leinster Leader, Limerick Leader and Limerick Chronicle before joining the staff of the Irish Press Group of Newspapers in Dublin. Here he worked as a senior reporter, aviation correspondent (during which time he learned to fly), news editor, features writer and columnist, winning a national award for his writing. He was a long time ‘Dubliner’s Diary’ columnist with the Evening Press. He also worked for the Daily Telegraph, RTÉ and the BBC and was Ireland correspondent for The Tablet for a number of years.

Following the closure of the Irish Press Newspapers, O’Toole was appointed as a columnist in the Evening Herald and also contributed to the ‘Irishman’s Diary’ in the Irish Times. His rich and varied journalistic career is aptly captured in his best-selling book, More Kicks than Pence (Swords: Poolbeg Press Ltd, 1992).

Although he lived in Dublin, O’Toole never forgot his Limerick roots. He had a holiday home in Kilkee in Co. Clare, from where he paid frequent visits to Limerick. He was deeply interested in the Limerick writer, Kate O’Brien (1897-1974), particularly her early career as a playwright and her journalistic work. He championed the resurgence in interest in Kate O’Brien as one of the most important and influential Irish writers of the twentieth century. He wrote and broadcast on her work, wrote the foreword to the 1994 reissue of Presentation Parlour by Poolbeg and was actively involved in the annual Kate O’Brien Weekend in Limerick.

In the early 1990s, O’Toole began the compilation of a Kate O’Brien bibliography and collaborated with her long-term friend Lorna Reynolds, who at the time was working on a biography of Kate O’Brien. Regrettably, both died before the work could be published. O’Toole’s second book, Cleared for Disaster: Ireland’s Most Horrific Air Crashes, was published posthumously by Mercier in 2006.

Michael O’Toole died on 17 April 2000 at the age of sixty-one. At the time of his death, he had been married for over 30 years to journalist and communications consultant Maureen Browne, with whom he had a daughter, Orla and two sons, Feargal and Justin.

James O’Mahony was born in 1888 in John Street on the north side of Cork city to Michael and Catherine O’Mahony. He was orphaned at a young age and started school on the south side of the city in South Presentation Convent. He began dancing in St Dominic’s GAA Club on the north side of the city and was friendly with Willie and Freddie Murray, well-known Irish dancers of the day. James O’Mahony was a barber by trade and worked in Midleton, where he met his wife, Mary Cunningham. In 1935, they moved to Castlemartyr, where James opened a barber shop. He also taught Irish dancing in Castlemartyr and around East Cork. He died in 1973.

Kathleen O'Mahony was born in Midleton in 1931 to James O'Mahony and Mary Cunningham. Her father taught Irish dancing in Castlemartyr and around East Cork. Kathleen and her brother Patrick danced from a very young age at local events and Feiseanna. She later commuted to Cork to dance in Peg McTeggart’s School of Irish dancing. She won the Munster senior ladies’ championship in 1948 and was also a member of the team that won the Ring Cup in Feis Maitiu.

Kathleen O’Mahony married Dominic Keniry in 1953. Two years later, she started a dance class in the parish hall in Midleton, naming it the O’Mahony School of Irish Dancing. To this was added a class in Youghal 1959, in addition to which Kathleen Keniry also taught classes in various locations in East Cork and in Tallow, county Waterford. When her father died in 1973, she changed the name of her business to Keniry School of Irish Dancing. Under her directorship, it enjoyed great successes over the years, including All Ireland figure dancing championships. In 2007, she was elected President of An Chomhdhail, in which capacity she served until 2010. When she died in 2018, her daughter, Geraldine Cunning, took over the school in Midleton. She continues to run it with a former pupil, Michael Cahill, under the name Keniry Cahill Academy of Dance.

Sir Richard Bourke was born in Dublin on 4 May 1777 as the only son of John Bourke and Anne née Ryan. Educated at Westminster School and Oriel College, Oxford, he joined the Grenadier Guards in 1798. A year later, he was wounded in the jaw while in active service in the Netherlands, suffering an injury that later discouraged him from public speaking and political office.

Bourke served in South America and the Peninsular War, where he acted as a liaison with Spanish forces and organized intelligence operations. Promoted to colonel and made a Companion of the Bath in 1814, he retired to his Irish estate, Thornfield, in County Limerick on half-pay but returned to public service due to financial necessity. In 1826, he was appointed lieutenant-governor of the Eastern District of Cape Colony and later became acting governor. Amid economic depression and administrative inefficiency, he reformed trade, secured press freedom, and reorganized government structures. His most notable act was Ordinance 50 (1828), which abolished discriminatory pass laws against free people of colour.

Bourke returned to Thornfield in 1828, but just two years later sought another post abroad. Appointed governor of New South Wales in 1831, he faced a divided society of free settlers and emancipated convicts. He championed liberal reforms, including replacing military with civil juries and consolidating criminal law to curb abuses by magistrates. He promoted religious equality through the Church Acts of 1836, which allocated public funds to major denominations based on population. Bourke also addressed land issues through the Crown Lands Occupation Act (1836), regulating squatter settlements and appointing magistrates to oversee them. He supported assisted migration, helping to bring over 50,000 migrants to the colony. His efforts helped shape the development of the Port Phillip district (later Victoria), where he personally oversaw early urban planning. He resigned in 1837 after a dispute with the Colonial Office over executive authority. His popularity was evident in the public farewell and the erection of his statue in Sydney.

Bourke was knighted (KCB) in 1835, promoted to general in 1851, and declined further high-profile appointments. In collaboration Earl Fitzwilliam, he edited and published the correspondence of his kinsman Edmund Burke (1844). He died of heart failure at his home in Thornfield on 13 August 1855 and was buried in the churchyard at Castleconnell.

Richard ‘Dick’ Cameron was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1929. He came to Ireland in the mid-1950s and was heavily involved in the folk revival of the 1960s and 1970s and instrumental in the establishment of the An Góilín Singers Club, founded by Tim Dennehy and Dónal de Barra in 1979. His warm baritone made him popular on the radio, where he hosted the Ballads of a Saturday series on Radio Telefís Éireann and appeared in many other folk music programmes. He died in Dublin in 1997.

Aurelio Galfetti was born in Biasca, Ticino, Switzerland on 2 April 1936. He is regarded as one of the main exponents of Ticino architecture of the twentieth century. From 1954 to 1960 he studied architecture at the ETH Zürich and in 1960 he opened his own architect's office in Lugano. From 1962 to 1970 he worked in a joint office with Flora Ruchat and Ivo Trümpy, and from 1970 to 1978 on various projects together with Livio Vacchini, Luigi Snozzi, Rino Tami and Mario Botta. In 1984 he was visiting professor at the EPF Lausanne and 1987 at the UP8 in Paris. In 1996, together with Mario Botta, Galfetti founded the Academia di Architettura in Mendrisio, whose director he was from 1996 to 2001.

Galfetti's major works include the single family dwelling Rotalinti (Bellinzona, 1960-61), the open-air swimming pool in Bellinzona (1967-70), the central post office in Bellinzona (1977-85), the restoration of Burg Castelgrande (1981-91) and th office and commercial building Ulysses (Lausanne, 1991-1994). He died in Bellinzona, Switzerland on 5 December 2021 aged 85.

Matthew Barrington was born on 21 May 1788 in Limerick as the eldest of five sons and two daughters of Joseph Barrington and Mary née Baggott. He was educated in Limerick and King's Inns and established a highly successful solicitor's practice in Dublin and Limerick. In 184, he was appointed a crown solicitor for Munster. From the 1840s he acted as solicitor and adviser to the Great Southern and Western Railway and was instrumental for the establishment of the railway station known as Limerick Junction. He was the founder of Barrington's Hospital and City of Limerick Infirmary (1831), the first general hospital in Limerick to provide for the poor. He owned extensive estates in Limerick and was the builder of the massive Norman revival castle, Glenstal. Matthew Barrington died on 1 April 1861 and is buried in St Mary's cathedral in Limerick.

Mungret Agricultural School was established in response to a broader movement for agricultural education in Ireland, which gained momentum in the 1830s. Although the National Board of Education supported agricultural schools from 1832 onwards, Mungret’s origins were unique. It was funded through the Reproductive Loan Fund, raised in England during the 1825 famine for the relief of distress and later reclaimed in 1852. Influenced by Lord Monteagle, a bill (11 and 12 Victoria, C.115) allowed the debt due to the fund from County Limerick to be redirected and vested in trustees to establish an agricultural school.

In 1853, trustees purchased 71 acres at Mungret and leased it to the National Board for 61 years. Construction began in 1854, and by 1858, the school opened with dormitories for 75 boarders. The curriculum combined practical farm work with literary and agricultural studies, aiming to train future farmers and agricultural teachers. The course was designed to last for 12 months, after which the boarders could continue their studies at the Albert National Agricultural Training Institution in Glasnevin.

However, the school struggled from the outset. Its facilities were too grand to serve as realistic models for small farmers, and fees eventually rose from £8 to £26, alienating its target demographic. By 1870, only 8 boarders remained, and criticism mounted that students performed menial labour without learning skilled agricultural techniques. The school never exceeded 23 boarders. It was closed 1878, and the National Board surrendered the least to the trustees. Bound by the original trust deed to maintain an agricultural school, the trustees took possession of the property but soon acknowledged the venture as a complete failure. In a report to the Lord Lieutenant, they proposed repurposing the school into an institution offering general education, ideally positioned between primary and collegiate levels, though not excluding agriculture. To enable this change, a parliamentary bill was passed allowing the Lord Lieutenant, with Treasury approval, to redirect the use of the land, buildings and trust funds for broader educational purposes.

In August 1880, the trustees leased the premises to the Reverend Joseph Bourke, president of St. Munchin’s Seminary. Bourke intended to operate both the new boarding school at Mungret and the original seminary in Limerick. However, the dual operation proved unsustainable. Mungret failed to attract enough boarders, and by summer 1881, Bourke, facing financial difficulties and lacking support from the bishop, surrendered the lease. This transitional period set the stage for a more successful chapter: in 1882, the Jesuits, led by Father Ronan SJ, took over the site and established a university college, which later evolved into Mungret College, operating until its final closure in 1974.

James Grene Barry of Sandville, county Limerick was a local magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of county Limerick. He served as a Justice of the Peace from 1864, was a member of the county Limerick Grand Jury from 1867 and acted as Land Commissioner from 1881 to 1886. A distinguished antiquarian, Barry joined the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland in 1877 and remained a member until his death, serving as the society's honorary secretary for many years.

William Monsell was born on 21 September 1812 as the only child of William Monsell and Olivia née Johnson-Walsh of Tervoe, county Limerick. He was educated at Winchester College and Oriel College, Oxford, which he left in 1833 without taking a degree. He sat as MP for county Limerick from 1847 to 1874, during which time he became a Roman Catholic and shifted his political allegiance from Tory to Whig. His chief interests during his political career revolved around education. He was co-founder of St Columba's College (1843), closely associated with Mungret Agricultural School, particularly during its conversion into a Catholic college in 1882, and instrumental in the establishment of the Royal University (1879). He died at Tervoe on 2 April 1894 and was buried in the family vault in Kilkeedy cemetery.