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Famous Irish People

Can you name these famous Irish people, past and present?
Includes Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: February 17, 2023
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First submittedMarch 17, 2011
Times taken42,774
Average score52.4%
Rating4.08
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Clue
Irish Person
Lead singer of U2
Bono
Brought Christianity to Ireland (and got rid of snakes)
Saint Patrick
Singer who shaved her head and tore up a picture of the pope
Sinead O'Connor
He was Bond, James Bond
Pierce Brosnan
Highest paid MMA fighter in history
Conor McGregor
"Brown Eyed Girl" singer
Van Morrison
Leader of Sinn Féin, 1983–2018
Gerry Adams
He wrote "Ulysses" and
"Finnegan's Wake"
James Joyce
Golfer who has won four major
championships since 2011
Rory McIlroy
Author of "Dracula"
Bram Stoker
Member of One Direction
Niall Horan
Only actor to win three Oscars for Best Actor. Star of "Lincoln".
Daniel Day-Lewis
World's best-selling Celtic singer
Enya
Star of "Taken" and "Schindler's List"
Liam Neeson
Poet and 1923 Nobel Prize winner
W. B. Yeats
"Pygmalion" playwright
George Bernard Shaw
19th century leader known as "The Liberator"
Daniel O'Connell
Star of "Alexander" and "In Bruges"
Colin Farrell
1968 European Footballer of the Year
George Best
Satirist with a "modest proposal" to eat poor Irish children
Jonathan Swift
Victorian playwright sentenced to hard labour for being gay
Oscar Wilde
BobSaget
+35
Level 78
Mar 17, 2014
No questions about O'Bama?
DorkmeisterBlu
+1
Level 72
Mar 17, 2014
You, sir, have my like!
mikeb
+1
Level 66
Mar 17, 2014
Likewise "O'sama, O'lajuwon' and McEmouse"
lollol
+1
Level 39
Mar 17, 2017
Obama isn't Irish he has Irish ancestry

Not the same

kalbahamut
+49
Level 82
Mar 17, 2017
for someone named "lol lol" your sense of humor isn't very sharp
Walacama
+9
Level 81
Mar 17, 2017
lol
IsleAuHaulte
+6
Level 89
Feb 17, 2023
He's Dublin down on the lulz.

Back to the OP, I am actually more disappointed the Irish Rovers are denied their place in history.

Freestatebear
+1
Level 85
Mar 17, 2023
@IsleAuHaulte - While the members were Irish, the group was founded, and is based in Canada.
samiamco
+15
Level 69
Jan 21, 2018
Maybe lollol will like mine better… Q: What's Irish and sits on your lawn? A: Patty O'Furniture!
ab17
+1
Level 57
Mar 17, 2014
NO Brian o' Driscoll
postwaste
+5
Level 85
Mar 17, 2014
Now let's not start fighting over this. If we Irish are known for one thing, it's how peaceable we are.
Yankee
+4
Level 51
Jun 16, 2014
Please change "world's best-selling Celtic singer" to "world's only selling Celtic singer."

Just kidding. No offense to those who like Enya. I don't mind her myself.

ander217
+1
Level 75
Apr 8, 2016
I tried Anya and Anye, but no Enya. :(
Blaidd
+1
Level 51
Apr 6, 2017
What does celtic singer mean? Celtic isn't a language she sings in Gaelic.
Jinjaninja
+7
Level 62
Mar 2, 2020
Mostly in English actually
burntfrost
+4
Level 48
Jun 22, 2014
Why the hell would I know anything about One Direction??
Etanna
+3
Level 70
Aug 8, 2014
you don't have to but he's apparently a famous Irish person so...
TinkyFitchFeeley
+10
Level 26
May 31, 2016
What do you mean 'apparently'? He IS famous, no question about it.
fuanacdc
+4
Level 84
Mar 17, 2017
At present, 73% of people would disagree with you.
theenforcer22
+1
Level 65
Mar 17, 2023
By your logic, even more people disagree with Rory McIllroy and Gerry Adams being famous. Are they 'apparently' famous as well then?
Etanna
+6
Level 70
Mar 17, 2017
@TinkyFitchFeeley Sorry, English isn't my native language. I didn't realize it sounded derisive.
InterAlia
+1
Level 75
Mar 17, 2023
Your statement was not at all derisive. Your use of "apparently" simply described the fact you (and the person you were responding to) were not previously aware of the notoriety of a particular Irish person. Tinky just chose to take that fact personally, which is silly.
introvertigo
+3
Level 43
Sep 27, 2018
YOU may not but you don't have to be rude just because of a stereotype; that's shallow, he's actually really amazing
Sifhraven
+2
Level 67
Dec 20, 2019
Your comment is much ruder, much.. He said how would know. Not why should I want to know.. or something. (In that case your comment would still be ruder, you are directly attacking him, and the anger drips from your comment. His was more a shrug, never heard of him.)
Moos1005
+8
Level 84
Apr 6, 2021
I´d say "Why the hell...??" is a ruder expression than stating that attacking a quizmaker because you don´t know something about a topic is not a good look.
Horsertopia16
+1
Level 21
Jan 31, 2015
what about the Iron Chef Bobby Flay??? He's Irish and famous.
RobNobody
+2
Level 77
Nov 6, 2018
I think they mean people actually from Ireland. Bobby Flay might have Irish ancestry, but he's from the United States.
joez
+1
Level 72
Oct 15, 2016
I thought of Bernardo O'Higgins who liberated Chile from Spanish rule.
Soapymonkey
+5
Level 43
Mar 17, 2017
Jacksepticeye?
lucd13
+1
Level 69
Mar 17, 2017
Could have sworn Brosnan was English. There you go...
Djilas
+1
Level 82
Nov 27, 2017
It happens a lot, he lived in England from about 12 years. You should watch Evelyn where he speaks in proper Irish :)
Yossarian
+2
Level 64
Mar 17, 2017
Accept Niall?
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Mar 17, 2017
Okay
fuanacdc
+1
Level 84
Mar 17, 2017
What about Uncle O'Grimacey?
KeithDixon
+4
Level 34
Mar 17, 2017
Where is jacksepticeye lol
Hlfbecks
+2
Level 87
Mar 17, 2017
Another Irish people quiz that doesn't mention Sir Terry Wogan - unbelievable!
MauKun
+2
Level 34
Mar 17, 2017
I expected a question about Domhnall Gleeson.
ruudsje
+2
Level 69
Mar 18, 2017
Pedantic maybe, but Hewson for Bono?
CosaNostra
+1
Level 29
Mar 18, 2017
Accept Brosnin for Brosnan?
InterAlia
+1
Level 75
Mar 17, 2023
How about Bro's nun?
celloninja
+1
Level 43
Mar 19, 2017
no jse?
AliBean
+1
Level 28
Mar 21, 2017
100% first time! Oh yeah!!!
stubart409
+5
Level 67
May 6, 2017
No Father Ted. He's the most famous Irish person surely?! He almost put Craggy Island on the map.
Algernon
+2
Level 72
Aug 18, 2017
Ohh and the Duke of Wellington was born in Dublin. I'm fairly certain he counts as famous, definitely more so than yer man from One blinking Direction.
introvertigo
+2
Level 43
Sep 27, 2018
You're really rude, lmao Niall is actually really famous and an amazing person and artist
TinteEalaine
+1
Level 53
Mar 25, 2022
Hozier shoulda been on it too
granuaile
+5
Level 75
Aug 10, 2018
Gerry Adams no longer leader of Sinn Féin. Now Mary Lou McDonald.
MrMc
+3
Level 44
Mar 28, 2019
Mary Lou McDonald is the leader of Sinn Fein now
HinesBrothers
+1
Level 75
Apr 29, 2019
Only heard of two
AlexThirkell
+1
Level 75
Mar 17, 2023
That's genuinely astounding, I'm looking at the list wondering which possible two they could be!
TangoMike
+3
Level 50
Dec 20, 2019
Eh, maybe update the Sinn Féin question?
buckworm
+2
Level 21
Feb 21, 2020
Could Change it to the First leader of

Provisional Sinn fein?

buckworm
+1
Level 21
Feb 21, 2020
sad that more people know a guy froma boy band then Daniel O'connel
pinkysbrain
+2
Level 83
Apr 14, 2020
Daniel day Lewis is English .
kalbahamut
+1
Level 82
Apr 30, 2020
His father was Irish. Daniel has dual citizenship. He was born in London but has lived in Ireland.
PoetsCorner
+1
Level 85
Feb 18, 2023
He has done more than live there. He applied for, and legally obtained, Irish citizenship.
sac
+3
Level 50
Mar 17, 2023
I know legally speaking he is Irish but I feel like there are a couple of levels of nationality between

a) having an Irish passport because your dad lived there until he was two

b) being one of 21 people included on a list of famous Irish people

MrMc
+5
Level 44
Apr 30, 2020
Probably been said already, nevertheless Mary Lou McDonald is the leader of Sinn Féin. Adams stood down in 2018
Regtheledge1000
+5
Level 29
Apr 30, 2020
What about Peter Griffin
Valenmiceli
+2
Level 65
Jul 7, 2020
Conor McGregor???
RuthlessCosmo
+1
Level 72
Mar 17, 2023
In the movie "The Fallen Idol," McGregor is a snake that dies. Conor, by contrast, is still alive.
GalwayAnto
+2
Level 43
Nov 11, 2021
Sinn Féin leader and golfer questions need serious updating.
cledun2
+1
Level 89
Jun 26, 2022
This is about famous Irish people the new leader isn't famous
WWEFan619
+1
Level 60
Oct 27, 2022
Maybe add Danny O'Donoghue from The Script?
ruftytufty
+2
Level 79
Feb 17, 2023
Patrick wasn't Irish. He was a Briton..
Quizmaster
+9
Level ∞
Feb 17, 2023
Immigrants can never become part of the place they move to? Even if they are the PATRON SAINT of that place. Seems a bit harsh, no?
brandybuck96
+1
Level 83
Feb 18, 2023
What about saints who are the patrons of quite a few countries, like St George?
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Feb 18, 2023
A person can have multiple nationalities. But yeah, I wouldn't say patron sainthood is sufficient - only a strong argument in favor of :)
ruftytufty
+1
Level 79
Feb 18, 2023
Hmm, failing to differentiate between a trafficked slave and an immigrant? You really are going to have to start thinking critically about this stuff at some stage you know.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Feb 18, 2023
St. Patrick escaped and then voluntarily returned to Ireland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Patrick

Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Feb 18, 2023
But even if he didn't - you are implying a captured slave should be denied rights of an ordinary immigrant.

Furthermore, to say that a person can never have any nationality besides the patch of soil where they are born seems pretty small-minded to me.

ruftytufty
+1
Level 79
Feb 19, 2023
You need to try to understand the difference between what you're inferring and what others are implying.

What I'm saying is that there are better examples of an Irish saint than Patrick - just as there would be better examples of an American musician than John Lennon. You could even include a third question in 20 about a woman, in the form of St Brigid.

Trying to answer that rather banal point by getting on a moral high horse about assimilation of immigrants is at best problematic when it comes to St Patrick.

InterAlia
+2
Level 75
Mar 17, 2023
Whoa, easy there. St Patrick is something of a special case. He is *very* strongly associated with Ireland - so much so that it is hard to even come up with a good analog. John Lennon certainly doesn't fit the bill.

Your idea about including more women is on point, but it does nothing to support your case against St Patrick.

ruftytufty
+1
Level 79
Mar 18, 2023
St George is "very" strongly associated with England. He wouldn't generally appear on a list of English people.
b1094
+2
Level 68
Feb 21, 2023
Daniel Day-Lewis is a bit of an odd inclusion. Yes, he has dual British-Irish citizenship, but to quote the man himself: "I do have dual citizenship, but I think of England as my country. I miss London very much...".
BlackLab
+1
Level 65
Mar 1, 2023
How about Mickey McFinnigan
harryb03
+1
Level 47
Mar 17, 2023
George Best is Northern Irish
dmck92
+1
Level 72
May 15, 2023
Correct, nonetheless he is Irish.
Newroadgirl
+1
Level 68
Mar 17, 2023
I wonder how many 'Irish' American tourists will be walking along Dublin's main street in their leprechaun hats tonight, not knowing after whom it is named.
dmck92
+1
Level 72
May 15, 2023
The street itself is a sad indictment of his legacy really, horrendous area
triviaolivia
+1
Level 62
Mar 17, 2023
Could just be me, but the clue "poet" plus the Nobel prize wasn't very helpful. Maybe give a famous work as well? "Nobel winning poet who penned ___"?
AlexisCorner
+1
Level 36
Sep 25, 2023
Suggestions, people to add: (I'm not from Ireland (nor the UK) but still I have heard of them).

Lyra McKee

Dolores O'Riordan

Bernadette Devlin

Neil Hannon

Caroline Corr

Siobhán McSweeney

Feargal Sharkey

Louise Kennedy

Bobby Sands

Gary Lightbody

Emelie Pine

Mark Feehily

Kenneth Branagh

Mairéad Corrigan

Alexquiz17
+1
Level 88
Jan 24, 2024
Algernon above has already said this, but it’s my point too - Arthur Wellesley AKA the 1st Duke of Wellington was born in Dublin. I’ll risk provoking the ire of 1D fans by suggesting the Iron Duke more worthy of inclusion than some Herbert out of a manufactured boy band. Listen, I KNOW you love him, but that’s probably because there is something missing from your life which you substitute with celebrity obsessions and soulless pop drivel, so it’s not really your fault…
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