AL#1
Famous people · Killiney, Dublin
The 12 famous people born in Killiney, led by Allen Leech
Allen Leech, the Irish actor, is the most widely known, written about in 27 languages. The largest group, 5, was born between 1922 and 1969. 4 of them are athletes, more than in any other field. The list is still growing: 2 were born since 1970.
Born here
12
confirmed by Wikipedia
Best known
Allen Leech
27 Wikipedia and sister-site articles
First
1843
Washington Matthews
Youngest
1981
Allen Leech
Most common field
Sports
4 people
The best known
Born in Killiney
Three names lead: Allen Leech (27 languages), Seán Barrett (8) and Washington Matthews (7).
#2Politics & Law
Seán Barrett
1944–2026Irish Fine Gael politician
8 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
#3Science & Medicine
Washington Matthews
1843–1905Irish-American ethnographer (1843–1905)
7 Wikipedia and sister-site articlesWikipedia ↗
Through the years
When Killiney’s famous people were born
Births peak in the 1940s, with 2 people born in that decade.
SportsFilm, TV & StageScience & MedicinePolitics & LawWriting & Arts
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Known for
What Killiney is known for
Scientists and doctors stand out most, at 5.3 times the usual share.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed in Irish towns. Tap a field to see its people.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Killiney
The rest number 9, with 4 athletes among them.
Walter Starkie
1894–1976Irish scholar, expert on the Romani people (1894–1976)
Science & MedicineWikipedia ↗
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
Bray leads the towns around it, with 44 names.
Bray · 6 kmCearbhall Ó Dálaigh & 43 more
Dún Laoghaire · 4 kmBob Geldof & 36 more
Dalkey · 3 kmMaeve Binchy & 26 moreWOStillorgan · 7 kmWilliam Orpen & 8 more
Shankill · 2 kmCiarán Cuffe & 5 moreDBMonkstown · 5 kmDerek John Christopher Byrne & 4 moreENStepaside · 6 kmEdward Max Nicholson & 4 moreGCCabinteely · 2 kmGiles Cooper & 2 moreQuestions about famous people from Killiney
Who is the most famous person from Killiney?
Allen Leech (Irish actor) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 27 languages. Next come Seán Barrett and Washington Matthews.
How many famous people were born in Killiney?
12 people born in Killiney have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace. Wikidata places 14 people here; the rest aren’t listed because their article names somewhere else, or no town.
What is Killiney known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 4 of the 12. That is 33% of the town’s list, against 32% across Irish towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Killiney?
Washington Matthews, born in 1843. The youngest on the list was born in 1981.
Who counts as from Killiney?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Killiney’s neighbourhood (its Census 2022 Small Areas), a hospital or district within it included, whose English Wikipedia article agrees. People who only lived here, adult performers and people known mainly for crimes aren’t listed. In Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford a birth recorded only as the city stays on the city’s page; a neighbourhood lists only people recorded as born in it.
Why is someone missing?
Their Wikidata birthplace may be a county or just “Ireland”, a townland or village we don’t list, another town, or missing, or their article may give no birthplace. We only list people both sources agree on; editing Wikidata or Wikipedia changes this page at the next refresh.
From Wikidata (CC0: birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations, how many Wikipedia and sister-site articles cover each person) and English Wikipedia (each person’s article confirms the birthplace; linked, not quoted). A birthplace is placed in a town by its own Wikidata item, its Logainm place name, or a point inside its CSO 2022 outline; a birth recorded only as one of the five cities stays on the city’s page. Ranked by the number of articles. Fields are read from Wikidata’s description and occupations. “The usual town”: everyone listed across Irish towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (7)
- Seán Barrett: Oireachtas, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Washington Matthews: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Niamh Bhreathnach: PaddyShamrock, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh: European Communities, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Bob Geldof: International Monetary Fund Photograph/Stephen Jaffe, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Maeve Binchy: The original uploader was Jon Kay at English Wikipedia ., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Ciarán Cuffe: Claire Behan, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Contains Central Statistics Office (CSO) data, Census 2022, and Tailte Éireann boundaries (CSO Urban Areas, Small Areas, local electoral areas, constituencies), under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0).