Famous Irish Men

The highest paid fighter of Ultimate Fighting Championship, Conor McGregor is one of the most famous athletes in the world. His ascent from humble beginnings to becoming ‘The Notorious’ has been fuelled by McGregor’s mastery of martial arts, skilful fighting style and powerful punches. He is the first fighter to hold both UFC Featherweight Championship and UFC Lightweight Championship simultaneously.

Widely regarded as one of the most popular writers of all time, Oscar Wilde is best remembered for his plays and epigrams. He was also one of the best-known personalities during his time as he was popular for his conversational skills, flamboyant dressing sense, and biting wit. Imprisoned in 1895 for consensual homosexual acts, Oscar Wilde was pardoned posthumously in 2017.

Actor Michael Gambon is best known for playing Albus Dumbledore in the popular Harry Potter movie series. Not surprisingly, Gambon is one of the most recognized faces in the world and a favorite actor among Harry Potter fans. Ranked 28th in Ireland's greatest film actors list published by The Irish Times, Gambon was knighted for hisservices to drama, in 1998.

Irish television and radio presenter, comedian, and actor, Graham Norton, is an eight-time BAFTA TV Award winner. He is best known for his comedy chat show The Graham Norton Show. His innuendo-laden dialogue and flamboyant presentation style have made him a fan favorite. He is openly gay and is the winner of one Gaytime Award.

Cillian Murphy is one of the greatest Irish film actors. He has done some of his best work in collaboration with director Christopher Nolan. The includes The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception and Dunkirk. Cillian was also the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the rock band The Sons of Mr. Green Genes

Nobel Prize-winning playwright and author George Bernard Shaw was best known for his realism and his support for women’s rights and socialism. His ideas gave rise to the word “Shavian.” His drama Pygmalion inspired the musical My Fair Lady. His other notable works include Candida and Man and Superman.

Michael Fassbender is a critically-acclaimed Irish-German actor best known for playing a sex addict in the psychological erotic drama film Shame. Apart from being an actor, Michael is also a well-known racing driver; he started his auto racing career in 2017 and currently races for Proton Competition in the European Le Mans Series.

Irish-American actor and film producer Pierce Brosnan is best known for playing secret agent James Bond in the Bond film series. As a young man, he trained at the Drama Centre London and made his acting debut soon after. First gaining fame as a TV actor, he didn’t take long to enter films as well.

James Joyce was an Irish novelist, poet, teacher, short story writer, and literary critic. Widely considered one of the 20th century's most important and influential writers, James Joyce contributed immensely to the modernist avant-garde movement. Joyce's work has influenced several scholars and writers, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Salman Rushdie, Seán Ó Ríordáin, Flann O'Brien, John Updike, and Cormac McCarthy.

One of the most successful footballers from Ireland, Roy Keane became one of the stars of Manchester United. A talented midfielder, he has helped the team win multiple FA Cups and Premier League championships. Post-retirement, he has also managed teams such as Sunderland and Ipswich Town.

Colin Farrell is one of the most popular and celebrated Irish actors. He was ranked fifth in The Irish Times newspaper's Ireland's greatest film actors list in 2020. Known for his casanova image, Colin has also had drug addiction problems and suffers from insomnia. In 2006, he filed a lawsuit against Nicole Narain for releasing their 13-minute sex tape.

Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton is remembered for leading three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. An expert in navigation, he had also been a part of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery expedition. He was knighted by King Edward VII for his achievements.

A multitalented personality, Richard Harris was an Irish actor, singer, director and writer. He began as a stage actor and later moved to films. His famous films include This Sporting Life, Camelot, A Man Called Horse, Gladiator and the first two Harry Potter films. He released numerous musical albums, published a poetry book and ventured into film direction with Bloomfield.

One of the most talented Irish film actors of all time, Brendan Gleeson gained international attention after playing Alastor Moody in the Harry Potter movie series. He was ranked 18th in The Irish Times' Ireland's greatest film actors list in 2020. Brendan Gleeson is also credited with inspiring his sons Domhnall and Brian Gleeson to become actors.

Born to award-winning Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, Domhnall Gleeson initially gained fame with his Tony-nominated role in the Broadway play The Lieutenant of Inishmore. However, he is best known to audiences as Bill Weasley from the Harry Potter film series. He has also been part of series such as Black Mirror.

Samuel Beckett was a legendary Nobel Prize-winning Irish postmodernist and minimalist playwright and author, regarded as a prominent figure of the "Theatre of the Absurd.” He is best known for the play Waiting for Godot and for his tragi-comic themes and black comedy. He was also the Saoi of Aosdána.

An Irish actor who is counted among the country’s greatest actors, Robert Sheehan has received multiple Irish Film and Television Award and BAFTA Award nominations. Interested in performing from a young age, he studied film and television before beginning his career. He is known for questioning gender norms in the acting industry.

Irish wrestler Fergal Devitt performs as Finn Bálor for the NXT brand under WWE. He has won titles such as the NXT Championship, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Also known as Prince Devitt, he co-founded NWA Ireland, his own promotion.

Eighteenth-century essayist, poet, and pamphleteer Jonathan Swift is remembered for his iconic works such as A Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, and Gulliver's Travels. One of the world’s greatest satirists, he gave rise to the deadpan Swiftian style. He had also been the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral.

David Howell Evans, better known as The Edge, is a musician and songwriter. He first gained fame as the keyboardist, lead guitarist, and backing vocalist of the rock band U2. He is known for his signature style of guitar playing. Besides music, he is an advocate for human rights and is involved in numerous philanthropic endeavors. 

Known for his powerful blues rock performances, Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher was part of the band Taste. Though The Rolling Stones offered him an opportunity to replace guitarist Mick Taylor, he rejected it. A heavy drinker, he died of complications after a liver transplant surgery at age 47.

Irish YouTuber, Jacksepticeye, has gained massive online fame with his vlogs and comedic Let's Play series. His channel was the most-subscribed Irish channel as of December 2020. He began his YouTube career by posting gameplay videos and gained millions of subscribers within a few years. He is a philanthropist and often raises money for charitable causes.

Shane MacGowan is an Irish-English recording artist and vocalist. He is credited with co-founding popular bands, such as The Pogues and Shane MacGowan and the Popes. He is also known for his collaboration with artists like Sinéad O'Connor, Kirsty MacColl, and Nick Cave. In 2018, he was honored with the Ivor Novello Inspiration Award for creating inspiring music. 

Seamus Heaney was an Irish poet, translator, and playwright. One of the most respected poets of his generation, Heaney was honored with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. He also won other prestigious awards, such as the Eric Gregory Award. Several years after his death, Seamus Heaney is still considered one of the main contributors to poetry in Ireland.

Though born in the US, Patrick McGoohan moved to the US with his family as a child and later became one of Britain’s best-known actors. Fans loved him as John Drake in Danger Man and as Number Six in The Prisoner. He is also known for his Emmy-winning performance in the series Columbo.

The most capped footballer of the Irish national team, Robbie Keane is also Ireland’s top goal-scorer, with 68 international goals. Starting his career at 17, he was initially part of the English league system and played for teams such as Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur. He later also represented LA Galaxy.

Once the face of Irish boy band Westlife, Brian McFadden later went solo. Starting his career with live pop-RnB gigs in Dublin clubs, he later mastered soft rock, too. He was a judge on Australia's Got Talent and also participated in shows such as Dancing on Ice and The Jump.

Identified as the “Best New Talent” of Ireland at the age of 23, Colin Arthur O'Donoghue attracted the attention of TV viewers with his performance in the TV show Once Upon a Time aired on ABC network and went on to star in the movie, The Rite, and Netflix series, Heartstrings. The actor and musician was also a member of the Irish band The Enemies.

Initially an electrician who worked at a Zimbabwean safari park, Liam Cunningham changed his luck by applying for an acting school after coming across an ad. The Irish actor is known for his signature stare and thick Irish accent and became internationally renowned as Davos Seaworth in Game of Thrones.

Colm Meaney is an actor known for portraying Miles O'Brien in TV series, such as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Also known for his significant film career, Meaney received the Best Actor IFTA for playing Martin McGuinness in The Journey. Meaney was named in The Irish Times' Ireland's greatest film actors list in 2020.

Robert Boyle was an Anglo-Irish chemist, natural philosopher, inventor, and physicist. Regarded as the first modern chemist, Boyle is often counted among the founders of modern chemistry. One of the pioneers of the scientific method, Robert Boyle is also remembered for his books, including The Sceptical Chymist, which is viewed as a keystone book in chemistry.

Irish radio and TV broadcaster, Terry Wogan, is remembered for his long career with BBC. For over 15 years, his weekday breakfast program, Wake Up to Wogan, drew in millions of listeners. At the peak of his career, he was probably the most listened-to radio broadcaster in Europe.  He was inducted into the Radio Academy Hall of Fame in 2009.

Louis Walsh is an Irish TV personality and music manager. In the 1990s and 2000s, Walsh managed three of Ireland's most prominent pop acts— Westlife, Boyzone, and Johnny Logan. A controversial personality, Louis Walsh has been accused of sexual harassment and making homophobic comments in the past.