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Iarlath, Saint, of Tuam, the son of Loga, was born about the beginning of the 6th century. He was the first Bishop of Tuam, of which he is the patron saint, and where his memory has ever been highly venerated. He established a school where several eminent men of the time were educated. He died at Tuam in 540. The 26th December is observed as his festival. He must not be confounded with St. Iarlath, third Archbishop of Armagh, who died 11th February 482.

Ibar, or Iberius, Saint, flourished in the 5th century. He was a disciple of St. Patrick and the friend of St. Bridget. His school and retreat at Begerin in Wexford Harbour were long famous. His death is placed in the year 500; and the 23rd April is regarded as his festival. He is locally known as St. Ivory.

Ingham, Charles C., portrait painter, was born in Dublin in 1797. Having studied art, probably in the schools of the Royal Dublin Society, he removed to the United States in 1817, and with his brother occupied a front rank as a portrait painter. He was the founder of the National Academy, and was for many years its Vice-President. Drake says: "Besides a great number of portraits of the reigning beauties of his day in New York, his 'Flower Girl,' 'Day Dream,' and 'Portrait of a Child,7 are good specimens of his style and manner." He died in New York, 10th December 1863, aged about 67.

Ireton, Henry, a distinguished general and statesman of the English Commonwealth, who served in Ireland, was born at Attenton, in Nottinghamshire, in 1610. He married Cromwell's daughter Bridget. On 15th August 1649 he' sailed from Milford for Dublin as Major-General in command of one division of Cromwell's army, and served through the campaigns of the autumn and spring. After Cromwell's departure for England in May 1650, he was appointed President of Munster and to the supreme command of the Irish army. Connaught with a large part of Munster still acknowledged the King's sway, and Waterford, Galway, and Limerick remained in the hands of the Irish, as well as Sligo, Duncannon, Carlow, Athlone, Nenagh, and Charlemont. There was, however, neither order, union, nor co-operation among the Irish parties; and faction, discord, and ill-management did for Ireton far more than all his military force could have accomplished. After the defeat of the Bishop of Clogher at Letterkenny by Sir Charles Coote, and the surrender of Charlemont, almost the whole of Ulster was subdued. General Hudson reduced Naas, Athy, Maryborough, and Castledermot. Duncannon was taken. Waterford surrendered on 10th August. The garrison of Carlow, after enduring a short bombardment, surrendered, and were allowed to march out with the honours of war. In December the Marquis of Ormond retired to France, and after the reduction of Athlone by Coote, the only places of importance that remained in the hands of the Irish were Limerick, Sligo, and Galway. Ireton began his operations against Limerick early in 1651. The city was defended by Major- General Hugh O'Neill, who had so distinguished himself in the defence of Clonmel against Cromwell. Ireton forced the passage of the Shannon at O'Brien's-bridge, dispersed Castlehaven's army, and was thus enabled to invest Limerick, while Lord Muskerry, who got together a considerable force to raise the siege, was defeated by Lord Broghill, with great slaughter, at Castleishen, in the County of Cork, on 26th of July. The castle on the salmon-weir at Limerick was next taken. Ireton lost 120 men in his first attempt on King's Island, and 300 more were cut off in a sally; but soon afterwards a bridge was constructed to the island, and 6,000 troops marched over, and effected a permanent lodgment. The defence was heroically conducted for several weeks. Pestilence raged within the walls, and one of the most thrilling incidents in Ludlow's Memoirs is his account of how they beat back into the town a crowd of famished and plague-stricken non-combatants who sought to leave it. At length, when Ireton's preparations for bombardment were complete, and when upwards of 5,000, according to one account, had fallen by the plague, the city capitulated on 27th October 1651. The garrison and inhabitants, except the governor, Hugh O'Neill, General Purcell, the Bishops of Limerick and Emly, and eighteen other persons of distinction who had "opposed and restrained the deluded people from accepting the conditions so often offered to them," received liberty to remove themselves, their families, and property to any part of Ireland. As the garrison of 2,500 men marched out, several fell dead of the plague. On a third vote of a court-martial, and partly at the solicitation of Ludlow, O'Neill's life was spared, while most of the other excepted persons were executed: O'Dwyer, Bishop of Emly, and Father Wolfe suffered with singular bravery and fortitude. Ireton died of the plague at Limerick on 15th November 1651, aged about 41. His death was deeply felt by his own party, who revered him as a good soldier, an able statesman, and a saint. Cromwell had a profound faith in his judgment, and entrusted to him the drawing up of many of the important public acts, memorials, and documents of his party. His body was embalmed and conveyed to England, where it was buried in Westminster Abbey. After the Restoration his remains were, with Cromwell's, disinterred, exposed on a scaffold, and burned at Tyburn.

Irvine, William, Brigadier-General in the American revolutionary army, was born in the County of Fermanagh, 3rd November 1741. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he studied medicine, was for some time a surgeon in the royal navy, and after 1763 removed to America, and practised at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the convention which met at Philadelphia in 1774, and recommended a general congress; was representative of Carlisle until 1776; raised and commanded the 6th Pennsylvania regiment; was taken prisoner at Trois Rivieres, Canada, and exchanged in 1778. After minor commands, he was, in the autumn of 1781, stationed at Fort Pitt, and entrusted with the defence of the north-western frontier. In 1785 he was appointed to examine the public lands of the State of Pennsylvania, and suggested the purchase of the "Triangle" which gave to that State an outlet upon Lake Erie. He was a member of the old Congress of 1786-'8, of the convention that revised the constitution of Pennsylvania, and of Congress, 1793-5. He died in Philadelphia, 29th July 1804, aged 62. Two of his brothers and three or his sons also served in the army of the United States.

Ita, Saint, so called "from the ita (thirst) of the love of God which she had," flourished in the 6th century. " Deirdre was her first name," she was also known as Mide. She was born in the present County of Waterford about 480, and became one of the most venerated of Irish saints. O'Hanlon devotes five chapters of his great work to the particulars of her life, and gives an engraving of the ruins of her church of Killeedy, in the County of Limerick, where she is chiefly venerated. She died in 570: her festival is the 15th January.

Intro A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M(1) | M(2) | M(3) | N | O(1) | O(2) | O(3) | P | Q | R | S(1) | S(2) | T | U | V | W(1) | W(2) | X | Y | Z | Addenda