List of French people of Irish descent explained

This is a list of famous citizens of France with Irish origin or roots.

Arts and media

• Eugène Hus (1758-1823) - ballet dancer and choreographer; Irish father
• Louise Swanton Belloc (1796–1881) - writer and translator; Irish father
• Joseph O'Kelly (1828-1885) - composer, pianist and choral conductor; Irish father
• Auguste O'Kelly (1829-1900) - music publisher in Paris; Irish father
• George O'Kelly (1831-1914) - pianist and composer; Irish father
• Augusta Holmès (1847-1903) - composer; Irish father
• Henri O'Kelly (1859-1938) - composer, pianist, organist and choir director; Irish father
• James Hopper (1876-1956) - writer and novelist; Irish father
• Émile Nelligan (1879-1941) - Montreal poet; Irish father
• Jacques Becker (1906-1960) - film director and screenwriter; mother of Irish descent
• Vivien Leigh^{[1] [2]} (1913-1967) - actress; mother born in India - possibly of Irish descent
• Georges Wilson (1921-2010) - French film and television actor; Irish mother
• Jeanne Moreau (1928-2017) - French actress, singer, screenwriter' English mother of Irish descent
• Michael Lonsdale (May 1931 – 2020) - French actor and author; mother half-Irish
• Jean Becker (born 1933) - film director and screenwriter
• Étienne Becker (1936-1995) - photographer
• Betty Catroux (born 1945) - Brazilian-born French former Chanel model and fashion icon
• Lambert Wilson (born 1958) - actor, singer and activist
• Jim Bittermann - CNN correspondent
• Gilles Lellouche (born 1972) - French actor; mother of Irish heritage
• James Thierrée (born 1974) - Swiss circus performer, violinist, actor and director
• Alison Wheeler (born 1986) - French comedian and actress
• Vaimalama Chaves (1994) - French singer, beauty pageant titleholder, and model; father has Irish heritage
• Lily-Rose Depp (born 1999) - actress and model
• Liah O'Prey (born 1999) - actress; Irish father

Business

• Richard Cantillon (1680-1734) - economist and businessman
• Antoine Walsh (1703 – 1763) - shipowner and slave trader
• Mary O'Shiell (1715-1745) - shipowner and slave trader.
• Richard Hennessy (1724-1800) - army officer and businessman; founded Hennessy cognac dynasty
• Anthony N. Brady (1841-1913) - French-born American businessman
• Kilian Hennessy (1907-2010) - businessman

Military

• Ricardo Wall (1694-1777) - Spanish military leader and diplomat
• John Patrick O'Gara - French-born soldier of Irish descent; served in Spanish Army
• James O'Moran (1735-1794) - military leader
• Gerard Lally (died 1737) - Jacobite and French military officer.
• Charles Edward Jennings (1751-1799) - soldier and revolutionary
• John Moran (1830 – 1905) - American cavalry soldier
• Arthur Dillon (1834–1922) - soldier and journalist
• Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari (1841-1879) - military administrator

Nobility

• James Sarsfield, 2nd Earl of Lucan (1693-1719) - nobleman and soldier
• James Fitz-James Stuart, 2nd Duke of Berwick (1696-1738) - nobleman and soldier
• Bernardo O'Connor (1696-1780) - Spanish nobleman and soldier
• Charles O'Gara (1699-1777) - French-born courtier
• Thomas Arthur, comte de Lally (1702-1766) - nobleman and army officer
• Catalina Sarsfield - Queen of Corsica
• Marie-Louise O'Murphy (1737-1814) - mistress of Louis XV of France
• Marquis de Lally-Tollendal (executed 1766) - nobleman and soldier
• Théobald Dillon (1745-1792) - nobleman and soldier
• Jean-Baptiste Lynch (1749-1835) - Count of the First French Empire, Mayor of Bordeaux and a peer of France
• Arthur Dillon (1750–1794) - nobleman and soldier
• André Burthe (1772–1830) - Baron of France.
• Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke (1765-1818) - politician and Marshal of France.
• Marquis de Lally-Tollendal (executed 1766) - nobleman and army officer
• Victoria Balfe (1835 or 1837–1871) - noblewoman and singer
• Henri-Antoine-Marie de Noailles (1890-1947) - 11th Prince de Poix, 7th Duke of Mouchy; French nobleman
• Philippe François Armand Marie de Noailles (born 1922) - Duc de Mouchy, Prince-Duc de Poix; French nobleman
• Antoine Georges Marie de Noailles (born 1950) - 9th Duke of Mouchy and Duke of Poix; French nobleman.

Politics

• Louis Charles Antoine de Beaufranchet (1757-1812) - army officer and politician
• Narcisse-Achille de Salvandy (1795-1856) - French politician
• Patrice de Mac-Mahon, duc de Magenta (1808-1903) - army officer and politician; President of France
• Jean Hennessy (1874-1944) - politician.
• Charles de Gaulle^[3] (1890-1970) - army officer and statesman
• Laurence Boone (born 1969) - economist and politician

Religious

• Arthur Richard Dillon (1721–1806) - archbishop of Narbonne
• Thomas Grant (1816-1870) - bishop of Southwark
• Louis Le Cardonnel (1862-1936) - priest and poet
• Patrice Flynn (1874-1970) - Bishop of Nevers

Sports

• Henry Russell (1834-1909) - explorer
• Franck Queudrue - (born 1978) - footballer
• Ultan Dillane (1993) - rugby union player
• Liam Jegou (born 1996) - slalom canoeist
• Grégory Alldritt (born 1997) - rugby union player

Other

• Ernest Archdeacon (1863-1950) - lawyer and aviation pioneer

Notes and References

1. http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/online/gwtw/scarlett/Leighbio.html HRC Online Exhibition - The University Of Texas At Austin Vivien Leigh: The Search For Scarlett: Gone With The Wind
2. http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/online/gwtw/scarlett/sullivan.html HRC Online Exhibition - The University Of Texas At Austin
3. http://dnausers.d-n-a.net/dnetcRrI/de%20gaulle.html Descent from the McCartans of County Down