A Gifford family in Dublin
The Gifford name has a well-documented place in Dublin’s cultural and political history through Grace Gifford and her family. Born in Rathmines in 1888, Grace was one of twelve children of solicitor Frederick Gifford and Isabella Burton. Her life gives the surname a specific Irish setting: a named household, a Dublin neighbourhood and a record of work in art and public life.
Art and the events of 1916
Grace trained at Dublin’s Metropolitan School of Art and the Slade School in London. She became known for cartoons and illustrations of writers, actors and other public figures. Her marriage to Joseph Plunkett at Kilmainham Gaol in May 1916, shortly before his execution, is remembered in the museum’s account of the Easter Rising. She later produced theatre cartoons, including a collection devoted to the Abbey Theatre. Her story therefore reaches beyond that dramatic marriage into decades of artistic work.
Following your own Gifford records
For a Gifford family search, record the earliest known household’s address, occupation and relatives before moving to an earlier generation. Rathmines and Dublin are leads for the family described here; begin with your own family’s locality when it differs. Keep Gifford as the starting spelling and compare alternative spellings only where a record links the same people. The Dublin account establishes an Irish family history without assigning one origin or migration route to every Gifford.
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