Denis O'Donovan (born 23 July 1955) is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and a member of Seanad Éireann on the Agricultural Panel.

A native of Bantry, he was elected to Cork County Council in 1985, and re-elected in 1991 and 1999. He was nominated by the Taoiseach to the Seanad in 1989. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1993 Seanad election but was elected to the Seanad in 1997 on the Industrial and Commercial Panel. O'Donovan was elected to Dáil Éireann, on his fifth attempt, at the 2002 general election for the Cork South–West constituency. He lost his Dáil seat at the 2007 general election, however he was subsequently elected to the Seanad.

O'Donovan was the Chairman of the all-party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, established in December 2002 to review the Constitution. He has a degree in law from University College Cork and is a qualified solicitor.

In June 2010, he lost the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party whip when he failed to support the government on the Dog Breeding Establishment bill. He was a Fianna Fáil candidate at the 2011 general election for Cork South–West but was not elected. He was re-elected to the Seanad in April 2011. He is the current Leas-Chathaoirleach (Deputy Chairman) of the 24th Seanad.

Saint Denis (also called Dionysius, Dennis, or Denys) is a Christian martyr and saint. In the third century, he was Bishop of Paris. He was martyred in connection with the Decian persecution of Christians, shortly after A.D. 250. After his head was chopped off, Denis is said to have picked it up and walked ten kilometres (six miles), preaching a sermon the entire way, making him one of many cephalophores in hagiology. He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as patron of Paris, France and as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The medieval and modern French name "Denis" derives from the ancient name Dionysius.

Gregory of Tours states that Denis was bishop of the Parisii and was martyred by being beheaded by a sword. The earliest document giving an account of his life and martyrdom, the "Passio SS. Dionysii Rustici et Eleutherii" dates from c. 600, is mistakenly attributed to the poet Venantius Fortunatus, and is legendary. Nevertheless, it appears from the Passio that Denis was sent from Italy to convert Gaul in the third century, forging a link with the "apostles to the Gauls" reputed to have been sent out under the direction of Pope Fabian. This was after the persecutions under Emperor Decius had all but dissolved the small Christian community at Lutetia. Denis, with his inseparable companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, who were martyred with him, settled on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine. Roman Paris lay on the higher ground of the Left Bank, away from the river.

O'Donovan (Irish: Ó Donnabháin [oːˈd̪ˠɔn̪ˠəˌvˠɑːnʲ]) or Donovan is an Irish surname, as well as a hereditary Gaelic title. It is also written Dhonnabháin in certain grammatical contexts, and Donndubháin, being originally composed of the elements donn, meaning lord or dark brown, dubh, meaning dark or black, and the diminutive suffix án. Ó derives from the earlier Ua, meaning grandson or descendant. Compare O'Donoghue and O'Sullivan, containing the same elements.

The O'Donovan family motto is 'Adjuvante Deo in hostes' (latin) meaning 'With the assistance of God against our enemies'.

The O'Donovans are in origin descendants of the 10th century Donnubán mac Cathail, ruler of the regional or sub-provincial kingdom of Uí Fidgenti, as well as of his royal Norse relations from Limerick and Waterford, believed to belong to the Uí Ímair. From his accession to the kingship in 962 to the death of Amlaíb Ua Donnubáin in 1201, the family operated as a semi-independent to sometimes fully independent regional royal house within the larger provincial overkingdom of Munster. In the 13th century the O'Donovans surrendered principal sovereignty to the Kingdom of Desmond and later Carbery, after playing a role in the formation of the latter principality. However, the leading dynasts of the family remained semi-sovereign princes or flatha underneath the MacCarthy Reagh dynasty in Carbery, or perhaps even local petty kings. Nearly five centuries later and eighty years after the fall of the Gaelic order, the O'Donovans were one of the few families of Carbery and Munster still allowed by the authorities to be of royal extraction. Today the head of the family is still counted among the leading Gaelic nobility of Ireland.

Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch, 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist. Initially labelled as an imitator of Bob Dylan, Donovan quickly developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music (notably calypso). He has variously lived in Scotland, London, California and Ireland, and currently lives with his family in County Cork in Ireland.

Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan shot to fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with a series of live performances on the pop TV series, Ready Steady Go!. Initially signing with the British label Pye Records in 1965, he recorded a handful of singles and two albums in the folk music vein, but after signing a new contract with the US label Epic Records his popularity rapidly spread to the US and other countries. After extricating himself from his original management contract, he began a long and successful collaboration with Mickie Most, one of the leading British independent record producers of the era, scoring a string of hits in the UK, the US, Australia and other countries. His successful records in the 1960s included the UK hits "Catch the Wind" and "Colours" in 1965, while "Sunshine Superman" topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart the following year, and reached #2 in Britain. Donovan was the first artist to be signed to CBS/Epic Records by then-new Administrative Vice President Clive Davis, who later became head of the CBS Record empire.

Stephen Ferris (born 2 August 1985) is an Irish rugby union player for Ulster and Ireland. Ferris plays his club rugby with Dungannon. He is from Maghaberry and attended Friends School Lisburn. He has played for Ulster and Ireland in all three backrow positions.

Ferris graduated from the Ulster Academy and joined Ulster Rugby on a development contract at the start of the 2005–2006 season. He was named in the Ireland Under-20 Rugby World Cup Squad in 2005. He made his Ulster debut against Border Reivers in October 2005.

Ferris made his full Ireland debut against Pacific Islanders in November 2006. Ferris was selected for the Ireland Rugby World Cup squad in 2007 but was an unused reserve at the tournament. He earned his fifth Irish cap against Australia in June 2008.

Ferris is one of four Ulster Rugby players included in Ireland's PWC high performance select group.

He is currently signed with Ulster Rugby, keeping him at Ravenhill until the end of the 2010/11 season.

He was a member of the victorious Ireland team that won the 2009 Six Nations Championship and Grand Slam