Biographies A-Z

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Banim, John

Banim, John (1798–1842), artist, novelist, playwright, and poet, was born 3 April 1798 in Kilkenny city, the eldest son of Michael Banim (perhaps originally Bannon), farmer and shopkeeper (he sold sporting goods), and Joannah or Judith Banim (née Carroll) from near the Slieve Bloom…

Banim, Michael

This is a co-subject for the entry on Banim, John. View the original entry.

Bannard Cogley, Daisy

Bannard Cogley, Daisy (1884–1965), theatre director and producer, actor and singer, was born Johanna Mary Bannard on 5 May 1884 in Paris to a French father, Thomas Bannard, who worked as a coachman in the city, and an Irish mother, Mary Furlong, from Co. Wexford. She studied at the…

Bannerman, Sir Henry Campbell-

Bannerman, Sir Henry Campbell- (1836–1908), prime minister and chief secretary for Ireland, was born 7 September 1836 in Kelvinside, Glasgow, second son and youngest among six children of Sir James Campbell (1790–1876) of Forfarshire, tailor and draper, and Janet Campbell (née…

Bannon, John

Bannon, John (1829–1913), catholic priest and Confederate chaplain, was born 29 December 1829 at Rooskey, Co. Roscommon, son of James Bannon, a Dublin grain dealer, and his wife, Fanny (née O'Farrell). Bannon had a brother and at least one sister. He was educated locally in Dublin…

Baptist (Crow), Rachael

Baptist (Crow), Rachael (fl. 1750–73), a celebrated black singer in Dublin's pleasure gardens in the 1750s, had a musical career as soloist and entertainer that spanned almost a quarter of a century. Nothing is known of her parents or early history. Her first recorded…

Barber (Barbor), Mary

Barber (Barbor), Mary (c.1685–1755), poet, was probably born in Ireland. The facts of her life are uncertain and little is known of her apart from references in the writings of her contemporaries. She married Rupert Barber, a woollen-draper of Werburgh St., Dublin. She…

Barber, Rupert

Barber, Rupert (1719–72), miniaturist, was born in Dublin, where he was baptised 20 September 1719. He was the son of Rupert Barber, Dublin woollen-draper, and Mary Barber (qv), who published poetry in the 1730s, a friend and…

Barber, Samuel

Barber, Samuel (1738?–1811), presbyterian minister and radical, was born in the parish of Killead, Co. Antrim, younger son of John and Sarah Barber, farmers. He entered Glasgow University in 1757 and graduated MA in 1759. On 28 August 1761 he…

Barbour, Harold Adrian Milne

Barbour, Harold Adrian Milne (1874–1938), promoter of agricultural improvement, was born in July 1874, probably at Dunmurry, Co. Antrim, the son of John Doherty Barbour (1823–1901), a linen manufacturer, and his wife, Elizabeth. He was educated in England (at Elstree, Harrow and…

Barbour, John

Barbour, John (1753?–1823), manufacturer, was born in Scotland, probably at Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, near Paisley, in either 1753 or early 1759, eldest son of John Barbour and his wife, whose name may have been Jean Connel, both of Kilbarchan, where the family had linen works. They…

Barbour, John Doherty

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Barbour, Sir John Milne

Barbour, Sir John Milne (1868–1951), industrialist and politician, was born 4 January 1868 at The Fort, Dunmurry, near Lisburn, Co. Antrim, son of John Doherty Barbour (chairman of one of Ulster's biggest flax-spinning firms) and Elizabeth Law Milne Barbour of Edinburgh. He was…

Barbour, Thomas

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Barbour, William

This is a co-subject for the entry on Barbour, John. View the original entry.

Barbour, William Pirrie ('Bill')

Barbour, William Pirrie ('Bill') (1920–2009), teacher, and community and political activist, was born in Newtownards, Co. Down, son of Walter Terence Barbour, a director of the Combe Barbour engineering firm, and his wife Blanche (née Redman), whose father owned wine shops in London…

Barcroft, Henry

Barcroft, Henry (1839–1905), inventor, was born 6 June 1839, the only son of Joseph Inman Barcroft of Lisburn, Co. Antrim, and of Stangmore Lodge, Tyrone, and Mary Barcroft (née Wright), whose father lived in New York. The family were involved in the linen business in Lisburn, and were…

Barcroft, Henry

Barcroft, Henry (1904–98), physiologist, was born 18 October 1904 in Cambridge, the elder of two sons of Sir Joseph Barcroft (qv), an eminent physiologist and professor at Cambridge university, and his wife, Mary Agnetta (1875–1961…

Barcroft, Sir Joseph

Barcroft, Sir Joseph (1872–1947), physiologist, was born at The Glen, Newry, Co. Down, second of five children of the quakers Henry Barcroft (qv), DL, and Anna (Richardson) Barcroft, daughter of…

Bardfield, William

Bardfield, William of (b. a.1258, d. 1327☓33), lawyer and justice, son of Walter of Bardfield, was probably born at Great Bardfield in Essex, a demesne manor of the Clare earls of Gloucester; he must have been born in or before 1258 as by 1279 he had become a…

Bardin, Charles

Bardin, Charles (c.1788-1841), clergyman and producer of instructive literature, was born in Dublin, son of Peter Bardin, revenue officer; his date of birth and his mother's name are unknown. He graduated BA (1817),…

Barford (Bereford), Richard de

Barford (Bereford), Richard de (fl. 1283–1318), clerk, treasurer, and chancellor of Ireland, may have been related to William de Bereford, chief justice of the common bench at Westminster. He first appears in 1283 as a collector of the thirtieth in Worcestershire, and in…

Barid (Bárith, Bar∂r)

Barid (Bárith, Bar∂r) (d. 881), Norse king of Dublin, was (although his origin is uncertain) possibly a son of Ímar (qv) (d. 873), and was certainly among the allies of Amlaíb Find (Olaf the White). According to the Irish annals, Barid had…

Barker, Francis

Barker, Francis (1773–1859), physician and chemist, was born in Waterford, the eldest son of six children (five sons and a daughter) of William Barker (1731–88), pharmacist, alderman and sheriff of Waterford (1759–63), and Elizabeth Barker (née Acheson) of Duncormuck, Co. Wexford.…

Barker, Robert

Barker, Robert (1739–1806), inventor of the panorama, was apparently from a respectable family, though nothing is known of his life until 15 February 1764, when ‘Mr Robert Barker of Kells in the county of Meath’ married in Dublin (Freeman's Journal, 18 Feb. 1764). His wife…