Religion

Bodkin (Bodekin, Bodikin), Christopher (c.1505–1572), catholic and Church of Ireland archbishop of Tuam, was born in Galway, the son of John Bodkin, mayor of Galway in 1518. Said to have been educated at Oxford, he was provided to the see of Kilmacduagh 3 September 1533…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Bodkin, Matthias McDonnell. View the original entry.

Boisil (d. c.660), abbot of Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland, was a successor of the Columban mission to Scotland and Northumbria. Bede (‘Historia ecclesiastica’, iv, 27) describes him as ‘a priest of great virtues, endowed with the spirit of prophecy’. He became the…

Bole (Bull), John (a.1425–1471), OSA, abbot of Navan, archbishop of Armagh, was the only archbishop of Armagh in the fifteenth century not to attend university. Little is known of his life before his provision to Armagh beyond the fact that he served as abbot of Navan for…

Bolster, Angela (1925–2005), historian and nun, was born Evelyn Bolster in Mallow, Co. Cork, on 1 April 1925, only daughter of Michael Bolster, railway employee, and his wife Ellen (née Buckley). She had three brothers of whom James remained in Mallow and Pearse became a priest and…

Bolton, Theophilus (c.1678–1744), archbishop and benefactor, was born in Borisool, Co. Mayo, and graduated BA (1698), MA (1701), BD and…

Bonnell, James (1653–99), government official and exemplar of the pious life, was born 14 November 1653 in Genoa, Italy, only son and one of two children of Samuel Bonnell, merchant, and his wife Rebecca, daughter of Thomas Sayer of Norwich, England. Samuel's grandfather had…

Bouhéreau, Élie (Elias) (1643–1719), huguenot bibliophile, librarian, cleric, diarist, and administrator, was born 5 May 1643 at La Rochelle, France, son of Élie Bouhéreau, pastor of Fontenay, and Blandine Bouhéreau (née Richard). The family was of the upper middle class. He was…

Boulter, Hugh (1672–1742), Church of Ireland archbishop of Armagh, was born 4 January 1672, the son of John Boulter of the parish of St Katharine Cree in the city of London. Educated at Merchant Taylors’ School, he matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1687, but transferred to…

Bourke (Burke, De Burgo), John (c.1590–1667), catholic archbishop of Tuam, was born in Co. Galway, the son of a country gentleman and a relative of the earls of Clanricarde. He had at least three brothers, including Oliver, a Dominican friar, and Bishop…

Bourke, Ulick Joseph (1829–87), catholic priest, Irish-language revivalist, teacher, and antiquarian, was born 29 December 1829 at Laherdane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, son of Ulick Bourke and his wife Cecilia Sheridan. He was educated at Errew Monastery, Castlebar, and studied Irish…

Bowe, Catherine Mary (Sister Celeste) (1931–76), Daughter of Charity and nurse, was born 23 February 1931 in Newberry, Mallow, Co. Cork, daughter of James Bowe, labourer, and Julia Bowe (née Ducey). She was educated at the local national and secondary schools. In 1949 she trained as an…

Boyce, John (1810–64), priest and novelist, was born in Donegal town, one of five children of Jerome Boyce, a hotelier who owned much of the town, became a magistrate, and was ‘a moderate upholder of the English administration’. Two of John's brothers, Jerome (d. childless, 1851)…

Boyd, Henry (1749?–1832), clergyman, poet, and translator, was born in Co. Tyrone, son of Charles Boyd, farmer; nothing is known of his mother. Educated by Mr Davison, he entered TCD as a sizar (June 1770), gained a scholarship (1773),…

Boyd, Robert (1880–1957), presbyterian minister, was born 10 September 1880 in Tullyvallen, near Newtownhamilton, Co. Armagh, but was brought up by his uncle in Drumgaw, Co. Armagh; his father George Boyd was a farmer and his mother was Annie Boyd (née Gray). He attended school in…

Boyd, William (1685–1772), presbyterian minister, was born in 1685; it is possible but not certain that his father was the Rev. Thomas Boyd (d. c.1699), minister (1660–99) of Aghadowey, Co. Londonderry, who was one of the ministers ejected for non-conformity in 1661 and…

Boylan, Eugene (Richard Kevin) (1904–64), physicist, monk, and writer, was born 3 February 1904 in Bray, Co. Wicklow, and was baptised Richard Kevin Boylan, one of at least three sons and two daughters of Richard Joseph Boylan, manager of the Hibernian Bank, and Agnes Honoria…

Boylan, Patrick Joseph (1879–1974), priest, biblical scholar, and Egyptologist, was born 2 December 1879 in Barrowhouse, near Athy, Co. Kildare, son of Patrick Boylan, a teacher at Shanganamore national school, and his wife Anne (née Walker), of Queen's County (Laois).…

Boyle (Bole), John (fl. 1596–1639), minister, was born in Scotland, graduated MA from Edinburgh in 1596, and must have been ordained a minister in Scotland. In 1600, being blind, he was discharged by the general assembly from all…

Boyle, Michael (1615?–1702), Church of Ireland archbishop of Armagh, lord chancellor and lord justice, was probably born c.1615 (he gave his age as 64 in April 1679), the elder son among two sons and nine daughters of Richard Boyle (…

Boyle, Richard (d. 1645), Church of Ireland archbishop of Tuam, was the second son of Michael Boyle, merchant, of London, and his wife, Jane, daughter of William Peacock, and was elder brother of Michael Boyle, bishop of Waterford (1619–35). He appears to have been admitted to…

Boyle, Roger (c.1617–1687), Church of Ireland bishop of Clogher, was perhaps the son of Thomas Boyle, vicar of Timoleague and a relative of Richard Boyle (qv), earl of Cork, or of Robert Boyle, vicar of Carrickmacross and…

Boyse, Joseph (1660–1728), presbyterian minister, theologian, and controversialist, was born 14 January 1660 in Leeds, Yorkshire, one of the younger among sixteen children of Matthew Boyse and his wife, Elizabeth (née Jackson). Matthew, a puritan, had lived with his family in…

Boyton, Charles (1799?–1844), clergyman and political campaigner, was born in Dublin, son of John William Boyton, a prominent doctor and king's professor (1792–1826) of the institutes of medicine in TCD; it is possible that his mother…

Bradford, Robert John (1941–81), unionist politician and methodist minister, was born 8 June 1941 in Ballykelly, Limavady, Co. Londonderry, seventh child of his father, who sold his milk business while his mother was in hospital giving birth to Robert. Having moved to Grove St., Belfast…