Baillie (Bailie), James Kennedy
Baillie (Bailie), James Kennedy (1793?–1864), classicist and protestant clergyman, was the son of the Rev. Nicholas Ward Kennedy, a schoolmaster, and grandson of James Kennedy, a medical man in Co. Down. He entered TCD aged fourteen (1807),…...
Baird, Mary (Frances Josephine)
Baird, Mary (Frances Josephine) (1907–2009), nurse and health service administrator, was born 22 May 1907 in Belfast, the sixth of nine children (four boys and five girls) of Robert Baird, originally from Donegal, an RIC constable, and his wife Frances Harriet (née Hogan), from…...
Ball, Edward Francis Allen Preston
Ball, Edward Francis Allen Preston (1916–87?), murderer, was born on 9 May 1916 at 40 Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin, the younger son of Charles Preston Ball (d. 1957), a Dublin medical doctor who seems to have been the son of William James Ball (1830?–1895), clergyman, Indian…...
Ball, Walter
Ball, Walter (c.1538–1598), merchant and philanthropist, was the eldest of the three sons of Bartholomew Ball (d. 1567?), merchant, and his wife, Margaret (qv) (née Bermingham). Prospering in business, Walter Ball drew income…...
Balscot, Alexander
Balscot, Alexander of (c.1335–1400), bishop of Ossory, bishop of Meath, and treasurer, chancellor, and justiciar of Ireland, was born in Oxfordshire and first appears in the records when he was presented to the vicarage of Dungarvan in 1359. He was a prebend in the diocese…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
Barnardo, Thomas John
Barnardo, Thomas John (1845–1905), philanthropist, was born 4 July 1845 at 4 Dame Street, Dublin, the fourth son of John Michaelis Barnardo (d. 1874), a wholesale furrier, and his second wife, Abigail Matilda (née O'Brien). His father was born in Havelberg, Prussia, and settled…...
Barnes, William
Barnes, William (1801-86), poet and philologist, was born at Bagber Common in the Blackmore Vale, Dorset, England, and baptised on 20 March 1801, son of John Barnes, tenant farmer, and Grace Barnes (née Scott). After a variety of occupations, including the making of woodcuts, he…...
Barnewall, Christopher
Barnewall, Christopher (a. 1400–1446), lawyer and administrator, was son of Nicholas Barnewall of Crickeston, Co. Meath, and was the head of a prominent gentry family who became embroiled in the factional disputes between the supporters of…...
Barnewall, John
Barnewall, John (1470–1538), 3rd Baron Trimleston , administrator, was son of Christopher Barnewall, 2nd baron, and his first wife, Elizabeth Plunket of Rathmore, Co. Meath. Christopher (pardoned in 1488 for his part in Lambert Simnel's…...
Barnewall, Sir Christopher
Barnewall, Sir Christopher (d. 1575), politician and administrator, was the son of Sir Patrick Barnewall (qv), master of the rolls, and his wife, Anne, daughter of Sir Thomas Luttrell, chief justice of the common pleas.…...
Barrett, Patrick
Barrett, Patrick (d. 1415), bishop of Ferns and chancellor of Ireland, was originally a canon in the Augustinian priory of Kells in Co. Kilkenny. He was provided to the see of Ferns by the pope on 10 December 1400, and consecrated by the pope in Rome. He received the…...
Barrett, Rosa (Mary)
Barrett, Rosa (Mary) (1854–1936) philanthropist, child-care worker, and suffragist, was born 15 January 1854 in Royston, Hertfordshire, England, daughter of the Rev. W. G. Barrett and Martha Barrett (née Fletcher). From the 1860s she was resident with her family in Dublin. Her…...
Barrington, George
Barrington, George (1755–1804), celebrated pickpocket, was born George Waldron in October 1755 at Maynooth, Co. Kildare, son of Henry Waldron, silversmith, and his wife, a mantua-maker and midwife whose maiden name was Naish. Educated locally, he benefited from the patronage of a…...
Barrington, Sir Matthew
Barrington, Sir Matthew (1788–1861), 2nd baronet, benefactor, lawyer, and landowner, was born 21 May 1788 in Limerick, eldest of five sons and two daughters of Joseph Barrington (qv), pewterer, and Mary Barrington (née Baggott…...
Barrington, Thomas
Barrington, Thomas (1881–1930), civil servant, was born 17 December 1881 at Carhuclough, Ennistymon, Co. Clare, eldest of ten children of Peter Barrington and Ann Barrington (née Barry), small farmers. Five of the children emigrated; seven never married. A bright student, he joined…...
Barrington, Thomas Joseph
Barrington, Thomas Joseph (1916–2000), civil servant, was born 16 May 1916 in Dublin, the eldest of five children of Thomas Barrington (qv), civil servant, of Corrofin, Co. Clare, and his wife, Eileen, née Bracken, the half-sister…...
Barron (Baron), Geoffrey
Barron (Baron), Geoffrey (1606–51), lawyer, politician, and diplomat, was eldest son of Lawrence Barron, a catholic merchant from Clonmel, and Mary Wadding of Waterford, sister of the Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding (qv). The Barrons, a…...
Barron, Philip Fitzgerald
Barron, Philip Fitzgerald (1801/2?–1844), Celticist and Hebraist, was born in Durrow House, Stradbally, Co. Waterford, one of seven children of Richard Barron of Durrow and Catherine Barron, daughter of Philip Hay of Co. Wexford. Though some sources give 1797 as his year of birth, …...
Barr, (Sarah) Venie
Barr, (Sarah) Venie (1875–1947), political and community activist, was born 3 October 1875 in Abbeyleix, Queen's Co. (Laois), daughter of James Moyles , trader, and Eliza Jane Moyles (née Pratt). Active in unionist organisations, she was an original member of the Ulster Women's Unionist…...
Barry, Matthew
Barry, Matthew (d. 1696?), government official, was elder son among two sons and one daughter of Nicholas Barry, merchant of Dublin, and Joan Barry, daughter of Nicholas Howard of Dublin, chamberlain of the exchequer. He married (c.1630) Jane Bermingham, and had two sons…...
Bartley, Patrick Joseph Plunkett Sheridan
Bartley, Patrick Joseph Plunkett Sheridan (1878–1948), journalist and local government official, was born 6 May 1878, son of William Bartley, farmer, and Mary Bartley (née Plunkett) of Prospect House, Mountnugent, Co. Cavan. Little is known of his early years, but he was said to…...
Barton, Arthur Henry ('Harry')
Barton, Arthur Henry ('Harry') (1916–2006), naval officer, writer, broadcaster, and public figure in Northern Ireland, was born 13 January 1916 in Belfast, only son of Arthur Willis Barton (qv), then Church of Ireland curate in…...