Bayne, Alexander Wallace (‘Alec’)
Bayne, Alexander Wallace (‘Alec’) (1902–73), civil servant and businessman, was born 21 February 1902, son of Thomas Alexander Bayne, iron-turner, of Carrignafoy, Cobh, Co. Cork, and Sarah Edith Bayne (formerly Prefscott; née Jones). His education at the Cork Grammar School,…...
Bedell, William
Bedell, William (1571–1642), scholar and churchman, was born in late December 1571 at Black Notley, Essex, England, second son of John Bedell and his wife, Elizabeth Elliston, and entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1584, the year of its foundation. He graduated in 1588, took his…...
Beere, Thekla (June)
Beere, Thekla (June) (1901–91), civil servant and first chairman of the Commission on the Status of Women, was born 20 June 1901 in Kilmore, Columbkille, near Granard, Co. Longford, one of two daughters of the Rev. Francis John Armstrong Beere, Church of Ireland vicar of Streete, Co.…...
Bellingham, O'Bryen
Bellingham, O'Bryen (1805–57), doctor, was born 12 December 1805 in Castlebellingham, Co. Louth, third son and fourth child among five sons and three daughters of Sir Alan Bellingham (1776–1827), 2nd baronet, and Elizabeth Bellingham (née Walls). He was educated at the Feinaiglian…...
Benson, Charles
Benson, Charles (1797–1880), physician, was born in Collooney, Co. Sligo, into an ancient family, son of Charles Benson, land agent, and Elizabeth Benson (née Gray). Educated at W. C. Armstrong's school in Sligo, he was then indentured (1815) to…...
Berkeley, George
Berkeley, George (1685–1753), philosopher and Church of Ireland bishop of Cloyne, was born 12 March 1685 in or near Kilkenny city, and spent his childhood at Dysart Castle, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny. Little is known of his parents other than that his father, William Berkeley, came to…...
Berwick, Edward
Berwick, Edward (1754?–1820), classicist and anglican clergyman, was born in Co. Down, son of Duke Berwick, gentleman. After attending the Rev. Saumarez Dubourdieu's school in Lisburn, Co. Antrim, he entered TCD (1770), gained a…...
Blackley, William Lewery
Blackley, William Lewery (1830–1902), clergyman, social reformer, and linguist, was born 30 December 1830 at Dundalk, Co. Louth, second son of Travers Robert Blackley, physician, and Eliza Blackley (née Lewery). From 1843 to 1845 he was educated in Brussels by Dr Carl Martin…...
Black, Sir Harold
Black, Sir Harold (1914–81), public servant, was born 9 April 1914 at 10 Burmah St., Belfast, elder son of Alexander Black (1879–1946), employee in a local linen business, and Emily Adelaide Black (née Cordner; 1883–1949). His father later became a company director. He was…...
Blackwood, Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-
Blackwood, Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple- (1826–1902), 1st marquess of Dufferin and Ava , diplomat and writer, was born in Florence on 21 June 1826, the only child of Price Blackwood, 4th Baron Dufferin and Clandeboye (in the Irish peerage), and his wife,…...
Bonnell, James
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)
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…...
Bourchier, James David
Bourchier, James David (1850–1920), journalist and Balkan intermediary, was born 18 December 1850 at Baggotstown, Bruff, Co. Limerick, fourth son among six children of John Bourchier, landowner and JP of Baggotstown, and Sarah Bourchier (…...
Boyd, Henry
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, John St Clair
Boyd, John St Clair (1858–1918), surgeon, Gaelic Leaguer and philanthropist, was born at Cultra House, Holywood, Co. Down, only son of John Kane Boyd, co-proprietor of the Blackstaff Mill. He was educated in Paris and Edinburgh before graduating from Queen's College, Belfast (QCB), and…...
Brabazon, Sir William
Brabazon, Sir William (d. 1552), vice-treasurer and lord justice of Ireland, was the son of John Brabazon, a landowner of Eastwell in Leicestershire, and his wife, whose maiden name was Chaworth. By 1526 he had entered the royal service as a land surveyor and accountant, gaining…...
Brett, (Sir) Charles Edward Bainbridge
Brett, (Sir) Charles Edward Bainbridge (1928–2005), solicitor, architectural historian and public figure in Northern Ireland, was born 30 October 1928 in Holywood, Co. Down, eldest of three children, two boys and a girl, of Charles Anthony Brett, a Belfast solicitor, and his wife…...
Brodrick, Albinia Lucy (Gobnaít Ní Bhruadair)
Brodrick, Albinia Lucy (Gobnaít Ní Bhruadair) (1861–1955), republican and nurse, was born 17 December 1861 at 23 Chester Square, Belgrave, London, the fifth daughter of William Brodrick (1830–1907), 8th Viscount Midleton, and his wife, Augusta Mary (née Freemantle), daughter of…...
Brooke, William Graham
Brooke, William Graham (1834–1907), public servant, influential Church of Ireland layman, and promoter of education, was born 16 July 1834 in Wyton, Huntington, England, the second son of Rev. Richard Sinclair Brooke, curate of Glendoen, near Letterkenny, Co. Donegal (and from…...
Browne, Arthur
Browne, Arthur (1756?–1805), lawyer, legal and classical scholar, and MP, was born probably in Newport, Rhode Island, North America, the only son of Marmaduke Browne (1731–71), rector of Trinity church, Newport, and later a founding fellow of Rhode Island College (from 1804 Brown…...
Brownell, Reginald Samuel
Brownell, Reginald Samuel (1893–1961), civil servant, was born 5 February 1893, son of Thomas and Susanna Brownell; from about 1906, he lived with his mother and at least one brother in Glasnevin, Dublin, attending Mountjoy School. He was a scholar in…...
Bryskett, Lodowick
Bryskett, Lodowick (1546?–1612?), writer and official, was born possibly in Hackney, Middlesex, third son of Antonio Bruschetto of Genoa (a London merchant since the 1520s) and his wife Elizabeth, also Italian. Educated at Tonbridge and Trinity College, Cambridge, he entered the…...
Burgh, Thomas
Burgh, Thomas (1744–1810), MP and administrator, was born in May 1744, second son among eight children of Thomas Burgh (1696–1758) of Bert, Co. Kildare, landowner and MP for Lanesborough, Co. Longford (1727–58), and his wife Anne, daughter of Dive Downes, bishop of Cork and Ross (…...
Burke, Edmund
Burke, Edmund (1730–97), politician and philosopher, was born 12 January 1730 (per the Gregorian calendar) in Dublin, second son among four surviving children of Richard Burke (d. 1761), an attorney of the court of exchequer, and his wife Mary (c. 1702–1770), fourth child and…...
Burkitt, Denis Parsons
Burkitt, Denis Parsons (1911–93), surgeon and epidemiologist, was born 28 February 1911 at Lawnakilla, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, elder son among three children of James Parsons Burkitt (qv), county surveyor and ornithologist,…...