Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph ('Joe')
Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph (Joe; ‘Two Gun Joe’) (1927–2015), garda, was born 17 May 1927 at his parents’ home at Davitt’s Terrace, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, the elder of two sons of Harry (Henry) Ainsworth, a victualler, and his wife Margaret (née Feeney). Ainsworth was…...
Alexander, Sir Jerome
Alexander, Sir Jerome (1590–1670), judge and administrator, was born at Gressenhall, Norfolk, the eldest son of Jerome Alexander of Thorpland in Norfolk. Schooled at Aylsham, he entered Furnival's Inn on 1 July 1609, and also matriculated at Caius College, Cambridge, on 11…...
Alibrandi, Gaetano
Alibrandi, Gaetano (1914–2003), papal diplomat, was born 14 January 1914 in Castiglione, Sicily, to an aristocratic family. After secondary education at the diocesan seminary in Acireale, Alibrandi attended the Pontifical Seminary, Rome, and was ordained priest on 1 November 1936; he…...
Andrews, Christopher Stephen (‘Todd’)
Andrews, Christopher Stephen (‘Todd’) (1901–85), revolutionary, public servant, and writer, was born 6 October 1901 at 42 Summerhill, central Dublin, elder of two sons of Christopher Andrews, of Dublin, and Mary (‘Molly’) Andrews (née Moran), daughter of a…...
Archer, Forster
Archer, Forster (1758/9–1826), protestant clergyman and inspector of prisons, was born in Co. Cork, the son of Richard Archer, a merchant. He entered TCD, aged seventeen (1 July 1776), graduated BA…...
Ashe (Ash), Richard
Ashe (Ash), Richard (d. 1659), ecclesiastical official, was probably the son of Nicholas Ash of Newtown, Co. Meath, though he may have been the son of Henry Ashe. He is recorded as having married Alice Jones, daughter of Lewis Jones…...
Aungier, Gerald
Aungier, Gerald (c.1640–77), governor of Bombay, was probably born in Dublin, the second son of Ambrose Aungier (d. 1654), chancellor of St Patrick's cathedral, and a younger brother of Francis Aungier (c.1632–1700), 1st earl of…...
Avaux, Jean-Antoine de Mesmes
Avaux, Jean-Antoine de Mesmes (1640–1709), Comte d'Avaux , French ambassador to the Jacobite court in Ireland, was born into a noble Béarnais family. He became the most skilled French diplomat of his day, acting as Louis XIV's plenipotentiary at Nijmegen in 1675–8, and then as his…...
Aylmer, Sir Gerald
Aylmer, Sir Gerald (1484?–1560), lawyer and administrator, was one of nine children of Bartholomew Aylmer of Lyons, Co. Kildare, and Margaret Aylmer (née Chevers) of Macetown, Co. Meath, a granddaughter of William Welles (qv), lord…...
Bagenal, Philip Henry Dudley
Bagenal, Philip Henry Dudley (1850–1927), public official and political writer, was born 18 June 1850, the youngest of the four sons of Philip Bagenal (1796–1856), a landowner, of Benekerry, Co. Carlow, and his wife, Georgiana Thomasina, daughter of James Boyd of Rosslare, Co.…...
Barrett, John (‘Jacky’)
Barrett, John (‘Jacky’) (1753–1821), eccentric scholar, was born in Ballyroan, Queen's Co. (Laois), son of the Rev. Daniel Barrett, Church of Ireland clergyman, and his wife Rossamund Gofton. Educated by a Mr Sheils in Dublin, he entered TCD…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
Bathe, William
Bathe, William (1564–1614), diplomat, author, and Jesuit, was born in Drumcondra castle on Easter Sunday 1564, son of John Bathe (d. 1586), Irish solicitor general, chancellor of the exchequer, and grandson of James Bathe (qv), chief…...
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,…...
Belton, John (‘Johnnie’) Aloysius
Belton, John (‘Johnnie’) Aloysius (1903–69), diplomat, was born 6 November 1903 at 37 Ballymahon St., Longford town, youngest child and second son of John Belton (b. 1861), corn and wool buyer, and his wife Margaret (b. 1867; née Farrell) who ran a stationery shop. He was educated…...
Bernard, James Francis
Bernard, James Francis (1850–1924), 4th earl of Bandon, landowner and kidnapping victim, was born 12 September 1850, the son of Francis Bernard (b. 1810), 3rd earl of Bandon, and Catherine Mary (née Whitmore), daughter of Thomas Whitmore, of Apley Park, Shropshire. The Bernard family…...
Bewley, Charles Henry
Bewley, Charles Henry (1888–1969), barrister and diplomat, was born 12 July 1888 in Dublin, eldest son among four children of Henry Theodore Bewley (qv), MD and quaker, and Elizabeth…...
Binchy, Daniel Anthony
Binchy, Daniel Anthony (1899–1989), historian and diplomat, was born 3 June 1899 on Main Street, Charleville, Co. Cork, second son (there were at least three other surviving children) of William Patrick Binchy, shopkeeper, and his wife Annie (née Browne). EDUCATION AND EARLY CAREER He…...
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,…...
Blake, Anthony Richard
Blake, Anthony Richard (1786–1849), lawyer, administrator, and ‘backstairs viceroy of Ireland’, was second son of Martin Blake of Holly Park, Athenry, Co. Galway. He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn, London, 13 May 1808. A protégé of Charles Butler, former secretary of the catholic…...
Blake, John Aloysius
Blake, John Aloysius (1826–87), politician and government official, was born in Waterford city, son of Andrew Blake, gentleman, and Mary Blake (née Gallwey). A Roman Catholic, he was educated at King's College, Waterford, and Government College at Pau in France. His political…...