Brennan, Robert
Brennan, Robert (1881–1964), republican, journalist, writer, and diplomat, was born in Co. Wexford on 22 July 1881, second child and eldest son among four children of Robert Brennan (d. 1919), cattle dealer, and Bridget Brennan (née Kearney; d. 1938), dressmaker. He was educated…...
Bresnihan, Barry (Finbar Patrick Kevin)
Bresnihan, Barry (Finbar Patrick Kevin) (1944–2010), rheumatologist and rugby player, was born on 13 March 1944 at 15 Lower Hatch Street, Dublin, the only son (as well as three daughters) of Dr Con Bresnihan (d. 1974), GP, chief medical officer to the civil service, and medical…...
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…...
Bridgeman, Joanna (Sister Mary Francis)
Bridgeman, Joanna (Sister Mary Francis) (1813–88), Sister of Mercy, educator, and Crimean war nurse, was born in Ballagh, Ruan, Co. Clare, one of four children (two sons and two daughters) of St John Bridgeman and his wife Lucy Reddan. Her mother was a relative of…...
Bridgwater, John (Savan) of (John de Ponte)
Bridgwater, John (Savan) of (John de Ponte) (c.1248–1306/7), administrator, lawyer, and justice, was born no later than 1248 and perhaps several years before that (he was acting as an attorney by 1269 and therefore probably 21 or older in that year); his birthplace was…...
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, Charlotte
Brooke, Charlotte (1750☓1760–1793), poet, dramatist, and pioneer in the introduction of Irish culture to the English reader, was born at Rantavan House, Mullagh, Co. Cavan, daughter of Henry Brooke (qv) and Catherine Brooke (née Meares; 1718?–…...
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…...
Brouncker, Sir Henry
Brouncker, Sir Henry (c.1550–1607), soldier and administrator, was second son of Henry Brouncker of Melksham and Erlestoke, Wiltshire, and his second wife Ursula (née Yate) of Lyford, Berkshire. Educated at the Middle Temple (1566), he held three parliamentary seats in…...
Browne, Daniel J. (‘Dan’)
Browne, Daniel J. (‘Dan’) (1895–1959), lawyer and civil servant, was born 21 May 1895, the youngest of the fourteen children of Daniel Browne, shopkeeper and butcher, and Ellen (née Walsh), of the Corner House, Church Street, Listowel, Co. Kerry. After a distinguished career as a…...
Browne, John
Browne, John (d. 1589), mapmaker, sheriff, and (in his words) ‘the first Englishman that in the memory of man settled himself to dwell in the county of Mayo’, was probably of the Anglo-Norman Brownes of Kilpatrick, Co. Westmeath. In August 1583, as servant to Sir Christopher Hatton…...
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…...
Browne, Noel Christopher
Browne, Noel Christopher (1915–97), politician and physician, was born 20 December 1915 at 38 Bath Street, Waterford city, second son and fourth among eight children of Joseph Browne, of Loughrea, Co. Galway, and Mary Theresa Browne (née Cooney), of Hollymount, Co. Mayo. His father was…...
Browne, O'Donel Thornley Dodwell
Browne, O'Donel Thornley Dodwell (1903–52), gynaecologist, was born 10 April 1903 in Naas, Co. Kildare, son of O'Donel Henry Dodwell Browne, medical doctor, and Grace Lizzie Browne (née Glover). He was educated at Mourne Grange, Campbell College, and…...
Browne, Patrick
Browne, Patrick (c.1720–1790), botanist and physician, was born at Woodstock, Crossboyne, Co. Mayo, fourth son of Edward Browne, landowner; his mother's name is not known. In 1737 he went to live in Antigua with a relative, but ill health prompted his return to Europe,…...
Browne, Richard Francis (‘Dick’)
Browne, Richard Francis (‘Dick’) (1892–1965), public servant, was born 5 March 1892, one of the seven children of John Joseph Browne, commercial traveller/agent (later managing director of Monson Robinson & Co., printers), and his wife, Kate (née Burrows). The family lived at…...
Browne, Sir Valentine
Browne, Sir Valentine (d. 1589), English official and settler in Ireland, was the son of Sir Valentine Browne (d. 1568), of Crofts, Lincolnshire. In a career spanning at least forty years he served three monarchs as an auditor. He audited the accounts of the royal castle at Berwick…...
Browne, Thomas George
Browne, Thomas George (1888–1963), veterinarian, was born 9 September 1888 at Moneymore, Co. Londonderry, third son among four sons and three daughters of John Browne and Jane Browne (née Eakin), both of whose families were farmers for generations in the locality. He was educated at…...
Browning, Michael
Browning, Michael (d. 1689), captain of the Mountjoy, whose Christian name occurs in various forms, including Micah, Micaiah, Micaill, and Mihal, is said to have been a native of Derry city, although the family is not mentioned in the city's hearth-money rolls. He was a…...
Brown, William
Brown, William (1777–1857), merchant captain and first admiral-in-chief of the Argentine navy, was born 22 June 1777 in Foxford, Co. Mayo. (John De Courcy Ireland has suggested that Brown was the extramarital son of a Roman catholic woman from Foxford and George Browne (c.…...
Brun, Fromund le
Brun, Fromund le (d. 1283), chancellor of Ireland and papal chaplain, may have been related to William le Brun, another clerk in royal service. He first appears in Ireland in 1248 as a clerk of the justiciar, John FitzGeoffrey (qv…...
Bryant, Sophie
Bryant, Sophie (1850–1922), educationist, home ruler, Celticist, and suffragist, was born 15 February 1850 in Sandymount, Dublin, second daughter and third child of Sophia Willock (née Morris) of Dublin and Skreen Castle, and the Rev. William Alexander Willock (d. 1879 in London),…...
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…...
Bryson, Samuel Maziere
Bryson, Samuel Maziere (1776–1853), apothecary and Celticist, was born 9 March 1776, probably at Holywood, Co. Down, youngest of 21 sons of James Bryson (qv) (1730?–1796), presbyterian minister. After studying medicine at Edinburgh, he…...
Buckley, Christine
Buckley, Christine (1946–2014), nurse, midwife and advocate for survivors of childhood abuse in religious and state-supported institutions, was born Christine West on 10 October 1946 at Mile End Hospital, London, the daughter of Anna West (née Kershaw) from Longford, and Ariwodo Kalunta…...