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…...
Brosnahan, Seán
Brosnahan, Seán (1911–87), teacher and trade unionist, was born 26 August 1911 in Killaloe, Co. Clare, one of nine children of John Brosnahan, RIC sergeant, and Norah Brosnahan (née Ryan) (d. 1946). One of his brothers was Thomas J.…...
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…...
Brown, George
Brown, George (1906–37), communist and trade unionist, was born 5 November 1906 in Ballyhale, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, son of Francis Brown, a farrier with the Manchester Railway Company and an active trade unionist, originally from Inistiogue, Co. Kilkenny, and Mary Brown (née…...
Brugha, Máire MacSwiney
Brugha, Máire MacSwiney (1918–2012), teacher, author and charity worker, was born on 23 June 1918 in Cork to Terence MacSwiney (qv) and Muriel MacSwiney (qv) (née Murphy). From…...
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…...
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…...
Buckley (Goulding), Margaret (‘Maggie’; ‘Margaret Lee’)
Buckley (Goulding), Margaret (‘Maggie’; ‘Margaret Lee’) (1879–1962), republican, trade unionist, and writer, was born in July 1879, at Winter's Hill, Cork, the eldest daughter of James Goulding and his wife Ellen (née Joyce), both of Cork. Her father, who was employed as a labourer…...
Bulfin, Éamonn (Edmond)
Bulfin, Éamonn (Edmond) (1892–1968), republican activist and civil servant, was born in Buenos Aires on 22 September 1892, the eldest of five children of the journalist William Bulfin (qv), editor of the Southern Cross, and his wife…...
Bulger, Lawrence Quinlivan ('Larry')
Bulger, Lawrence Quinlivan ('Larry') (1870–1928), rugby player and medical doctor, was born 5 February 1870 at his parents' home on Moore Street, Kilrush, Co. Clare, the youngest of five sons and two daughters of Daniel Scanlan Bulger (d. 1904), then a pawnbroker and draper, later a…...
Bulger, Michael Joseph
This is a co-subject for the entry on Bulger, Lawrence Quinlivan ('Larry'). View the original entry....
Bulkeley, Sir Richard
Bulkeley, Sir Richard (1660–1710), politician and eccentric philanthropist, was born 17 August 1660 in Dublin. His great-grandfather was Archbishop Lancelot Bulkeley (qv), while his father, Richard Bulkeley (1634–85), MP for…...
Bullen, Denis Brenan
Bullen, Denis Brenan (1802–66), surgeon and lecturer, probably born in Cork, was baptised 2 June 1802, second son (and second child) among three sons and five daughters of William Bullen, MD, and his wife Catherine Quindan. He was educated…...
Burgess, Henry Givens
Burgess, Henry Givens (1859–1937), transport administrator, was born 6 April 1859 at Finnoe House, near Borrisokane, Co. Tipperary, son of George Burgess, land steward of the Waller family; his mother's maiden name was Givens. His father farmed in an area so ‘troubled’ by…...