Booth, Eva Selina Gore-
Booth, Eva Selina Gore- (1870–1926), poet, mystic, trade unionist and suffragist, was born on 22 May 1870 at Lissadell, Co. Sligo, the second of three daughters (and two sons) of Sir Henry Gore-Booth, 5th baronet and Arctic explorer, and his wife, Georgina (née Hill) of Tickhill castle…...
Boran, Nicholas (Nixie)
Boran, Nicholas (Nixie) (1903–72), trade unionist, was born in 1903 at Massford in the colliery district north of Castlecomer in Co. Kilkenny, the second in a family of four born to George Boran, a small farmer and coal carter, and his wife, Mary (née Maher). Nicholas attended…...
Borlase, Sir John
Borlase, Sir John (1575/1576–1648), lord justice and army officer, was probably the son of Edmund Borlase, mercer of London, and his wife Suzan, or Suzannah, née Isham. He may have matriculated from King's College, Cambridge in 1591 and he was admitted to the Middle Temple 19…...
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 (…...
Bourke, Patrick
Bourke, Patrick (1899–1982), civil servant and banker, was born 24 August 1899 in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick, third child and elder son of the five children of James Bourke, grocer and publican, and his wife Hanora. In 1906 the family moved to Oxmantown Road, Dublin, in…...
Bourke, Theobald
Bourke, Theobald (c.1615?–1653), 3rd Viscount Mayo , soldier and politician, was son and heir of Miles Bourke (qv), 2nd Viscount Mayo, and Honora, daughter of Sir John Bourke of Derrymaclaghtny, Co. Galway.…...
Bourke, Toby (‘Don Tobias’)
Bourke, Toby (‘Don Tobias’) (1675–1742), Baron Bourke , courtier and diplomat, was born at Farranatlaba, barony of Shanid, Co. Limerick, son of Richard Bourke and his wife Silena O'Brien. In 1688, at the age of 13, he travelled to the University of Bordeaux, where an Irish college…...
Bourke, Walter
Bourke, Walter (d. 1715), soldier, was first of seven sons of Richard Bourke of Turlough, Co. Mayo (son of Theobald Bourke and Margaret, 3rd daughter of Theobald, 1st Viscount Mayo), and his wife Celia, daughter of Dermot O'Shaughnessy, of the ancient family of Gort, Co. Galway. His…...
Bourke, William
Bourke, William (1623–67), 5th Baron Castleconnell , soldier, was son and heir of Edmund Bourke and his first wife, Thomasine, daughter of Sir Thomas Browne of Hospital, Co. Limerick. Edmund held over 3,000 acres in Co. Limerick, primarily in the barony of Clanwilliam, alongside the…...
Bowman, Alexander
Bowman, Alexander (1855–1924), trade unionist, was born 16 March 1855 at Dromara, Co. Down, eldest child among three sons and two daughters of William McKeown, farmer and weaver, and his wife Elizabeth (née Rodgers). McKeown was a catholic; Rodgers, a presbyterian, had been previously…...
Boyd, Alexander (‘Alex’)
Boyd, Alexander (‘Alex’) (fl.1902–1923), trade-union and independent Orange leader, was born in Belfast, where he was employed as a stoker in the gasworks. By 1902 he was organiser of Belfast's Municipal Employees’ Association (MEA), recruiting among the largely protestant…...
Boyd, Robert
Boyd, Robert (1805–31), soldier and revolutionary, was born 7 December 1805 in Templemore, Co. Londonderry, the son of Archibald Boyd (d. c.1827), city treasurer, and his wife Annie (née MacNeil); he had three (possibly four) brothers and a sister. Educated at the Free…...
Boyd, Thomas William (‘Tom’)
Boyd, Thomas William (‘Tom’) (1903–91), socialist and trade unionist, was born 13 April 1903 in Woodstock Road, east Belfast, one of nine children of James Boyd, shipyard clerk, and Mary Boyd (née McCully), both originally from Co. Down. He left Ravenscroft national school,…...
Boylan, Henry Joseph
Boylan, Henry Joseph (1911–2007), civil servant and writer, was born 21 December 1911 in Drogheda, Co. Louth, the seventh of nine children (five boys and four girls) of John Boylan, merchant sea captain, and his wife Mary (née Coleman; d. 1958). He enjoyed a comfortable childhood,…...
Boyle, Roger
Boyle, Roger (1621–79), 1st Baron Broghill and 1st earl of Orrery , soldier, politician, and writer, was born 25 April 1621 in Co. Waterford, twelfth child and third son to survive of Richard Boyle (qv), 1st earl of Cork, and his second wife…...
Boyle, William
Boyle, William (1853–1923), dramatist and civil servant, was born 4 April 1853 in Dromisken, Co. Louth, the son of Patrick Boyle and his wife, Mary (née Meehan). Educated at St Mary's College, Dundalk, in 1874 he entered the civil service in London and worked in the inland revenue…...
Brabazon, Edward
Brabazon, Edward Sir (c.1549–1625), 1st Baron Brabazon of Ardee , administrator, was the elder son, of the two sons and two daughters, of Sir William Brabazon (qv), vice-treasurer and thrice lord justice of Ireland, 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…...
Bradstreet, Dudley
Bradstreet, Dudley (1711–63), spy and fortune-hunter, was born in Co. Tipperary, youngest son of John Bradstreet, a landowner whose family had received considerable Cromwellian land grants. Raised by a foster-family because of his father's high-living, Dudley later attributed his…...
Brady, Thomas
Brady, Thomas (1752–1827), Baron von Brady , Feldzeugmeister (general of artillery) in the Austrian army, was born in Cootehill, Co. Cavan. Destined for the church, he was sent to Vienna to study theology. Here he attracted the attention of the empress Maria Theresa, who…...
Braose, Philip de
Braose, Philip de (fl. 1172–77), Anglo-Norman adventurer, was the son of Philip de Braose, lord of Bramber in Sussex. As a younger son of his father, and so not in line to inherit the extensive family estates in Sussex and the Welsh marches, Philip chose to come to Ireland…...
Breathnach, Micheál (‘Tóchar Mhairtin’)
Breathnach, Micheál (‘Tóchar Mhairtin’) (1886–1987), civil servant, was born 26 October 1886 in Sylane, Tuam, Co. Galway, youngest of seven sons of Michael Walsh (originally of Kilmaine, Co. Mayo), principal of Sylane national school, and Bridget Walsh (née Joyner), schoolteacher, of…...
Breen, Dermot H.
Breen, Dermot H. (1924–78), founder of Cork International Film Festival and film censor, was born 18 August 1924 in Waterford, sixth child of James Breen and Brigid Breen. He was educated in Cork at the Presentation Brothers College and at the Provincial College. Initially a…...
Brenan, John
Brenan, John (c.1625–1693), catholic archbishop of Cashel, was born in Kilkenny city and educated in the famous Jesuit School, formerly Peter White's Academy, the alma mater of Richard Stanihurst (qv),…...