Bland, John Otway Percy
Bland, John Otway Percy (1863–1945), administrator, journalist and travel writer, was born 15 November 1863 in Woodbank, Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim, second son of Maj.-gen. Edward Loftus Bland and Emma Frances Bland (née Franks) of Jerpoint, Co. Kilkenny. Educated in Switzerland and…...
Blennerhassett, Sir John
Blennerhassett, Sir John (d. 1624), judge, born in Norfolk, England, was probably a son of Edward Blennerhassett and Susan Blennerhassett (née Pickerell) of The Laythes, Norwich, and probably also a nephew of …...
Bligh, John
Bligh, John (1617–66), customs official, was baptised on 22 February 1617, the third son of William Bligh of Plymouth. His early career is uncertain but he appears to have lived in London as a linen draper. He invested in the adventure for Irish land, purchasing shares in several…...
Bligh, Thomas
Bligh, Thomas (1693–1775), soldier and MP, was born 14 August 1693, second among three sons of Thomas Bligh (1654–1710), of Rathmore, Co. Meath, country gentleman, privy counsellor, and MP for Athboy, Co. Meath (1692–3) and for Co. Meath (1695–9, 1703–10), and his wife Elizabeth (…...
Blood, Thomas
Blood, Thomas (1617/1618–1680), conspirator and spy, was born in Sarney, Co. Meath, the son of a relatively prosperous blacksmith and ironworker, probably also Thomas Blood, from whom he may have inherited the lands he later held at Sarney and in Co. Wicklow. He appears to have had…...
Blount, Charles Brooke
Blount, Charles Brooke (1563–1606), 8th Baron Mountjoy and earl of Devonshire , soldier and administrator, was second son of James Blount (1532/3–1581), 6th Baron Mountjoy, of Canford near Poole, Dorset, and his wife Catherine (née Lee/Leigh; d. 1576) of St Oswald's, Yorkshire.…...
Boal, Desmond Norman Orr
Boal, Desmond Norman Orr (1928–2015), lawyer and politician, was born on 8 August 1928 in St Columb’s Court, Derry city, the third of five children (and only son) of James Boal, cashier and bakery manager, and his wife Kathleen (nèe Walker). Brought up in the Church of Ireland, he was…...
Bodkin, Matthias McDonnell
Bodkin, Matthias McDonnell (1849–1933), journalist and lawyer, was born in October 1849 at Tuam, Co. Galway, younger son among five children of Thomas Bodkin (c.1799–1886), doctor and FRCSI, and Maria…...
Bodley, Sir Josias
Bodley, Sir Josias (c.1550–1617), soldier and military engineer, was fifth and youngest son of John Bodley of Exeter, Devonshire, England, and his wife Joan, daughter and co-heiress of Robert Hone of Ottery St Mary, Devonshire. His family moved to Geneva during the reign of…...
Boisseleau, Alexandre de Rainier de Droué
Boisseleau, Alexandre de Rainier de Droué (c.1650–1698), marquis of Boisseleau , French major-general and governor of Limerick, was not yet 40 at the time of his appointment to command the besieged Jacobite forces in Limerick, but had spent most of his life in the French…...
Boland, Frederick H.
Boland, Frederick H. (1904–85), diplomat, was born 11 January 1904 in Dublin, second son of Henry Patrick Boland (qv) (later senior assistant secretary at the Department of Finance) and his wife Charlotte (née Nolan). He was educated…...
Boland, Henry Patrick
Boland, Henry Patrick (1876–1956), civil servant, was born 10 May 1876 in Clonmel, the son of Michael Boland, master of Clonmel workhouse, and his wife, Elizabeth (née Quirke). In 1895 he entered the civil service as a second division clerk. Later he served in the Treasury…...
Boland, John Mary Pius
Boland, John Mary Pius (1870–1958), politician, lawyer, and tennis player, was born on 16 September 1870 at 135 Capel Street, Dublin, the second son of Patrick Boland (1840–1877), a prosperous milling merchant, and his wife Mary Donnelly. After beginning his education at the Catholic…...
Bolton, Sir Edward
Bolton, Sir Edward (1592–1659), lawyer and judge, was the eldest of the seven sons and two daughters of Sir Richard Bolton (qv), lawyer and judge, and his first wife, Frances, daughter of Richard Walter of Stafford. He was a member…...
Bolton, Sir Richard
Bolton, Sir Richard (c.1570–1648), lord chancellor, was son of John Bolton of Fenton Culvart, Stafford, England, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Richard Ash, also of Staffordshire. He entered the Inner Temple unusually late, in 1601, and left it unusually soon for a career…...
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…...
Booth, Sir Robert
Booth, Sir Robert (1626–81), judge, was baptised 2 July 1626, the eldest son of Robert Booth (d. a. August 1637) of Salford, Lancashire, and Ann, daughter of Oswald Mosley of Manchester. After an education at Manchester grammar school and St John's College, Cambridge, he…...
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…...