Binchy, Maeve
Binchy, Maeve (1939–2012), novelist and journalist, was born Ann Maeve Binchy on 28 May 1939 in Glenageary, Co. Dublin, the daughter of Maureen Binchy (née Blackmore) of Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, a nurse, and William Francis Binchy of Charleville, Co. Cork, a barrister. Her father…...
Bingham (Byngham), Sir Richard
Bingham (Byngham), Sir Richard (1528–99), soldier and administrator, was third son among eight sons and two daughters of Richard Bingham of Melcombe Bingham (or the nearby Bingham's Melcombe), Dorset, and Alice Bingham (née Coker) of Mappowder, about three miles away. He served…...
Bingley, Sir Ralph
Bingley, Sir Ralph (c.1570–1627), servitor, and second of at least three brothers from Broughton, Flintshire, Wales, served with Drake and Hawkins on their last Caribbean raid (1595–6), helped to raise troops in southern England (1596–7), and commanded 150 foot under Sir…...
Blackmore, Sir Charles Henry
Blackmore, Sir Charles Henry (1880–1967), civil servant, was born 26 July 1880 at Exeter Street, Chudleigh, Newton Abbot, Devon, England, the son of William John Blackmore, carpenter, and Catherine (Martin) Blackmore. In the early years of the century he joined the civil service and…...
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,…...
Blackwood, Helena Selina
Blackwood, Helena Selina (1807–67), baroness of Dufferin and Clandeboye , later countess of Gifford, author and songwriter, was born in England (possibly in London or Tunbridge Wells, Kent), second child and eldest daughter of Thomas Sheridan (eldest son of…...
Blackwood, Lady Caroline Maureen
Blackwood, Lady Caroline Maureen (1931–96), writer and muse, was born in Hans Crescent, London, on 16 July 1931, eldest of the three children of Basil Sheridan Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood (1909–45), 8th Baron Dufferin and Claneboye, 4th Marquess Dufferin and Ava, and his wife, Maureen…...
Bladen, Martin
Bladen, Martin (1682?–1746), soldier, administrator, and politician, was born in Bolton, Yorkshire, third son of Yorkshire parents: Nathaniel Bladen of Hemsworth and Isabella Bladen (née Fairfax) of Steeton. William Bladen, mayor of Dublin 1647–8 and state printer under the…...
Bladen, William
Bladen, William (c.1585–1663), printer and bookseller, was born in England, son of Thomas Bladen, yeoman of Derbyshire; nothing is known of his mother. In 1602 he became an apprentice in the London Stationers’ company, being freed on 7 May 1610. Thereafter he worked in…...
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…...
Blake, Mary Elizabeth
Blake, Mary Elizabeth (1840–1907), poet, was born in September 1840 at Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, daughter of Patrick McGrath and his wife Mary (née Murphy). The family emigrated in 1846 to Quincy, Massachusetts, USA, where Patrick McGrath was a marble-worker and businessman. After…...
Blake, Sir Henry Arthur
Blake, Sir Henry Arthur (1840–1918), police officer, resident magistrate, and colonial governor, was born 18 January 1840 in Corbally, Co. Limerick, son of Peter Blake (1809–50) of Corbally Castle, Co. Galway, county inspector of Irish Constabulary, and Jane Blake (née Lane) of…...
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…...
Blathmac
Blathmac ( fl. 8th cent.), poet and author of devotional poems on the Passion of Christ and on the Virgin Mary, was son of Cú Brettan son of Congus (d. 740), who may have been king of the Fir Rois, a sept of the Airgialla located in the present counties Louth and…...
Blenerhasset (Hasset, Blennerhassett), Thomas
Blenerhasset (Hasset, Blennerhassett), Thomas (1550?–1624), poet and undertaker in Ulster, was probably born at Horsford, Norfolk, and was a younger son of William Blenerhasset (d. 1598) and his wife Anne (née Colby), members of the Norfolk gentry. He seems to have studied at…...
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…...
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.…...
Blow, James
Blow, James (1676–1759), printer and papermaker in Belfast, was born 29 July 1676 in Scotland, possibly in Culross, Perthshire, a younger son among nine children of John Blow and Elizabeth Blow (née Wilson). He was apprenticed to the printer Patrick Neil (who had married his sister…...
Blundell, Mary
Blundell, Mary (1859–1930), novelist, better known under the pen name ‘M. E. Francis ’, was born 22 August 1859 at Killiney Park, Co. Dublin, second of four daughters of Michael James Sweetman , a wealthy catholic, and Margaret Sweetman (née Powell), heiress, of Fitzwilliam Sq.…...
Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen
Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen (1840–1922), eccentric, traveller, and poet, was born 17 August 1840 at Petworth House, Sussex, second son of Francis Scawen Blunt of Crabbet House, Sussex, who was a grenadier guard, and his wife Mary Chandler of Surrey, daughter of a Church of England…...
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…...