Burke, Thomas
Burke, Thomas (1876–1951), politician, farmer, and bonesetter, was born in Dunsallagh, Milltown Malbay, Co. Clare, son of Thomas Burke, farmer, and his wife Mary (née Burke). From age 16 he developed a wide reputation throughout Co. Clare and beyond for his putative skills as a…...
Burk, John Daly
Burk, John Daly (1772?–1808), author and radical, was possibly the son of James Burk, a protestant schoolmaster from Co. Cork, who may have been related to Edmund Burke (qv) (Augusta Chronicle, 11 Nov. 1809). In 1790 John was…...
Burnell, Henry
Burnell, Henry (fl. 1639–55), playwright, was born in Ireland into an Old English catholic family belonging to the gentry of the Pale, grandson of Henry Burnell (qv) and son and heir of Christopher Burnell of Castleknock, Co.…...
Burrowes, Wesley
Burrowes, Wesley (1930–2015), writer, was born in Bangor, Co. Down, on 26 April 1930, one of four children (two boys and two girls) of Harry Burrowes, a first world war veteran and civil servant attached to the Northern Ireland education department, and his wife Carrie Burrowes (née…...
Butler, Hubert Marshall
Butler, Hubert Marshall (1900–91), essayist and antiquarian, was born 23 October 1900 in Maidenhall, Bennettsbridge, Co. Kilkenny, eldest son and second of four children of George Butler (1859–1941) of Maidenhall, farmer and high sheriff of Kilkenny, and his wife Harriet (1867–1939),…...
Butler, Isaac
Butler, Isaac (1689/90?–1755), almanac maker, botanist, and antiquary, was by 1725 in business as a bookseller and publisher in Patrick Street, Dublin; he was a quarter-brother of the printers’ guild (1728–31). His first almanac was Advice from the stars (1725), which he…...
Butler, William Francis
Butler, William Francis (1838–1910), soldier and author, was born 31 October 1838 in a farmhouse at Ballyslateen, Golden, Co. Tipperary, youngest child among four sons and three daughters of Richard Butler (1792–1870), a modest landowner and large tenant farmer of Suirville, Co.…...
Byrne, Charles
Byrne, Charles (1761–83), giant, was born in Littlebridge, Co. Londonderry, of an Irish father and a Scottish mother. All his relatives were of normal height and his growth was caused by a tumour on his pituitary gland. By August 1780 he was said to be 8 ft (2.4 m) tall, with his…...
Byrne, Christopher Michael (‘Christy’, ‘C. M.’)
Byrne, Christopher Michael (‘Christy’, ‘C. M.’) (1886?–1958), politician, farmer, and auctioneer, was born in Blackrock, Co. Dublin, the only child of Walter Byrne of 13 Temple Road, Blackrock, and Ballykillavane, Glenealy, Co. Wicklow. Educated (1895–8) at Blackrock College, he…...
Byrne, Donn
Byrne, Donn (1889–1928), writer, was born Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne 20 November 1889 in New York, the son of Thomas Fearghaill Donn-Byrne, an architect, and Jane D'Arcy (McParlane). Shortly after his birth, his parents returned to their home in Forkhill, Co. Armagh, where Donn and his…...
Byrne, John Francis
Byrne, John Francis (1880–1960), journalist, writer, and university friend of James Joyce (qv), was born 11 February 1880 at 25 East Essex Street, Dublin, youngest child of Mathew Byrne (d. 1883), a shopkeeper, and…...
Byrne, Laurence Patrick (‘Andrew E. Malone’)
Byrne, Laurence Patrick (‘Andrew E. Malone’) (1888–1939), literary critic and journalist, was born in Dublin, one of at least six sons of Michael Byrne, a clerk at Guinness's brewery. Laurence himself began working there in the chemical department, after which he was employed by the…...
Byrne, Patrick
Byrne, Patrick (1740/41–1814), printer, bookseller, and United Irishman, had a flourishing business in Dublin, at 35 College Green (1779–85) and 108 Grafton Street (1785–99). Byrne's business was probably the largest of its kind in Ireland in the eighteenth century. One indication…...
Byrne, Séamus
Byrne, Séamus (1904–68), playwright and lawyer, was born in Dublin on 27 December 1904. Educated at Blackrock College, he graduated LLB from UCD and qualified as a solicitor in 1927. He worked as…...
Byrne, William (Aloysius)
Byrne, William (Aloysius) (1872–1933), poet (‘William Dara ’) and professor of English, was born 30 January 1872 in Rathangan, Co. Kildare. His father, Joseph, who became the principal teacher in the local national school, married Marcella Murray (October 1870) and William was the…...
Callanan, Jeremiah J.
Callanan, Jeremiah J. (1795–1829), poet and verse translator, was born in Ballinhassig, Co. Cork, of a respectable medical family. Educated locally and in Cobh, he studied for the priesthood in Maynooth at the encouragement of his parents, but left (1818) to begin medical studies in…...
Cameron, John
Cameron, John (1724–99), presbyterian minister and writer, was born in Scotland; some sources say near Edinburgh, though Kinross is also mentioned. Nothing is known of his parents. He was apprenticed to an Edinburgh bookseller, and among the books picked up a love of literature…...
Campbell, James
Campbell, James (1758–1818), weaver poet, was born in Cairncastle, near Larne, Co. Antrim; nothing is known of his parents. He received some schooling locally, and became a linen weaver. He worked as a journeyman weaver round Ballynure, Co. Antrim, till he married; his wife was…...
Campbell, Joseph
Campbell, Joseph (1879–1944), poet and republican, was born 15 July 1879 at Loreto Cottage, Castlereagh Road, Belfast, seventh among ten children of William Henry Campbell (1842–1900), road-building contractor, and Catherine Campbell (née Canmer; d. 1918) of Belfast. From his…...
Campbell, Michael Mussen
Campbell, Michael Mussen (1924–84), 4th Baron Glenavy , author and journalist, was born 25 October 1924 in Dublin, second son of Charles Henry Gordon Campbell (qv) (1885–1963) and his wife…...
Campbell, Patrick Gordon
Campbell, Patrick Gordon (1913–80), 3rd Baron Glenavy , journalist, wit, and television personality, was born 6 June 1913 in Dublin, the eldest of the three children (two sons and a daughter) of Gordon Campbell (qv) and his…...
Canning, Albert Stratford George
Canning, Albert Stratford George (1832–1916), author and landowner, was born 24 August 1832, second son of George Canning (qv), 1st Baron Garvagh, and Rosabelle Canning (née Bonham); his father had estates at Garvagh, Co. Londonderry.…...
Canning, George
Canning, George (1730?–71), writer, was eldest of three sons of Stratford Canning, who had an estate at Garvagh, Co. Londonderry, and his wife Letitia Newburgh. It is said that his father was ferociously strict; he disapproved of a youthful love affair in which George was involved…...
Carey, Mathew
Carey, Mathew (1760–1839), author, bookseller and publisher, was born 28 January 1760 in Dublin, one of five sons to Christopher Carey, a baker who prospered provisioning the British navy, and Mary Carey (née Sheridan). Small and lame from infancy (having been dropped by his nurse),…...
Carey, Patrick
Carey, Patrick (1916–94), film-maker, was born Gerard Patrick Carey 5 September 1916 in Streatham, London, the youngest of four children of Cork-born William Denis Carey (d. 1959), a revenue commissioner (1923–44; chairman 1939–44), and May Frances (Wilkinson) Carey (d. 1966) from…...