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, 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…...
Bowden, John
Bowden, John (fl. 1798–c.1822), architect, was possibly born in Blessington, Co. Wicklow; nothing is known of his family. He was educated at the Dublin Society school of architectural drawing (1798–c.1801), apprenticed to…...
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…...
Boyle, Richard Vicars
Boyle, Richard Vicars (1822–1908), civil engineer, was born 14 March 1822 in Dublin, third son of Vicars Armstrong Boyle, a descendant of settlers from Ayrshire, Scotland, who had migrated to Ulster in the seventeenth century, and his wife Sophia, daughter of David Courtney of…...
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…...
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…...
Brennan, Austin Joseph
Brennan, Austin Joseph (1894–1983), revolutionary and soldier, was born 8 April 1894 at Meelick Cross, Co. Clare, near Limerick city, second son of Patrick Brennan and Mary Brennan (née Clancy), farmers. After his education at the local national school he worked on the family farm.…...
Brennan, Louis
Brennan, Louis (1852–1932), engineer and inventor, was born 28 February 1852 in Castlebar, Co. Mayo, youngest of three sons of Thomas Brennan, grocer, ironmonger, and hardware merchant, and Bridget Brennan (née McDonnell). His eldest brother, Michael George Brennan (d. 1871), was a…...
Brennan, Michael
Brennan, Michael (1896–1986), revolutionary and army chief of staff, was born 2 February 1896 in Meelick, Co. Clare, third son of Patrick Brennan, farmer, and Mary Brennan (née Clancy). Educated at St Munchin's College, Limerick, aged 15 he joined Fianna Éireann and was sworn into…...
Brereton, Sir William
Brereton, Sir William (1789–1864), British army general and inspector-general of the Irish Constabulary, was son of Maj. William Brereton, of Dublin and Bath, officer in the 6th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and later master of ceremonies at the Assembly Rooms in Bath, and his second…...
Brereton, William
Brereton, William (c.1485–1541), soldier and lord justice of Ireland, was of a gentry family from Chester. He was knighted at Tournai, Flanders (1513), and seems to have spent much of his career in Cheshire and to have had no connection with Ireland before being sent there…...
Bretland, Josiah Corbett
Bretland, Josiah Corbett (1846–a.1921), engineer, architect, and city surveyor, was born 4 January 1846 in Nottingham, England, and articled (1863–7) to M. O. Tarbottom; nothing is known of his parents or early education. He was successively assistant surveyor (1868–84) and…...
Brett, (Sir) Charles Edward Bainbridge
Brett, (Sir) Charles Edward Bainbridge (1928–2005), solicitor, architectural historian and public figure in Northern Ireland, was born 30 October 1928 in Holywood, Co. Down, eldest of three children, two boys and a girl, of Charles Anthony Brett, a Belfast solicitor, and his wife…...
Brian Bórama (Bóruma, Boru)
Brian Bórama (Bóruma, Boru) (d. 1014), high-king of Ireland, was born towards the middle of the tenth century. The surviving sources record the event under the year 941, but may have done so retrospectively in recognition of the fame he acquired relatively quickly in death. His epithet…...
Brodrick, Sir St John
Brodrick, Sir St John (1627–1711), soldier and politician, was born 3 December 1627, fourth son of Sir Thomas Brodrick of Wandsworth, Surrey, England, lieutenant-governor of the Tower of London, and his wife Katharine Nicholas, of Manningford Bruce, Wiltshire. The family had prior…...
Brooke, Robert
Brooke, Robert (1744–1811), soldier and industrialist, was second son of Robert Brooke, artist, of Rantavana, Co. Cavan, and Honor Brooks of Kinawley, Co. Fermanagh. Entering the Bengal establishment of the East India Company as an ensign in 1764, he was promoted to the rank of…...
Brooke, Sir Basil
Brooke, Sir Basil (d. 1633), soldier and planter, was possibly a son of Oliver Brooke of Warwick, who was of a Cheshire family. Basil Brooke, born in the reign of Elizabeth, went to Ireland as an army captain and served under Sir…...
Brooks, John
Brooks, John (b. c.1710, d. p. 1756), engraver and inventor, a native of Dublin, was the son of John Brooks, and was possibly of Dutch descent. The name also occurs in Dublin at that period as van der Brooks, and there were others of the name involved in…...
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, Anthony
Browne, Anthony (1940–60), soldier, was born 28 May 1940in Dublin, son of John Browne. In December 1957 he joined the army and served as a trooper with the 2nd Motor Squadron. He signed for a further term of enlistment in 1960, on the condition that he was given a posting to the…...
Browne, George
Browne, George (1660?–1729), soldier, count and baron of the Holy Roman Empire, and uncle of Field-marshal Maximilian Ulysses von Browne (1705–57), was second eldest of the eight sons of John Browne of Camus, Co. Limerick, and his wife Mary Roe of Hacketstown, Co. Waterford. With…...