Bheldon, Riobard (Bob Weldon)
Bheldon, Riobard (Bob Weldon ) (c.1834–1914), poet in Irish, was born in Briska, Kilrossanty, Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford, son of Michael Weldon, farmer, and Catherine Stack. His initial occupation (c.1856) seems to have been as a farm hand, but he subsequently worked…...
Bindon, Francis
Bindon, Francis (c.1690–1765), portraitist and architect, was fourth son among nine children of David Bindon (c.1650–1733) of Clooney, Co. Clare, landowner and MP for Ennis 1715–27, and Dorothy, daughter of Samuel Burton of Buncraggy, Co. Clare. He studied painting…...
Blythe, Ernest (de Blaghd, Earnán)
Blythe, Ernest (de Blaghd, Earnán) (1889–1975), revolutionary, politician, government minister, managing director of the Abbey Theatre, and Irish-language revivalist, was born 13 April 1889 at Magheragall, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, eldest child among two sons and two daughters of James…...
Borthwick, Mariella Norma
Borthwick, Mariella Norma (1862–1934), artist, writer and Irish-language activist, was born 25 July 1862 in Highfield, Higher Bebington, Chester, one of five daughters and three sons of George Borthwick, merchant, and Mary Elizabeth Borthwick (née MacDonald), of Edinburgh. Despite her…...
Bourke, Ulick Joseph
Bourke, Ulick Joseph (1829–87), catholic priest, Irish-language revivalist, teacher, and antiquarian, was born 29 December 1829 at Laherdane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, son of Ulick Bourke and his wife Cecilia Sheridan. He was educated at Errew Monastery, Castlebar, and studied Irish…...
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, John St Clair
Boyd, John St Clair (1858–1918), surgeon, Gaelic Leaguer and philanthropist, was born at Cultra House, Holywood, Co. Down, only son of John Kane Boyd, co-proprietor of the Blackstaff Mill. He was educated in Paris and Edinburgh before graduating from Queen's College, Belfast (QCB), and…...
Breathnach, Cormac (Charlie Walsh)
Breathnach, Cormac (Charlie Walsh) (1885–1956), politician and president of the Gaelic League, was born in Iveragh, Co. Kerry, son of Seán Breathnach, farmer, and Cáit Breathnach (née Chonchubhair). Educated at the national school in Ballinakilla, Co. Kerry (where he was a monitor), he…...
Breatnach, Micheál
Breatnach, Micheál (1881–1908), writer and Irish-language activist, was born 16 September 1881 in Lochán Beag, Inveran, Co. Galway, son of Micíl Breatnach, farmer, and Margaret Breatnach (née Ní Fheinneadha). Although only learning to read and write Irish in his mid-teens, he was raised…...
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…...
Brooke, Charlotte
Brooke, Charlotte (1750☓1760–1793), poet, dramatist, and pioneer in the introduction of Irish culture to the English reader, was born at Rantavan House, Mullagh, Co. Cavan, daughter of Henry Brooke (qv) and Catherine Brooke (née Meares; 1718?–…...
Bryant, Sophie
Bryant, Sophie (1850–1922), educationist, home ruler, Celticist, and suffragist, was born 15 February 1850 in Sandymount, Dublin, second daughter and third child of Sophia Willock (née Morris) of Dublin and Skreen Castle, and the Rev. William Alexander Willock (d. 1879 in London),…...
Burges, William
Burges, William (1827–81), architect, was born 2 December 1827 in London, elder son among at least two sons and one daughter of Alfred Burges (c.1801–1886), marine engineer; his mother's name is not known. He was educated at King's College school (1839–43) and the…...
Burgh, Thomas
Burgh, Thomas (1670–1730), architect and military engineer, was born in Drumkeen, Co. Limerick, third son of Ulysses Burgh, dean of Emly and later bishop of Ardagh, and Mary de Burgh, daughter of William Kingmill of Ballibeg, Co. Cork. Educated at Delany's school, Co. Dublin, he…...
Butler, Eleanor Grace
Butler, Eleanor Grace (1914–97), countess of Wicklow, senator, social campaigner, and architect, was born 7 September 1914 at 89 Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, one of five children of the architect Rudolf Maximilian Butler (qv), a…...
Butler, Mary Ellen Lambert
Butler, Mary Ellen Lambert (1873–1920), novelist, was born 28 June 1873 in England, the youngest of the two daughters and a son of Peter Butler (1840–80) of Bunnahow House, Co. Clare, and Mary Ryan of Tipperary. The Butlers were landowners who remained catholic. Through intermarriage,…...
Butler, Rudolph Maximilian
Butler, Rudolph Maximilian (1872–1943), architect, professor, and editor, was born 30 September 1872 in Dublin, only son of John Butler (d. 1882), barrister, and Augusta Butler (née Brassart), a German from Schleswig-Holstein. He was educated in Dublin and (after the death of his…...
Butler, William Deane
Butler, William Deane (c.1794–1857), architect, was apprenticed to Samuel Beazley and studied under Henry Aaron Baker (qv) at the Dublin Society's school of architectural drawing, where he won a prize (1811). The Kildare…...
Byers, David
Byers, David (1953–2008), architect and civil servant, was born in January 1953 in Newry, Co. Down, the only son among three children of John Byers and his wife Phyllis. The family had links with Ballyjamesduff, Co. Cavan, where Byers spent much of his childhood and youth. He was…...
Byrne, Patrick
Byrne, Patrick (c.1782–1864), architect, was possibly the son of John Byrne, architect; his mother's name is not known. He entered the Dublin Society's schools in 1796, studied under Henry Aaron Baker (qv), and won premiums…...
Byrne, Ralph Henry
Byrne, Ralph Henry (1877–1946), architect, was born 25 April 1877 in Dublin, third among five sons and one daughter of William Henry Byrne (1844–1917), architect, and May Anna Gertrude Byrne (née Dillon). W. H. Byrne worked in partnership with John O'Neill of Belfast from about 1869…...
Byrne, Thomas Joseph
Byrne, Thomas Joseph (1876–1939), architect, was born 15 November 1876 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, son of Richard Byrne (d. c.1876), who served with the Royal Irish Fusiliers, and Harriet Byrne (née Knight). He was articled (1892) to Edward Carter,…...
Caitilín Dubh
Caitilín Dubh (fl. 1624–9), poet, lived in Thomond (present-day Co. Clare). She is the earliest woman poet for whom texts in the Irish language survive in quantity. Five of her elegies, in accentual (or stressed) caoineadh metre, are copied into Duanaire Uí Bhriain…...
Caldbeck, William Francis
Caldbeck, William Francis (c.1824–1872), architect and civil engineer, was the son of Richard Caldbeck and grandson of John Frederick Caldbeck (d. 1848) of Moyle Park, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin; his mother's name is not known, but she is said to have been Roman catholic, and…...