Blake, Sir Valentine
Blake, Sir Valentine (1560–c.1634), merchant and mayor of Galway, was eldest of three sons of Walter Blake of Galway and Juliana Blake, daughter of James Browne of Galway. A leading merchant, trading at least with Spain and Portugal, by 1592 he was described as the…...
Bodkin, Thomas
Bodkin, Thomas (1887–1961), art historian, was born in Dublin 21 July 1887, eldest of six children of Matthias McDonnell Bodkin (qv) and Arabella Bodkin (née Norman) of Dublin. Educated at Belvedere College, Clongowes Wood…...
Boland, William
Boland, William (1895–1960), businessman, was born in Bunnyconnellan, Ballina, Co. Mayo, the sixth of the seven children of Christopher Boland, farmer and partner in Reilly's and Boland, general merchant. Educated at CBS Synge Street…...
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, Thomas
Bourke, Thomas (fl. 1643–4), printer, has been considered the first known printer in Waterford. Though his background is not known, it has been argued that the ‘good standard of the typesetting and printing of his extant works demonstrate that he was already a well-trained…...
Boyce, James
Boyce, James (1909–66), actor and broadcaster, was born on 17 March 1909 in Belfast, the oldest of three sons of Hugh Boyce, a coachbuilder, and his wife Ellen (née Hayes), a dressmaker before marriage. The family, who were Christian Brethren in religion, lived in Rosebury Road, Ormeau…...
Boyd, John
Boyd, John (1912–2002), radio producer and playwright, was born 19 July 1912 at 9 Baskin Street, in a working-class area of east Belfast, the first of three children (two boys and a girl) of Robert Boyd, a fireman on steam engines and later an engine driver, and Jane Boyd (née Leeman).…...
Braughall, Thomas
Braughall, Thomas (1730–1803), merchant and politician, was born in Dublin (no further details of his background are known), and was one of the most forthright radical catholics to emerge from the Dublin merchant community in the eighteenth century. Braughall's ancestors had taken…...
Breen, Dermot H.
Breen, Dermot H. (1924–78), founder of Cork International Film Festival and film censor, was born 18 August 1924 in Waterford, sixth child of James Breen and Brigid Breen. He was educated in Cork at the Presentation Brothers College and at the Provincial College. Initially a…...
Brennan, Joseph
Brennan, Joseph (1887–1976), civil servant and banker, was born 18 November 1887 at Hill Terrace, Bandon, Co. Cork, eldest son among seven children of Joseph Brennan (d. 1948), businessman, and his wife Mary (née Hickey). He was educated at the local national school, Clongowes…...
Browne, John
Browne, John (1638–1712?), lawyer and entrepeneur, of Kinturk and Westport, Co. Mayo, was the second son of Major John Browne (d. 1670) of the Neale, near Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, and his wife Mary. His mother was a daughter of Sir …...
Browne, Patrick
Browne, Patrick (d. 1614), merchant and municipal politician, was the elder of two sons of Patrick Browne of Backweston, Co. Kildare, and his wife Katherine Weston, sister of the former prior of St Wolstan's, Celbridge, Co. Kildare. The Brownes were an old established merchant…...
Brugha, Ruairí
Brugha, Ruairí (1917–2006), politician and businessman, was born 15 October 1917 in Dublin, fourth child and only son (he had five sisters) of the republican revolutionary Cathal Brugha (qv) and his wife Cathleen (Caitlín) (née Kingston),…...
Bulger, Daniel Delany
This is a co-subject for the entry on Bulger, Lawrence Quinlivan ('Larry'). View the original entry....
Burdock, Patrick Leo
Burdock, Patrick Leo (1900–66), fish and chip shop proprietor and republican, was born at 219 Iveagh Trust Buildings, Dublin, on 20 May 1900, to Patrick Joseph Burdock (1873–1948), the son of a general labourer, originally of Townsend Street, Dublin, and Margaret (Bella) Burdock (née…...
Burke, Augustus Nicholas
Burke, Augustus Nicholas (c.1838–1891), painter, was born at Waterslade, Knocknagur, Co. Galway, the sixth son of William Burke, a catholic gentleman and landowner, and Fanny Xaveria Burke (née Tucker) of Brook Lodge, Sussex. Educated at a private catholic school in…...
Burke, Martin
Burke, Martin (1787/8–1863), hotelier, was a son of Michael Burke of Springfield House, Co. Tipperary, and his wife Honora (née Hogan); in 1832, on the death of his brother Michael, an attorney, Martin inherited Springfield and lands. In 1824 Burke purchased for £3,000 a 150-year…...
Burkhead, Henry
Burkhead, Henry (fl. 1645), possibly a merchant of Bristol, wrote the drama ‘A tragedy of Cola's furie, or Lirenda's miserie’ (the first Irish play to condemn English conduct), printed 1646 in Kilkenny, headquarters of the catholic confederacy. Dedicated to…...
Butler, William Archer
Butler, William Archer (1812?–1848), clergyman and professor of moral philosophy, was second son of Pierce Archer Butler and Anna Maria Butler (née Gallwey); their seven children were brought up as Roman Catholics by their mother, though the father, who had several times been…...
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, Edward
Byrne, Edward (1739/40–1804), merchant and chairman of the Catholic Committee, was a son of John Byrne of Saggart, Co. Dublin, whose father, Garret Byrne (d. 1752), was a farmer there and, according to a descendant, ‘lived in the castle of Saggart and owned the estate belonging…...
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…...
Cahill, Pearse
Cahill, Pearse (1917–2011), aviator, businessman and race driver, was born Matthew Pearse Cahill (in honour of the executed leader of the 1916 rising) in Dublin on 26 January 1917, son of Hugh Cahill (1883–1966), of Glasnevin, Dublin, and his wife Caroline (née O'Connor). The owner-…...
Callaghan, Dan
This is a co-subject for the entry on Callaghan, Gerard. View the original entry....
Callaghan, Daniel
This is a co-subject for the entry on Callaghan, Gerard. View the original entry....