Biggs, Michael
Biggs, Michael (1928–93), sculptor and letter-cutter, was born 26 August 1928 in Stockport, Cheshire, England, of English parents, second son of Claud Biggs, musician and teacher at the RIAM, Dublin, and Marjorie Biggs (née Markham). He…...
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…...
Blacair (Blakkr)
Blackham, Dorothy Isabel
Blackham, Dorothy Isabel (1896–1975), artist and teacher, was born 1 March 1896 in 4 Beechwood Rd, Rathmines, Dublin, daughter of Charles H. Blackham, chief cashier at Kingsbridge railway terminus, and Jane Ruthven Blackham (née Lowry) of Killyleagh, Co. Down. She was related on her…...
Blackley, William Lewery
Blackley, William Lewery (1830–1902), clergyman, social reformer, and linguist, was born 30 December 1830 at Dundalk, Co. Louth, second son of Travers Robert Blackley, physician, and Eliza Blackley (née Lewery). From 1843 to 1845 he was educated in Brussels by Dr Carl Martin…...
Blackshaw, Basil
Blackshaw, Basil (1932–2016), artist, was born on 20 July 1932 in Glengormley, Co. Antrim, the youngest of seven surviving children of Samson (Sam) Blackshaw, a groom and gamekeeper from England, and his wife Edith (née Clayton), the daughter of a gamekeeper, from Coalisland, Co.…...
Blake, Edith
Blake, Edith (1845–1926), botanical illustrator and writer, was born in Newtown Anner, near Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, eldest daughter of the heiress Catherine Isabella Osborne (1819–80) of Newtown Anner, and Ralph Bernal Osborne (qv), (…...
Blathmac
Blathmac (d. 665), son of Áed Sláine (qv) and king of Tara, was an early representative of the Uí Néill dynasty of Síl nÁedo Sláine. His father, who also reigned as king of Tara, was slain in 604. According to the genealogies, Blathmac had…...
Blathmac
Blathmac (d. 670), son of Máel-Cobo and overking of Ulaid, belonged to the Dál Fiatach dynasty. He was one of four brothers, among whom was Óengus, ancestor of the rulers of Leth Cathail (Lecale, east Co. Down). Blathmac had seven sons, the most distinguished of whom was…...
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…...
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, Dermot Robert Wyndham-
Bourke, Dermot Robert Wyndham- (1851–1927), 7th earl of Mayo , landowner, politician, and patron of the arts, was born 2 July 1851, the son of Richard Southwell Bourke (qv), 6th earl of Mayo in the peerage of Ireland, and his…...
Bowen, Gretta (Margaretta)
Bowen, Gretta (Margaretta) (1880–1981), artist, was born 1 January 1880 at Harbour House, North Circular Rd, Dublin, daughter of Samuel Arthur Bowen, railway official and amateur wood-carver. Educated at Marlborough St. School, she worked for a time as a cashier with a Dublin…...
Boyd, Henry
Boyd, Henry (1749?–1832), clergyman, poet, and translator, was born in Co. Tyrone, son of Charles Boyd, farmer; nothing is known of his mother. Educated by Mr Davison, he entered TCD as a sizar (June 1770), gained a scholarship (1773),…...
Boylan, Patrick Joseph
Boylan, Patrick Joseph (1879–1974), priest, biblical scholar, and Egyptologist, was born 2 December 1879 in Barrowhouse, near Athy, Co. Kildare, son of Patrick Boylan, a teacher at Shanganamore national school, and his wife Anne (née Walker), of Queen's County (Laois).…...
Boyse, Samuel
Boyse, Samuel (1708–49), poet, translator, and hack writer, was born in Dublin in 1708, son of the Rev. Joseph Boyse (qv), the English-born presbyterian theologian, pamphleteer, and minister to the Wood St. church, Dublin. Educated…...
Bracken, Joseph K.
Bracken, Joseph K. (1852–1904), monumental sculptor and builder, local politician, and a founder in 1884 of the ‘Gaelic Association for the Preservation and Cultivation of National Pastimes’ which evolved to become the Gaelic Athletic Association (…...
Brady, Charles
Brady, Charles (1926–97), painter, was born 27 July 1926 in New York, son of Arthur Brady, an industrial hardware merchant. He is best known for small-scale paintings of still life and landscape. At the end of the second world war, while serving with the US navy, he suffered an…...
Brady, Maziere
Brady, Maziere (1796–1871), lord chancellor of Ireland and patron of the arts, was born 20 July 1796 in Dublin, second of three sons of Francis Tempest Brady (1763–1821) of Willow Park, Booterstown, Co. Dublin, manufacturer of gold and silver thread, and Martha Brady (née Hodgson…...
Bran
Bran (d. 838), son of Fáelán and overking of Leinster 835–8, was a member of the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. He belonged in fact to the lineage of Uí Dúnchada, which had probably by this time established its base at Liamain (Newcastle Lyons, on the boundary of counties Kildare and Dublin…...
Bran Ardchenn
Bran Ardchenn (d. 795), son of Muiredach and overking of Leinster, belonged to the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. His father Muiredach (reigned 738–60) was a strong ruler whose descendants through Bran (whose sobriquet may be rendered as ‘high head’) later formed the dynastic lineage of…...
Bran (Bróen)
Bran (Bróen) (d. 1052), son of Máel-mórda and overking of Leinster 1016–18, belonged to the Uí Fháeláin lineage of the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. His father Máel-mórda (qv), who had held the overkingship of Leinster, was slain in the battle of…...
Brandt, Muriel (Kathleen)
Brandt, Muriel (Kathleen) (1909–81), artist, was born 16 January 1909 in Colenso Parade, Belfast, second child of Hugh McKinley, post-office official, and Florence Ann McKinley (née Furness). Having attended the Belfast College of Art (1932–3), she won the Sorelba scholarship for…...
Brandt, Ruth
Brandt, Ruth (1936–89), artist and teacher, was born 22 June 1936 in Dublin, eldest child of Frank Brandt, graphic designer, and the artist Muriel Brandt (qv) (née McKinley). She was educated at the Dominican convent, Santa…...
Brandub
Brandub (d. c.605/8), son of Eochu and overking of Leinster, belonged to the dynasty of Uí Chennselaig, which in the late sixth to early seventh century contested supremacy in Leinster with the Uí Máil dynasty. Little seems to be known about his father Eochu; he may…...