Buck, Adam
Buck, Adam (1759–1833), artist, was born in Cork, elder son of Jonathan Buck, silversmith of Castle St. He appears to have been largely self-taught. Like his brother Frederick (1771–c.1840), a less talented artist, he practised in Cork, where he produced miniatures and small…...
Buckley (Goulding), Margaret (‘Maggie’; ‘Margaret Lee’)
Buckley (Goulding), Margaret (‘Maggie’; ‘Margaret Lee’) (1879–1962), republican, trade unionist, and writer, was born in July 1879, at Winter's Hill, Cork, the eldest daughter of James Goulding and his wife Ellen (née Joyce), both of Cork. Her father, who was employed as a labourer…...
Buckley, Timothy
Buckley, Timothy (1862–1945), tailor and storyteller, was born 23 December 1862 in Lounihan, Kilgarvan, Co. Kerry, seventh among thirteen children of Pádraig Buckley, farmer; his mother was one of the Healys Seamhrach of east Kerry. He attended Kilgarvan primary school, and at the…...
Bullock, Shan Fadh (John William)
Bullock, Shan Fadh (John William) (1865–1935), author, was born 17 May 1865 at Inisherk, Co. Fermanagh, eldest son among eleven children of Thomas Bullock (1840–1917), estate steward and farmer, and his wife Mary Wheery. Thomas Bullock worked on the Crom Castle demesne of John Crichton…...
Bunbury, Selina
Bunbury, Selina (1802–82), novelist and short-story and travel writer, was born in 1802 at Kilsaran House, Co. Louth, one of the fifteen children of the Rev. Henry Bunbury, a Church of Ireland clergyman and rector of Mansfieldstown, and Henrietta Shirley, of Loughrea, Co. Galway.…...
Burbidge, Frederick William
Burbidge, Frederick William (1847–1905), botanist, artist, and curator of the botanical gardens of TCD, was born 21 March 1847 at Wymeswold, Leicestershire, England, son of Thomas Burbidge, farmer, and Mary Burbidge (née Spencer).…...
Burgoyne, Francis James Powell (‘Frank’)
Burgoyne, Francis James Powell (‘Frank’) (1881–1956), librarian, was born 21 February 1881 at 22 Rosedale Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, the son of Francis Thomas Burgoyne, librarian, and Mary Ann Burgoyne (née Powell). Educated at the City of London School and King's College,…...
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, Ulick Ralph
Burke, Ulick Ralph (1845–95), lawyer and Hispanicist, was born in Dublin on 21 October 1845, the elder son of Charles Granby Burke (1814–98) of Milltown, Co. Dublin, master of the court of common pleas, and his wife, Emma Jane, daughter of Ralph Creyke of Marton, Yorkshire. His…...
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.…...
Burton, Sir Frederic William
Burton, Sir Frederic William (1816–1900), watercolour painter, was born 8 April 1816 at Clifden House, Corofin, Co. Clare, the third son of Samuel Frederic Burton, a wealthy landowner and amateur landscape painter, and Hannah Burton (née Mallet) of Dublin. An injury in childhood…...
Bury, John Bagnell
Bury, John Bagnell (1861–1927), classicist and historian, was born 16 October 1861 in Co. Monaghan, eldest of three (possibly four) sons and one daughter of Rev. Edward John Bury and Anna Bury (née Rogers). He was educated at Foyle College, Derry, and…...
Bushe, Letitia
Bushe, Letitia (c.1710–1757), watercolourist and miniature painter, was the youngest daughter of Arthur Bushe of Dangan, Co. Kilkenny, secretary to the commissioners of revenue, and his wife Mary, daughter of John Forth. She was a talented artist; there is no direct…...
Butcher, Samuel Henry
Butcher, Samuel Henry (1850–1910), scholar and politician, was born 16 April 1850 in Dublin, the elder son of Samuel Butcher (qv), clergyman, of Danesfort, Co. Kerry, and his wife, Mary (née Leahy), of South Hill, Killarney, Co. Kerry…...
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, 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, Mildred Anne
Butler, Mildred Anne (1858–1941), animal and genre painter, was born 11 January 1858 in Kilmurry, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, the youngest daughter of Captain Henry Butler and Clara Butler (née Taylor) of the Newarke, Leicester. Her father, the grandson of the 11th Viscount…...
Butler (Thompson), Elizabeth
Butler (Thompson), Elizabeth (1846–1933), Lady Butler , military painter, was born 3 November 1846 at the Villa Claremont, near Lausanne, Switzerland, the elder daughter of Thomas James Thompson and Christiana Thompson (née Weller). The Thompsons were cosmopolitan in outlook,…...
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, 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, Michael
Byrne, Michael (1923–89), painter and printmaker, was born 30 September 1923 in Dublin, one of ten children of Michael Byrne, baker, and Mary Byrne (née Sloane). He worked at first with a photographer, then as a dental technician, before studying at the National College of Art (and…...
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…...