Beit, Sir Alfred Lane
Beit, Sir Alfred Lane (1903–94), art collector and patron, was born 19 January 1903 in London, younger son of Sir Otto Beit (1865–1930), industrialist of German birth, and his wife Lillian (d. 1946), daughter of T. L. Carter of New Orleans. Otto Beit inherited in 1906 the…...
Bellamy, George Anne
Bellamy, George Anne (1731?–1788), actress, was born in Fingal, Co. Dublin, illegitimate daughter of James O'Hara (qv), 2nd baron of Tyrawley, then British ambassador to Lisbon, and a Miss Seal, an actress of quaker extraction from Kent. Her mother married a…...
Bellew, George Leopold
This is a co-subject for the entry on Bryan, George. View the original entry....
Bellew, John
Bellew, John (1605/1606–79), politician and army officer, was the eldest son, of the three sons and one daughter, of Patrick Bellew of Lisraney, Co. Louth, and his wife, Mary, daughter of James and Ellice Warren of Warrenstown castle, Co. Louth. He was admitted to Gray's Inn on 9…...
Bellew, Sir John
Bellew, Sir John (d. 1693), 1st Baron Bellew of Duleek , Jacobite colonel, was son of Sir Christopher Bellew of Bellewstown and his wife Frances, daughter of Matthew Plunkett, Lord Louth. His father was made governor of Louth (30 October 1641) with the object of suppressing…...
Bell, George Derek Fleetwood
Bell, George Derek Fleetwood (1935–2002), musician and composer, was born 21 October 1935 in Belfast, the son of William Bell, a banker. When he was two, a doctor told his parents that he was going blind and suggested musical toys as therapy. He was in fact merely short-sighted, but…...
Bellingham, Henry
Bellingham, Henry (d. 1676), army officer and landowner, was the younger son, of the two sons and one daughter, of Robert Bellingham, attorney in the court of exchequer, and his wife, Margaret, née Whyte, of Clongill, Co. Meath. His elder brother was Sir…...
Bellingham, Sir Edward
Bellingham, Sir Edward (a.1507?–1550), soldier and administrator, was the younger son of Sir Edward Bellingham of Erringham, Old Shoreham, Sussex, and Jane Bellingham (née Shelley) of Michelgrove, Sussex. He and his brother spent their early life till 1514 as wards of the…...
Bellingham, Thomas
Bellingham, Thomas (1644/5–1721), army officer and landowner, was the son of Henry Bellingham (qv) (d. 1676) and his wife, Lucy, daughter of another Louth gentleman, William Sibthorpe of Dunany. Henry Bellingham was a cornet in the…...
Bell, John
Bell, John (c.1793–1861), antiquary, collector, and landscape painter, was the second son of John Bell, gentleman landowner, of Camelon, near Falkirk, Scotland. It is unclear when he settled in Ireland, but he was contributing articles to local newspapers in Newry, Co. Down…...
Bell, (John) Bowyer
Bell, (John) Bowyer (1931–2003), writer on the IRA and artist, was born 15 November 1931 in New York City, but grew up in Alabama after his parents moved there. He majored in history at undergraduate level at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia; at the same time he…...
Belton, Andrew
Belton, Andrew (1882–1970), OBE, soldier, adventurer, and businessman, was born 17 April 1882 in Cleator Moor, Cumberland, son of John and Susannah Belton of Bowthorn Road, Cleator Moor. Educated locally at St Patrick…...
Beranger, Gabriel
Beranger, Gabriel (d. 1817), artist, was born c.1729 in Amsterdam of French huguenot origin. His parents and education are unknown, but he apparently came to Ireland in 1750 and stayed there until his death. He kept a print shop and artist's warehouse at 5 South George's St…...
Beresford, George Thomas
Beresford, George Thomas (1781–1839), politician and soldier, was born 12 February 1781, third son of George de la Poer Beresford (1734/5–1800), 2nd earl of Tyrone (1763–89) and 1st marquess of Waterford (cr. 1789), MP for Co. Waterford (1757–60) and for Coleraine (1761–3), and…...
Beresford, Lord Charles William de la Poer
Beresford, Lord Charles William de la Poer (1846–1919), admiral and MP, was born 10 February 1846 in Baronstown, Dundalk, Co. Louth, second son of the Rev. John de la Poer Beresford (1814–66), 4th marquis of Waterford, and Christiana Beresford (1820–1905; née Leslie). He was…...
Beresford, William Carr
Beresford, William Carr (1768–1854), soldier and MP, was born 2 October 1768 in Co. Waterford, illegitimate son of George de la Poer Beresford (1734/5–1800), 2nd earl of Tyrone (1763–89), 1st marquess of Waterford (cr. 1789), MP for Co. Waterford (1757–60) and Coleraine (1761–3),…...
Berkeley, Sir John
Berkeley, Sir John (1607–78), 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton , soldier and politician, was baptised 1 February 1607, fifth and youngest son of Sir Maurice Berkeley of Bruton, Somerset, England, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Killigrew of Hanworth, Middlesex.…...
Bernard, James Francis
Bernard, James Francis (1850–1924), 4th earl of Bandon, landowner and kidnapping victim, was born 12 September 1850, the son of Francis Bernard (b. 1810), 3rd earl of Bandon, and Catherine Mary (née Whitmore), daughter of Thomas Whitmore, of Apley Park, Shropshire. The Bernard family…...
Bernelle, Agnes
Bernelle, Agnes (1923–99), singer and actress, was born Agnes Elizabeth Bernauer on 7 March 1923 in Berlin, Germany, daughter of Rudolph Bernauer (1880–1953), a Jewish-Hungarian actor, playwright, librettist, and theatrical director and impresario, and his second wife, Emmy (née Erb) (b…...
Best, Edith
Best, Edith (1865–1950), musician, was born 11 July 1865 in Dublin, youngest of fourteen children of Eldred Oldham , Dublin merchant, and Annie Oldham. Educated at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, she studied under Margaret O'Hea, winning the Lord O'Hagan's prize (1883). One of the…...
Betty, William Henry West
Betty, William Henry West (1791–1874), actor, was born 13 September 1791 in St Chad's parish, Shrewsbury, England (his mother's home), son of William H. Betty of Lisburn, Co. Antrim, who was in the linen trade; they moved back to a farm near Ballynahinch, Co. Down. His mother, Mary…...
Bewerunge, Heinrich
Bewerunge, Heinrich (1862–1923), musicologist, educator, and composer, was born 7 December 1862 in Letmathe, Westphalia, Germany, the second of nine children of Heinrich Hermann Bewerunge (1836–1901), a building contractor from Lüchtringen-an-der-Weser, and his wife, Maria…...
Bickerstaff, Isaac John
Bickerstaff, Isaac John (1733–c.1808), dramatist and soldier, was born 26 September 1733 in Dublin, the son of John Bickerstaff (d. 1751), an officeholder in the viceregal household, and Jane Brereton (d. 1744). Bickerstaff spent his early years in Dublin, where his musical…...
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…...
Billy in the Bowl
Billy in the Bowl (fl. 1780s), beggar and robber, lived on the northside of Dublin. Nothing is known of his earliest years and most of the details of his life are hazy. He first came to public notice in the 1780s begging around Stoneybatter, Grangegorman and Oxmantown. Born…...