Bourke, William
Bourke, William (1623–67), 5th Baron Castleconnell , soldier, was son and heir of Edmund Bourke and his first wife, Thomasine, daughter of Sir Thomas Browne of Hospital, Co. Limerick. Edmund held over 3,000 acres in Co. Limerick, primarily in the barony of Clanwilliam, alongside the…...
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…...
Bowen, Henry
Bowen, Henry (d. 1658/9), Cromwellian settler, was son of Harry Bowen and Margaret Bowen (née Holland) of Llanella, in the Gower peninsula, south Wales. Bowen first supported King Charles I, but later joined parliamentary forces and accompanied…...
Boycott, Charles Cunningham
Boycott, Charles Cunningham (1832–97), land agent, was born 12 March 1832 at Burgh St Peter, Norfolk, England, eldest surviving son of William Boycatt (1798–1877), rector of Wheatacrebury, Norfolk, and Elizabeth Georgiana Boycatt (née Beevor). William Boycatt changed the family name…...
Boyle, Charles
Boyle, Charles (1670?–1704), 3rd earl of Cork , 2nd earl of Burlington , politician, was second child but first son of Charles Boyle, Viscount Dungarvan (Ireland) and Baron Clifford (England), and Jane Boyle (née Seymour), daughter of the 2nd duke of Somerset. His grandfather was…...
Boyle, Elizabeth
Boyle, Elizabeth (1613–1691), countess of Cork and Burlington, was born at Skipton Castle in Yorkshire on 17 September 1613. She was the only surviving child of Henry Clifford (d. 1643) and Frances Cecil (d. 1644), 5th earl and countess of Cumberland. Little evidence is available about…...
Boyle Fenton, Catherine
Boyle Fenton, Catherine (c.1588–1630), countess of Cork , was the only daughter of Sir Geoffrey Fenton (qv), secretary of state for Ireland 1580–1608, and his wife Alice, daughter of Dr…...
Boyle, Henry
Boyle, Henry (1684–1764), 1st earl of Shannon and politician, was born in Castlemartyr, Co. Cork, son of Col. Henry Boyle of Castlemartyr (a son of Roger Boyle (qv), 1st earl of Orrery), and his wife Mary (daughter of…...
Boyle, Henry
Boyle, Henry (c.1668–1725), 1st Baron Carleton, politician, was the son of Charles Boyle, Viscount Dungarvan (Ireland) and Baron Clifford (England), and his first wife, Jane, daughter of William Seymour, 2nd duke of Somerset. His grandfather was…...
Boyle, John
Boyle, John (1707–62), 5th earl of Orrery, 5th earl of Cork, and 2nd Baron Marston , writer, was born 13 January 1707 in Westminster, London, the only son of Charles Boyle, 4th earl of Orrery, and of Lady Elizabeth Boyle (née Cecil). His birth has also been dated 2 January; the…...
Boyle, Margaret
Boyle, Margaret (1623–1689), 1st countess of Orrery, was one of ten children of Theophilus Howard (d. 1640), 2nd earl of Suffolk and Elizabeth Home (daughter of the 1st earl of Dunbar). Margaret was baptised on 11 February 1623 at St Martin’s-in-the-Fields, London, and, though not much…...
Boyle, Murrough
Boyle, Murrough (1648–1718), 1st Viscount Blessington and MP, was born in Cork, son of Michael Boyle (qv), later Church of Ireland archbishop of Armagh (1678–1702) and lord chancellor (1665–85), and Mary Boyle (née O'Brien), daughter of…...
Boyle, Richard
Boyle, Richard (1566–1643), 1st earl of Cork, landowner and politician, was born 13 October 1566 in Kent, second son of Roger Boyle, a native of Herefordshire, and his wife Joan Naylor of Canterbury, who had made their home in Preston outside Faversham in the vicinity of Canterbury.…...
Boyle, Richard
Boyle, Richard (1727–1807), 2nd earl of Shannon and politician, was born in London 30 January 1727, eldest of six children of Henry Boyle (qv) of Castlemartyr, Co. Cork, 1st earl and speaker of the Irish house of commons (1733–56), and…...
Boyle, Richard
Boyle, Richard (1612–98), 2nd earl of Cork and 1st earl of Burlington, was born 20 October 1612 at Youghal College, Co. Cork, second son of Richard Boyle (qv), 1st earl of Cork (‘the great earl’), and…...
Boyle, Roger
Boyle, Roger (1621–79), 1st Baron Broghill and 1st earl of Orrery , soldier, politician, and writer, was born 25 April 1621 in Co. Waterford, twelfth child and third son to survive of Richard Boyle (qv), 1st earl of Cork, and his second wife…...
Brabazon, Reginald
Brabazon, Reginald (1841–1929), 12th earl of Meath , landowner, philanthropist, and disciplinarian, was born in London on 31 July 1841, the second son of William Brabazon, eleventh earl, and Harriet, second daughter of Sir Richard Brooke, sixth baronet, of Norton Priory, Cheshire…...
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…...
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…...
Bransfield, Edward
Bransfield, Edward (c.1785–1852), sailor and explorer, was born in Ballinacurra, Midleton, Co. Cork, about 1785; the date is calculated from his age at date of death, as recorded from his death certificate. He was the son of a sea captain who is thought to have been of…...
Braose (Briouze, Briouse), William de
Braose (Briouze, Briouse), William de (d. 1211), lord of Braose in Normandy and Bramber and Brecon in Wales, was son of William de Braose and Bertha, daughter of William de Hereford. He succeeded his father in 1180 and by that time had already acquired a reputation as a ruthless…...
Brenan, James
Brenan, James (1837–1907), painter and educationalist, was born in Dublin, the eldest son of Thomas Brenan. After studying art at the RDS school of design (then in Leinster House) and at the school of the…...