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…...
Blythe, Ernest (de Blaghd, Earnán)
Blythe, Ernest (de Blaghd, Earnán) (1889–1975), revolutionary, politician, government minister, managing director of the Abbey Theatre, and Irish-language revivalist, was born 13 April 1889 at Magheragall, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, eldest child among two sons and two daughters of James…...
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…...
Bourke, Ulick Joseph
Bourke, Ulick Joseph (1829–87), catholic priest, Irish-language revivalist, teacher, and antiquarian, was born 29 December 1829 at Laherdane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, son of Ulick Bourke and his wife Cecilia Sheridan. He was educated at Errew Monastery, Castlebar, and studied Irish…...
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, John St Clair
Boyd, John St Clair (1858–1918), surgeon, Gaelic Leaguer and philanthropist, was born at Cultra House, Holywood, Co. Down, only son of John Kane Boyd, co-proprietor of the Blackstaff Mill. He was educated in Paris and Edinburgh before graduating from Queen's College, Belfast (QCB), and…...
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…...
Breathnach, Cormac (Charlie Walsh)
Breathnach, Cormac (Charlie Walsh) (1885–1956), politician and president of the Gaelic League, was born in Iveragh, Co. Kerry, son of Seán Breathnach, farmer, and Cáit Breathnach (née Chonchubhair). Educated at the national school in Ballinakilla, Co. Kerry (where he was a monitor), he…...
Breatnach, Micheál
Breatnach, Micheál (1881–1908), writer and Irish-language activist, was born 16 September 1881 in Lochán Beag, Inveran, Co. Galway, son of Micíl Breatnach, farmer, and Margaret Breatnach (née Ní Fheinneadha). Although only learning to read and write Irish in his mid-teens, he was raised…...
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…...
Brian Bórama (Bóruma, Boru)
Brian Bórama (Bóruma, Boru) (d. 1014), high-king of Ireland, was born towards the middle of the tenth century. The surviving sources record the event under the year 941, but may have done so retrospectively in recognition of the fame he acquired relatively quickly in death. His epithet…...
Bridle, Kathleen
Bridle, Kathleen (1897–1989), artist and art teacher, was born 19 November 1897 at Swalecliff, Kent, England, second of three daughters of James Bridle, a lieutenant and coastguard, and Janet Bridle (née Flower), a school teacher. Due to her father's profession, her family moved to…...
Brión
Brión (5th cent.?), son of Eochaid (Eochu) Mugmedóin, an early figure of the Connachta and eponymous ancestor of the Uí Briúin dynasty, is represented in genealogical tradition as the eldest son of the king of Connacht and Mongfhind, his queen (Rawl. B 502, 138a; Lec. 389a;…...
Brocas, Henry
This is a co-subject for the entry on BROCAS, Henry, senior. View the original entry....