Brosnahan, Seán
Brosnahan, Seán (1911–87), teacher and trade unionist, was born 26 August 1911 in Killaloe, Co. Clare, one of nine children of John Brosnahan, RIC sergeant, and Norah Brosnahan (née Ryan) (d. 1946). One of his brothers was Thomas J.…...
Brown, Christopher (‘Christy’)
Brown, Christopher (‘Christy’) (1932–81), writer and artist, was born 5 June 1932 at the Rotunda hospital, Dublin, the sixth of thirteen surviving children among the twenty-two children of Patrick Brown, bricklayer and veteran of the 1916 rising, of 33 North King St., and Bridget…...
Brown, George
Brown, George (1906–37), communist and trade unionist, was born 5 November 1906 in Ballyhale, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, son of Francis Brown, a farrier with the Manchester Railway Company and an active trade unionist, originally from Inistiogue, Co. Kilkenny, and Mary Brown (née…...
Brown, Stephen James Meredith
Brown, Stephen James Meredith (1881–1962), Jesuit priest, bibliographer, and librarian, was born 24 September 1881 in Holywood, Co. Down, eldest of four children of Stephen James Brown (1853–1931), solicitor and JP, and Catharine Brown (…...
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…...
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…...
Burn, James Dawson
Burn, James Dawson (1801?–c.1889), tradesman and author, was born probably in Co. Down, son of a farmer surnamed McBurney. Shortly afterwards his mother took him to Scotland, begging along with an alcoholic ex-soldier, an Irishman with whom she had other children. Burn's early…...
Burn, Thomas Henry
Burn, Thomas Henry (1875–1949), trade unionist and politician, was born in Belfast, son of Thomas Henry Burn. Little is known of his family life but he was educated at Belfast National School and subsequently trained as a lithographic printer. The Ulster Unionist Labour…...
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…...
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…...
Butler, John (‘Jack’)
Butler, John (‘Jack’) (1891–1968), trade unionist and politician, was born in Lackendarra, Ballinamult, Co. Waterford, and grew up in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. Leaving school aged fifteen, he became a labourer and on the formation of the…...
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,…...
Byrne, James
Byrne, James (c.1875–1913), trade unionist, was born at 5 Clarence St., Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire), Co. Dublin, and lived at the address all his life. A large, strapping giant of a man, he worked locally on the docks, and eventually in Heiton's coal depot. About 1910 he…...
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, Robert (‘Bobby’)
Byrne, Robert (‘Bobby’) (1889–1919), trade unionist and republican, was born 28 November 1889 at 5 Upper Oriel St., Dublin, one of three sons of Robert Byrne, fitter, of North Strand, Dublin, and Annie Byrne (née Hurley) of Limerick. He was a cousin of…...
Cahalan, Cissie
Cahalan, Cissie (1876–1948), trade unionist and suffragist, was born in Cork in 1876. Little is known of her early life, other than that she was apprenticed to the drapery trade, and by 1906 was based in Dublin where she worked as a draper's assistant in Arnott's of Henry St. Her…...
Campbell, Beatrice Moss
Campbell, Beatrice Moss (1883–1970), Lady Glenavy , artist, was born 30 April 1883 in Dublin, second among seven children of William Elvery , merchant, and Theresa Elvery (née Moss), singer and music teacher, whose parents were English quakers. William Elvery's ancestors were silk…...
Campbell, Cecilia Margaret
This is a co-subject for the entry on Campbell, John Henry. View the original entry....
Campbell, Christopher
Campbell, Christopher (1908–72), painter and stained-glass artist, was born 9 December 1908 in Dublin, fourth of five sons of John Campbell, carpenter, of 18 Hardwicke St., Dublin, and Ellen Campbell (née Farrell). He also had three sisters, and a younger brother Laurence (below…...
Campbell, David R.
Campbell, David R. (1875–1934), trade unionist, was born in Belfast. Coming from a protestant and Orange background, Campbell was a member of the Belfast Socialist Society and of the Belfast Trades Council, where he represented insurance agents. He was elected president of the BTC…...
Campbell, George Frederick
Campbell, George Frederick (1917–79), painter and stained-glass artist, was born 29 July 1917 in Arklow, Co. Wicklow, youngest of three sons of Matthew Arthur Campbell (d. 1925), caterer, and Gretta Campbell (née Bowen) (qv),…...