Betham, Cecilia Maria Eleanor
Betham, Cecilia Maria Eleanor (1843–1913), archer, was born in January 1843 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the second child and only daughter of Molyneux Cecil John Betham (1813–80), archivist, and Elizabeth Betham (née Ford), the daughter of Sir Richard Ford, chief magistrate (1800–06)…...
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…...
Bindon, Francis
Bindon, Francis (c.1690–1765), portraitist and architect, was fourth son among nine children of David Bindon (c.1650–1733) of Clooney, Co. Clare, landowner and MP for Ennis 1715–27, and Dorothy, daughter of Samuel Burton of Buncraggy, Co. Clare. He studied painting…...
Binks, J. Harold
Binks, J. Harold (1911–86), trade unionist, was born in Portadown, Co. Armagh, one of several sons of Thomas J. Binks (who was probably the Thomas James Binks, carpenter, resident at 66 Hanover Street, married to Annie S. Binks (née Kelly)). He attended a mixed-denominational…...
Blackham, Dorothy Isabel
Blackham, Dorothy Isabel (1896–1975), artist and teacher, was born 1 March 1896 in 4 Beechwood Rd, Rathmines, Dublin, daughter of Charles H. Blackham, chief cashier at Kingsbridge railway terminus, and Jane Ruthven Blackham (née Lowry) of Killyleagh, Co. Down. She was related on her…...
Blackshaw, Basil
Blackshaw, Basil (1932–2016), artist, was born on 20 July 1932 in Glengormley, Co. Antrim, the youngest of seven surviving children of Samson (Sam) Blackshaw, a groom and gamekeeper from England, and his wife Edith (née Clayton), the daughter of a gamekeeper, from Coalisland, Co.…...
Blake, Edmund
Blake, Edmund (fl. 1752), co-founder of steeplechasing, is credited with taking part in the first recorded steeplechase when he and ‘O'Callaghan’ raced four-and-a–half miles (7.24 km) from Buttevant church to the steeple of St Leger, Doneraile, Co. Cork, in 1752. The first…...
Blake, Edith
Blake, Edith (1845–1926), botanical illustrator and writer, was born in Newtown Anner, near Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, eldest daughter of the heiress Catherine Isabella Osborne (1819–80) of Newtown Anner, and Ralph Bernal Osborne (qv), (…...
Blake, Richard Thomas
Blake, Richard Thomas (1868–1937), secretary of the GAA and journalist, was born 15 January 1868 at Ladyrath, Rathkenny, Navan, Co. Meath, eldest son of seven sons and one daughter of Philip Blake (d. 1906), large farmer, and Eliza Martha Blake (née Cogan). His interest in and…...
Blanchflower, John (Jackie)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Blanchflower, Robert Dennis (‘Danny’). View the original entry....
Blanchflower, Robert Dennis (‘Danny’)
Blanchflower, Robert Dennis (‘Danny’) (1925–93), soccer player, international manager, and journalist, was born 10 February 1925 at Dunraven Park, Bloomfield, Belfast, eldest among three sons and two daughters of John Blanchflower, shipyard craftsman, and Selina Blanchflower (née…...
Blease, William John ('Billy')
Blease, William John ('Billy') (1914–2008), Baron Blease of Cromac, trade unionist and politician, was born 28 May 1914 in Gosford Street, off the Ormeau Road, Belfast, eldest of three sons and one daughter of William John Blease (1886–1954), restaurant chef and trade-union activist,…...
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…...
Boland, James (‘Jim’)
Boland, James (‘Jim’) (1856–95), IRB and GAA member, was born 6 October 1856 in Manchester, son of Patrick Boland, labourer, originally from Fuerty, Co. Roscommon, and Eliza Boland (née Kelly), from Mount Bellew, Co. Galway, a first cousin of the Fenian…...
Boland, John Mary Pius
Boland, John Mary Pius (1870–1958), politician, lawyer, and tennis player, was born on 16 September 1870 at 135 Capel Street, Dublin, the second son of Patrick Boland (1840–1877), a prosperous milling merchant, and his wife Mary Donnelly. After beginning his education at the Catholic…...
Bolton, Mary
Bolton, Mary (1920–96), counsellor, was born 16 September 1920 in Co. Donegal. An orphan, she was adopted by a farming couple in Co. Tyrone. As a young woman she settled in London, where she became an alcoholic. Recovering from her addiction as a result of treatment under Dr Max…...
Booth, Eva Selina Gore-
Booth, Eva Selina Gore- (1870–1926), poet, mystic, trade unionist and suffragist, was born on 22 May 1870 at Lissadell, Co. Sligo, the second of three daughters (and two sons) of Sir Henry Gore-Booth, 5th baronet and Arctic explorer, and his wife, Georgina (née Hill) of Tickhill castle…...
Boran, Nicholas (Nixie)
Boran, Nicholas (Nixie) (1903–72), trade unionist, was born in 1903 at Massford in the colliery district north of Castlecomer in Co. Kilkenny, the second in a family of four born to George Boran, a small farmer and coal carter, and his wife, Mary (née Maher). Nicholas attended…...
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…...
Boucher, James Chrysostom (‘Jimmy’)
Boucher, James Chrysostom (‘Jimmy’) (1910–95), cricketer, was born in Dublin on 22 December 1910. He was the only son and one of three children of James Boucher, a quarter-master sergeant in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, who died in 1918, having been invalided out two years…...
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…...
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…...
Bowles, John Joseph
Bowles, John Joseph (1879–1949), handball player, was born 5 September 1879 in Clare St., Thomondgate, Limerick, son of Joseph Bowles, cooper, and Lisa Bowles (née Cusack). Although he gained initial recognition as an oarsman with Shannon Rowing Club, he achieved fame through…...
Bowman, Alexander
Bowman, Alexander (1855–1924), trade unionist, was born 16 March 1855 at Dromara, Co. Down, eldest child among three sons and two daughters of William McKeown, farmer and weaver, and his wife Elizabeth (née Rodgers). McKeown was a catholic; Rodgers, a presbyterian, had been previously…...
Boyd, Alexander (‘Alex’)
Boyd, Alexander (‘Alex’) (fl.1902–1923), trade-union and independent Orange leader, was born in Belfast, where he was employed as a stoker in the gasworks. By 1902 he was organiser of Belfast's Municipal Employees’ Association (MEA), recruiting among the largely protestant…...