Blake, Anthony Richard
Blake, Anthony Richard (1786–1849), lawyer, administrator, and ‘backstairs viceroy of Ireland’, was second son of Martin Blake of Holly Park, Athenry, Co. Galway. He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn, London, 13 May 1808. A protégé of Charles Butler, former secretary of the catholic…...
Blake, Edward
Blake, Edward (1833–1912), politician and lawyer, was born 13 October 1833 in Adelaide, Upper Canada, the eldest son of William Hume Blake, chancellor of Upper Canada, of Cashel Grove, Co. Galway, and Catherine (Hume) Blake of Humewood, Co. Wicklow. He received his early education…...
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
Blake, Richard (c.1595–1663), lawyer and politician, was the eldest son of Robert Blake, a wealthy merchant from Ardfry, Co. Galway, and Katherine, daughter of Richard Darcy of Gorteen, Co. Galway. The Blakes, one of the fourteen ‘tribes’ of Galway, were centrally…...
Blake, Sir Henry Arthur
Blake, Sir Henry Arthur (1840–1918), police officer, resident magistrate, and colonial governor, was born 18 January 1840 in Corbally, Co. Limerick, son of Peter Blake (1809–50) of Corbally Castle, Co. Galway, county inspector of Irish Constabulary, and Jane Blake (née Lane) of…...
Blennerhassett, Sir John
Blennerhassett, Sir John (d. 1624), judge, born in Norfolk, England, was probably a son of Edward Blennerhassett and Susan Blennerhassett (née Pickerell) of The Laythes, Norwich, and probably also a nephew of …...
Blow, James
Blow, James (1676–1759), printer and papermaker in Belfast, was born 29 July 1676 in Scotland, possibly in Culross, Perthshire, a younger son among nine children of John Blow and Elizabeth Blow (née Wilson). He was apprenticed to the printer Patrick Neil (who had married his sister…...
Boal, Desmond Norman Orr
Boal, Desmond Norman Orr (1928–2015), lawyer and politician, was born on 8 August 1928 in St Columb’s Court, Derry city, the third of five children (and only son) of James Boal, cashier and bakery manager, and his wife Kathleen (nèe Walker). Brought up in the Church of Ireland, he was…...
Bodkin, Matthias McDonnell
Bodkin, Matthias McDonnell (1849–1933), journalist and lawyer, was born in October 1849 at Tuam, Co. Galway, younger son among five children of Thomas Bodkin (c.1799–1886), doctor and FRCSI, and Maria…...
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, 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, Sir Edward
Bolton, Sir Edward (1592–1659), lawyer and judge, was the eldest of the seven sons and two daughters of Sir Richard Bolton (qv), lawyer and judge, and his first wife, Frances, daughter of Richard Walter of Stafford. He was a member…...
Bolton, Sir Richard
Bolton, Sir Richard (c.1570–1648), lord chancellor, was son of John Bolton of Fenton Culvart, Stafford, England, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Richard Ash, also of Staffordshire. He entered the Inner Temple unusually late, in 1601, and left it unusually soon for a career…...
Booth, Sir Robert
Booth, Sir Robert (1626–81), judge, was baptised 2 July 1626, the eldest son of Robert Booth (d. a. August 1637) of Salford, Lancashire, and Ann, daughter of Oswald Mosley of Manchester. After an education at Manchester grammar school and St John's College, Cambridge, he…...
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, Thomas
Bourke, Thomas (fl. 1643–4), printer, has been considered the first known printer in Waterford. Though his background is not known, it has been argued that the ‘good standard of the typesetting and printing of his extant works demonstrate that he was already a well-trained…...
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…...
Bowes, John
Bowes, John (1691–1767), lord chancellor of Ireland and MP, was possibly born in either Surrey or Hertfordshire, second son of Thomas Bowes of Bishopsgate, London, member of the Turners' Company; his mother's name was North. Admitted to the Inner Temple, London (6 December 1712),…...
Boyle, (Christopher) Kevin
Boyle, (Christopher) Kevin (1943–2010), lawyer, academic and human rights activist, was born on 23 May 1943 in Newry, Co. Down, the fourth of nine children of Louis Boyle, a taxi driver, and his wife Elizabeth (or Alice) (née McArdle). The family was catholic. Kevin was educated locally…...
Boyle, Michael
Boyle, Michael (1615?–1702), Church of Ireland archbishop of Armagh, lord chancellor and lord justice, was probably born c.1615 (he gave his age as 64 in April 1679), the elder son among two sons and nine daughters of Richard Boyle (…...
Brabazon, Sir William
Brabazon, Sir William (d. 1552), vice-treasurer and lord justice of Ireland, was the son of John Brabazon, a landowner of Eastwell in Leicestershire, and his wife, whose maiden name was Chaworth. By 1526 he had entered the royal service as a land surveyor and accountant, gaining…...
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 (…...
Bradstreet, Sir Samuel
Bradstreet, Sir Samuel (1738–91), 3rd baronet, MP, and judge, was born in October 1738, second son among four children of Sir Simon Bradstreet (1693–1762), barrister and 1st baronet (cr. 1759) of Kilmainham, Co. Dublin, and his first cousin Ellen Bradstreet (1697?–1779), daughter…...
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…...