Brenan, Martin
Brenan, Martin (1901–82), priest and academic, was born 23 August 1901 at Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, one of five children of John Brenan, a labourer, and Kate Brenan (née Butler). After studying at Maynooth College he was ordained a priest of the diocese of Kildare and Leighlin in…...
Brendan (Brénainn)
Brendan (Brénainn) of Birr (d. 565/73), saint in the Irish tradition, was the son of Neman. The historical facts concerning him are few, and nothing survives of his monastic foundation at Birr, Co. Offaly. He is said to have been educated at the great monastery of Bangor. According…...
Brendan (Brénainn)
Brendan (Brénainn) of Clonfert (d. 577/83), saint in the Irish tradition, monastic founder, and reputed voyager, is believed to have been born in the district around what is now Tralee, Co. Kerry, into a south-western branch of the Ciarraige: the Ciarraige Luachra, of whom he is the…...
Brennan, Stan (Stanislaus)
Brennan, Stan (Stanislaus) (1929–2012), Franciscan missionary, was born James (Seamus) Brennan on 1 December 1929 at Carrowkeel, Co. Roscommon, the seventh of ten children born to James Brennan and his wife Kate (née O'Dowd) who were farmers. He was initially educated at the local…...
Brice (Bryce), Edward
Brice (Bryce), Edward (1569–1636), generally regarded as the first presbyterian minister in Ireland, is said to have been born at Airth, Stirlingshire, Scotland, possibly of the Bruce family, lairds of Airth. He entered Edinburgh University (1589), graduated…...
Brinkley, John
Brinkley, John (1766?–1835), astronomer and bishop, was born in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England, and baptised 31 January 1767, illegitimate son of John Toler and Sarah Brinkley, who later married James Boulter. He was educated by clergymen in Suffolk (it is not known at whose expense…...
Bristol, Ralph of
Bristol, Ralph of (d. 1232), bishop of Kildare, was a native of Bristol. It is not known when he came to Ireland, but he probably arrived in the train of Henry of London (qv) (d. 1228), who became archbishop of Dublin upon the death…...
Bristow, William
Bristow, William (1736–1808), clergyman and sovereign of Belfast, was born 24 October 1736 in Wiltshire, son of Skeffington Bristow, Church of Ireland clergyman, and Elizabeth Bristow (née Grattan), clergyman's daughter and cousin of Henry…...
Brittaine, George
Brittaine, George (1788–1848), protestant evangelical preacher and novelist, was born in 1788 in Dublin, the son of Rev Patrick Brittain (1762–1804), curate of St James's parish from 1789 to 1804. (The spelling Brittaine was adopted by George). He entered…...
Brocas, Henry
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BROCAS, Henry, senior
BROCAS, Henry, senior (1762/5–1837), painter and engraver, was born in Dublin, the fifth son of Robert Brocas of Dublin, and Bridget Brocas (née Taylor) of Wexford. His brother James (1754–80) was also an artist. Self-taught, Henry made a particular study of the English masters, and…...
Brocas, James Henry
This is a co-subject for the entry on BROCAS, Henry, senior. View the original entry....
Brocas, Samuel Frederick
This is a co-subject for the entry on BROCAS, Henry, senior. View the original entry....
Brocas, William
This is a co-subject for the entry on BROCAS, Henry, senior. View the original entry....
Broccán (Brogan) Clóen
Broccán (Brogan) Clóen (‘squint[-eyed]’) (d. 650), abbot of Ros Tuirc in Ossory, was credited with the poem, ‘Ní car Brigit búadach bíth’, on the miracles of St Brigit (qv). According to its preface, Broccán's…...
Brodrick, Charles
Brodrick, Charles (1761–1822), Church of Ireland archbishop of Cashel, was born 3 May 1761 in London, the fourth son of George Brodrick (1730–1765), third Viscount Midleton, and his wife, Albinia, née Townshend (c.1737–1808). The Brodrick family had estates in England and…...
Brontë, Patrick
Brontë, Patrick (1777–1861), Church of England clergyman and writer, was born 17 March 1777, in Emdale, Drumballyroney, Co. Down, the eldest of the ten children of Hugh Prunty , or Brunty, a protestant farm labourer, and Eleanor or Alice (née McClory), born a catholic. He is known…...
Brooke, Stopford Augustus
Brooke, Stopford Augustus (1832–1916), clergyman and author, was born 14 November 1832 at ‘Glendoen’, near Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, eldest of eight children of the Rev. Richard Sinclair Brooke, the local curate, and Anna Brooke (née Stopford). When his maternal grandfather and…...
Brooke, William Graham
Brooke, William Graham (1834–1907), public servant, influential Church of Ireland layman, and promoter of education, was born 16 July 1834 in Wyton, Huntington, England, the second son of Rev. Richard Sinclair Brooke, curate of Glendoen, near Letterkenny, Co. Donegal (and from…...
Brooks, John
Brooks, John (b. c.1710, d. p. 1756), engraver and inventor, a native of Dublin, was the son of John Brooks, and was possibly of Dutch descent. The name also occurs in Dublin at that period as van der Brooks, and there were others of the name involved in…...
Brown (Browne), Nicholas
Brown (Browne), Nicholas (1661?–1708), clergyman and writer, was the son of John Brown, gentleman, and Edith Brown (née Slacke), daughter of a clergyman; both parents were from Co. Fermanagh. He entered TCD (1678) and was awarded a…...
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, David
Brown, David (c.1485–c.1559), Dominican priest and provincial, probably belonged to the Kerry branch of the Norman-Irish Brown family. The description of him as a distinguished filius of the Dominican priory of Tralee indicates that he entered the order…...
Browne, Francis Patrick Mary
Browne, Francis Patrick Mary (1880–1960), photographer and Jesuit priest, was born 3 January 1880 in Sunday's Well, Cork, youngest of eight children of James Browne, flour merchant and JP, and Brigid Browne (née Hegarty; 1840–80), who died…...
Browne, George
Browne, George (d. c.1556), archbishop of Dublin, began his career as an Augustinian friar, most probably in the early 1520s. An Englishman by birth, he remained a relatively obscure figure until, in 1532, he emerged as prior of the Augustinian friars’ London convent at…...