Bladen, William
Bladen, William (c.1585–1663), printer and bookseller, was born in England, son of Thomas Bladen, yeoman of Derbyshire; nothing is known of his mother. In 1602 he became an apprentice in the London Stationers’ company, being freed on 7 May 1610. Thereafter he worked in…...
Blake, James
Blake, James (p.1560–1635), alias ‘Caddell’, ‘Blackcaddell’, ‘Blague’, and ‘Diego de Blac(c)adell’, merchant, soldier, and double agent, was born in Galway, second son of Walter Blake (d. 1573) and his wife Juliana (née Browne). The aliases derive from variants on ‘Blake’…...
Blake, John
Blake, John (c.1594–1680), merchant, was the eldest son, of the four sons and one daughter, of Nicholas Blake, merchant, of Galway, and his second wife, Juliana, daughter of Valentine French. He was head of the senior, but by no means most prosperous, branch of the Blake…...
Blakely, Colin George Edward
Blakely, Colin George Edward (1930–87), actor, was born 23 September 1930 at Bangor, Co. Down, the son of Victor Charles Blakely and Dorothy Margaret Blakely (née Ashmore). Educated at Sedbergh school in Yorkshire, he began work as a salesman in the family sports retail business,…...
Blake, Sir Valentine
Blake, Sir Valentine (1560–c.1634), merchant and mayor of Galway, was eldest of three sons of Walter Blake of Galway and Juliana Blake, daughter of James Browne of Galway. A leading merchant, trading at least with Spain and Portugal, by 1592 he was described as the…...
Blaney, Neal (Neil)
Blaney, Neal (Neil) (1889–1948), politician and businessman, was born 5 November 1889 in the family home at Rosnakill, Co. Donegal, fifth of six children of William Blaney, small farmer, and Anna Blaney (née Sweeney). Aged 12, he left school to work on the family farm, situated…...
Bloomfield, John Caldwell
Bloomfield, John Caldwell (1823–97), landlord and entrepreneur, was born 5 February 1823, eldest son of John Colpoys Bloomfield and Frances Arabella Bloomfield (née Caldwell); there were three other sons and a daughter. His mother, a descendant of Sir John Caldwell, was coheiress…...
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…...
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…...
Boate (De Boote, Boet, Bootius, Botius), Arnold
Boate (De Boote, Boet, Bootius, Botius), Arnold (1606–53) and , Gerard (1604–50), physicians and authors, were brothers, born in Gorinchem in the Netherlands, the sons of Godefroy de Boot and his wife Christina van Loon. Medical graduates of the University of Leiden, they settled…...
Boate, Gerard
This is a co-subject for the entry on Boate (De Boote, Boet, Bootius, Botius), Arnold. View the original entry....
Boland, Harry
Boland, Harry (1925–2013), businessman, was born Henry Boland on 21 September 1925 in the family home at Brian Road in Marino, Dublin, the fifth child of four sons and three daughters of Gerald Boland (qv), politician, and his wife Anne (née…...
Boland, William
Boland, William (1895–1960), businessman, was born in Bunnyconnellan, Ballina, Co. Mayo, the sixth of the seven children of Christopher Boland, farmer and partner in Reilly's and Boland, general merchant. Educated at CBS Synge Street…...
Bolton, Samuel H.
Bolton, Samuel H. (1828/9–1897), builder, progressed from being a carpenter and builder at South Richmond Street, Dublin (1858), to being head of the firm of general building contractors bearing his name (1896). He built the new Shelbourne Hotel, St Stephen's Green, the Ulster Bank…...
Boole, George
Boole, George (1815–64), mathematician, was born 2 November 1815 at Lincoln, the first of four children of John Boole (1777–1848), a cobbler, and Mary Boole (1780–1854). Early life and first publications Boole received only a simple education, but with the…...
Booth, James
Booth, James (1806–78), mathematician and educationist, was born 25 August 1806, the eldest of the three children of John and Ellen Booth. John Booth was a landowner at Lavagh, Co. Leitrim; his son was to inherit about 100 acres. James was educated by a local clergyman, and…...
Boucicault, Dion Lardner
Boucicault, Dion Lardner (1820–90), playwright and actor, was born 27 December 1820 at Gardiner St., Dublin, probably the illegitimate son of Dr Dionysius Lardner (qv), a TCD scientist, and…...
Bourke, Patrick
Bourke, Patrick (1899–1982), civil servant and banker, was born 24 August 1899 in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick, third child and elder son of the five children of James Bourke, grocer and publican, and his wife Hanora. In 1906 the family moved to Oxmantown Road, Dublin, in…...
Bourke, Patrick John
Bourke, Patrick John (1883–1932), actor-manager and dramatist, was born at 34 Lower Dorset St., Dublin. His father, Laurence Bourke, died about 1892 and his mother, a native of Newbridge, Co. Kildare, three years later. He spent the next six years living with relatives in west Wicklow…...
Bourke, Patrick Lorcan
This is a co-subject for the entry on de Búrca, Séamus. View the original entry....
Bourke, Patrick Martin Austin
Bourke, Patrick Martin Austin (1913–95), meteorologist and historian, was born 10 May 1913 in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, second son of Patrick M. Bourke, stationmaster, and Clare Bourke (née O'Sullivan). He was educated at Mount Sion CBS…...
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…...
Bourne, Richard
Bourne, Richard (1770–1851), steamship owner and a founder of the P & O company, was born at Fethard Castle, Co. Tipperary, youngest of several sons. Entering the Royal Navy (1787), he was promoted lieutenant (1797) and commanded the Felix (1804); twice rewarded for…...
Bowles, William
Bowles, William (1720?–1780), naturalist and geologist, was probably born in 1720 near Cork city (some sources give his birth as 1705). He studied law in London at his parents' behest, but abandoned it in 1740 to study natural history, chemistry, metallurgy, and astronomy in Paris.…...
Boyce, James
Boyce, James (1909–66), actor and broadcaster, was born on 17 March 1909 in Belfast, the oldest of three sons of Hugh Boyce, a coachbuilder, and his wife Ellen (née Hayes), a dressmaker before marriage. The family, who were Christian Brethren in religion, lived in Rosebury Road, Ormeau…...