Boyd, Hugh
Boyd, Hugh (1690–1765), entrepreneur, was one of several sons of the Rev. William Boyd, vicar of Ramoan, Co. Antrim (who is said to have had at least two sons by a second marriage), and his first wife, Rose, daughter of Daniel MacNeill of Dunaneeny near Ballycastle. The Boyd family…...
Boyd, John
Boyd, John (1912–2002), radio producer and playwright, was born 19 July 1912 at 9 Baskin Street, in a working-class area of east Belfast, the first of three children (two boys and a girl) of Robert Boyd, a fireman on steam engines and later an engine driver, and Jane Boyd (née Leeman).…...
Boyd, Stephen
Boyd, Stephen (1928–77), actor, was born William Millar 4 July 1928 at Glengormley near Belfast. He took his mother's maiden name for the stage, and became a US citizen under that name in 1963. He began acting with the Carnmoney Amateur Dramatic Society, making his professional…...
Boylan, Eugene
Boylan, Eugene (Richard Kevin) (1904–64), physicist, monk, and writer, was born 3 February 1904 in Bray, Co. Wicklow, and was baptised Richard Kevin Boylan, one of at least three sons and two daughters of Richard Joseph Boylan, manager of the Hibernian Bank, and Agnes Honoria…...
Boylan, James
Boylan, James (1899–1982), footwear manufacturer and company director, was born 23 June 1899 in Ballybay, Co. Monaghan, eldest son among five sons and six daughters of John Michael Boylan, small farmer at Ballybay, and Hannah Boylan (née Connolly). Educated locally, he left school (May…...
Boyle, Robert
Boyle, Robert (1627–91), natural philosopher, was born 25 January 1627 at Lismore Castle, fourteenth child and seventh son of Richard Boyle (qv), 1st earl of Cork, and his second wife, …...
Bradley, Daniel Joseph ('Dan')
Bradley, Daniel Joseph ('Dan') (1928–2010), physicist, was born in Derry city on 18 January 1928, the son of John Columba Bradley, a Post Office worker, and his wife Margaret (née Keating), one of ten daughters of farming stock, originally from near Cashel, Co. Tipperary. He was the…...
Brambell, Francis William Rogers
Brambell, Francis William Rogers (1901–70), zoologist, was born 25 February 1901 at Combridge House, Sandycove, Dublin, the eldest of the three sons of Louis Alfred Brambell, an accountant at the Guinness brewery, and his wife, Amelia Jane Mary, née Rogers. One of the three brothers…...
Brambell, Wilfrid
Brambell, Wilfrid (1912–85), actor, was born Henry Wilfrid Brambell 22 March 1912 at 6 Edenvale Road, Rathgar, Dublin, youngest of three sons of Henry Brambell, clerk in Guinness's brewery, and Edith Brambell (née Marks), an opera singer. He made his first stage appearance at the age of…...
Braughall, Thomas
Braughall, Thomas (1730–1803), merchant and politician, was born in Dublin (no further details of his background are known), and was one of the most forthright radical catholics to emerge from the Dublin merchant community in the eighteenth century. Braughall's ancestors had taken…...
Breen, Dermot H.
Breen, Dermot H. (1924–78), founder of Cork International Film Festival and film censor, was born 18 August 1924 in Waterford, sixth child of James Breen and Brigid Breen. He was educated in Cork at the Presentation Brothers College and at the Provincial College. Initially a…...
Brennan, Denis Gerard
Brennan, Denis Gerard (1927–83), actor and broadcaster, was born 20 June 1927 in Sandyford, Co. Dublin, into a theatrical family, youngest of three children of Patrick Joseph Brennan, farmer, and Eva Jane Brennan (née Hayden), songwriter, broadcaster, and producer of variety…...
Brennan, Joseph
Brennan, Joseph (1887–1976), civil servant and banker, was born 18 November 1887 at Hill Terrace, Bandon, Co. Cork, eldest son among seven children of Joseph Brennan (d. 1948), businessman, and his wife Mary (née Hickey). He was educated at the local national school, Clongowes…...
Brennan, Martin
Brennan, Martin (1900–56), revolutionary, doctor, politician, and film censor, was born 9 August 1900 in the family home at Rhue, Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo, sixth of thirteen children of Matthew Brennan (d. 1921), farmer and Fenian, and his wife Bridget (d. 1934), teacher, daughter of…...
Brenon, Herbert
Brenon, Herbert (1880–1958), American film director, actor, and producer, was born 13 January 1880 in Dublin, son of Edward St John Brenon, editor and drama critic, of London, and Frances Brenon (née Harris), writer, of Dublin. Young Brenon attended the elite St Paul's School and…...
Brent, George
Brent, George (1904–79), actor, was born George Nolan 15 March 1904 at Main St., Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, son of John Nolan, shopkeeper, and Mary Nolan (née McGuinness). Orphaned in 1915, he moved briefly to New York where he was cared for by an aunt, returning later to Dublin to…...
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…...
Briscoe, Robert Emmet
Briscoe, Robert Emmet (1894–1969), republican, Zionist, and businessman, was born 25 September 1894 at Lower Beechwood Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin, third child and second son among four sons and three daughters of Abraham William Briscoe, merchant, native of Zagar, Kovno, Lithuania, and…...
Brogan, Harry
Brogan, Harry (1905–77), actor, was born 5 May 1905 in Holywood, Co. Down, son of John Brogan, bricklayer and stonemason, and Margaret Brogan (née Hickey). The family moved to 17 Emmet St., Harold's Cross, Dublin, in his infancy. In 1918 he made his first stage appearance with…...
Brooke, Francis Theophilus (‘Frank’)
Brooke, Francis Theophilus (‘Frank’) (1851–1920), land agent and railway executive, was born in 1851, the youngest of the five sons of George Augustus Frederick Brooke DL (1805–74), of Ashbrooke, Co. Fermanagh, and Lady Arabella Georgina…...
Brooke, Gustavus Vaughan
Brooke, Gustavus Vaughan (1818–66), actor, was born 25 April 1818 at 40 Hardwicke Place, Dublin, eldest among two sons and two daughters of Gustavus Brooke (d. 1827), an unsuccessful property dealer, later county inspector of police for Longford, and a freeman of Dublin, and Frances…...
Brooke, Sir George Frederick
Brooke, Sir George Frederick (1849–1926), landlord, wine merchant, and banker, was born on 13 August 1849, the eldest son of the three sons and three daughters of Francis Richard Brooke (1817–67), of Summerton, Castleknock, Co. Dublin, and Coolgreany, Co. Wexford, and the Hon.…...
Brougham, John
Brougham, John (1810–80), actor and playwright, was born 9 May 1810 in Dublin, in what appears to have been a respectable protestant family. His parents’ names are unknown, though his mother was said to be of huguenot extraction. It is possible that he was related to John Brougham (…...
Brown, Alexander
Brown, Alexander (1764–1834), linen dealer and merchant banker, was born 17 November 1764 in Ballymena, Co. Antrim, one of four surviving children of William Brown and Margaret Brown (née Davison). As a young man, Brown achieved some success as a linen dealer and auctioneer in Belfast.…...
Browne, Dennis
Browne, Dennis (1908–91), 10th marquess of Sligo (also Baron Monteagle of Westport (UK), earl of Altamont, and 7th earl of Clanricarde ), and promoter of Irish tourism, was born on 13 December 1908, probably in London, eldest child of Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Alfred Eden Browne (Royal…...