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…...
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…...
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, 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, 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.…...
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…...
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…...
Browne, Peter
Browne, Peter (c.1665–1735), theologian, provost of TCD, and bishop of Cork, was born in Co. Dublin, son of Richard Browne. After schooling by Mr Crow, he entered TCD in 1682, graduating BA…...
Brownlow, William
Brownlow, William (1755–1815), landowner, banker, and MP, was born 1 September 1755, elder of two sons of William Brownlow (qv) of Lurgan, Co. Armagh, one of the largest landowners in Co. Armagh and MP for the county (1753–94), and…...
Buchanan, Alan Alexander
Buchanan, Alan Alexander (1907–84), Church of Ireland archbishop, was born 23 March 1907 at Fintona, Co. Tyrone, son of Hugh Buchanan, solicitor, and Louie Donaldson of London. Educated at Masonic Boys' School, Dublin, and TCD, he…...
Buckworth, Theophilus
Buckworth, Theophilus (1580–1652), Church of Ireland bishop of Dromore, was baptised 8 January 1580, second son of Richard Buckworth and his wife Rose (maiden name unknown) of Wisbech, Cambs., England. He was a scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1596, and graduated…...
Bulkeley, Lancelot
Bulkeley, Lancelot (1568/9–1650), Church of Ireland archbishop of Dublin, was the youngest son of Sir Richard Bulkeley of Beaumaris, Anglesey, and his second wife, Agnes, daughter of Thomas Needham of Shropshire. He entered Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1587, graduated…...
Bunworth, Charles
Bunworth, Charles (c.1704–1772), clergyman, patron, and harper, was born in Newmarket, Co. Cork, second of at least three sons of Richard Bunworth, farmer, and Elizabeth Bunworth (née Philpot). He was educated by a family tutor, Mr Murdock, before entering…...
Burdy, Samuel
Burdy, Samuel (c.1758?–1820), Church of Ireland clergyman and writer, was born at Dromore, Co. Down, on 22 September, probably in the late 1750s, the only son of Peter Burdy, a merchant. He entered TCD as a sizar on 22 March…...
Burgh, William
Burgh, William (1741–1808), politician and religious polemicist, was the eldest son among eight children of Thomas Burgh (1696–1758) of Bert, Co. Kildare, landowner and MP for Lanesborough, Co. Longford (1727–58), and his wife Anne, daughter of Dives Downes, bishop of Cork and…...
Burke (de Burgo), Roland
Burke (de Burgo), Roland (d. 1580), catholic and protestant bishop, was the son of Redmond Burke of Tynagh, Co. Galway, and the grandson of Uilleag Burke (qv) (d. 1509), lord of the MacWilliam Uachtar. He…...
Burton, Benjamin
Burton, Benjamin (a.1665–1728), banker and politician, was third son of Samuel Burton of Buncraggy, Co. Clare, and Margery Burton (née Harris). He was attainted by the Jacobites in 1689, was appointed sheriff of Dublin 19 October 1694, and in 1700 founded ‘Burton's bank’ in…...
Butcher, Samuel
Butcher, Samuel (1811–76), scholar and Church of Ireland bishop of Meath, the eldest son of Vice-Admiral Samuel Butcher and his wife, Elizabeth (née Herbert), of Cahirnane, Co. Kerry, was born at his father's home in Danesfort, Killarney, Co. Kerry. He was educated at home until…...
Butler, Edmund
Butler, Edmund (d. 1551), Roman catholic and Church of Ireland archbishop of Cashel, was an illegitimate son of Piers Butler (qv), 8th earl of Ormond and 1st earl of Ossory. He became a regular Augustinian canon and is said…...
Butler, John
Butler, John (c.1731–1800), 12th Baron Dunboyne , sometime Roman Catholic bishop of Cork, was born at Grange in the parish of Kiltinan, Co. Tipperary, third son of Edmund Butler, 8th Baron Dunboyne, and his wife, Anne Grace, widow of Richard Nagle. He was ordained in…...
Butler, Richard
Butler, Richard (1794–1862), clergyman and antiquarian, was born 14 October 1794 near Granard, Co. Longford, second son among six sons and a daughter of Richard Butler, clergyman in Burnchurch, Co. Kilkenny, and Martha Butler (née Rothwell). He attended Kilkenny College and…...
Butler, William Archer
Butler, William Archer (1812?–1848), clergyman and professor of moral philosophy, was second son of Pierce Archer Butler and Anna Maria Butler (née Gallwey); their seven children were brought up as Roman Catholics by their mother, though the father, who had several times been…...