Birchensha (Berchensha, Birchenshaw, Birkenshaw), John
Birchensha (Berchensha, Birchenshaw, Birkenshaw), John (fl. 1641–1681), musical theorist, composer, teacher, and violist, was probably born in Dublin. He may have been the younger son of Sir Ralph Birchensha (fl. 1602), author of the verse account A discourse…...
Blackham, Dorothy Isabel
Blackham, Dorothy Isabel (1896–1975), artist and teacher, was born 1 March 1896 in 4 Beechwood Rd, Rathmines, Dublin, daughter of Charles H. Blackham, chief cashier at Kingsbridge railway terminus, and Jane Ruthven Blackham (née Lowry) of Killyleagh, Co. Down. She was related on her…...
Black, Robert Denis (R. D.) Collison ('Bob')
Black, Robert Denis (R. D.) Collison ('Bob') (1922–2008), economist, was born at Morehampton Terrace, Donnybrook, Dublin, on 11 June 1922, the son of William Robert Black, commercial clerk in the grain trade, and his wife Rose Anna Mary (née Reid). The family moved to Waltham…...
Blathmac
Blathmac (d. 825), son of Flann, prior or acting abbot of Iona, was guardian of the relics of Colum Cille (qv) during the absence of the abbot, Diarmait, and was murdered by the vikings. According to Walafrid Strabo's ‘Vita…...
Blennerhassett, Sir Rowland
Blennerhassett, Sir Rowland (1839–1909), 4th baronet, politician, and author, was born 5 September 1839 at Blennerville, Co. Kerry, the only son among two children of Sir Arthur Blennerhassett (1794–1849), 3rd baronet, a catholic landowner and high sheriff of Co. Kerry (1820), and…...
Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen
Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen (1840–1922), eccentric, traveller, and poet, was born 17 August 1840 at Petworth House, Sussex, second son of Francis Scawen Blunt of Crabbet House, Sussex, who was a grenadier guard, and his wife Mary Chandler of Surrey, daughter of a Church of England…...
Boisil
Boisil (d. c.660), abbot of Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland, was a successor of the Columban mission to Scotland and Northumbria. Bede (‘Historia ecclesiastica’, iv, 27) describes him as ‘a priest of great virtues, endowed with the spirit of prophecy’. He became 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…...
Borumborad, Achmet (Joyce, Patrick)
Borumborad, Achmet (Joyce, Patrick) (fl. 1772–82), quack and fraud, was a promoter of Turkish baths in Dublin. He claimed to have been born in, and to have fled from, Constantinople (Istanbul). His actual origins are unknown, though he was probably born in Co. Kilkenny.…...
Bourke, Ulick Joseph
Bourke, Ulick Joseph (1829–87), catholic priest, Irish-language revivalist, teacher, and antiquarian, was born 29 December 1829 at Laherdane, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, son of Ulick Bourke and his wife Cecilia Sheridan. He was educated at Errew Monastery, Castlebar, and studied Irish…...
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…...
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…...
Brandt, Ruth
Brandt, Ruth (1936–89), artist and teacher, was born 22 June 1936 in Dublin, eldest child of Frank Brandt, graphic designer, and the artist Muriel Brandt (qv) (née McKinley). She was educated at the Dominican convent, Santa…...
Brazil, Dame Johanna
Brazil, Dame Johanna (Sister Mary Phillipa ) (1896–1988), Sister of Mercy, teacher, and nurse, was born 25 December 1896 in Kilfinane, Co. Limerick, daughter of Thomas Brazil, farmer, and Julia Brazil (née Devane). Educated at the local convent national school, she was one of a group…...
Brenan, James
Brenan, James (1837–1907), painter and educationalist, was born in Dublin, the eldest son of Thomas Brenan. After studying art at the RDS school of design (then in Leinster House) and at the school of the…...
Brenan, John
Brenan, John (1768–1830), physician and satirist, was born March 1768, eldest of six children of a minor landed catholic family from Ballaghide, Co. Carlow. The details of his early life are unknown. In 1793 he wrote epigrams and short verse for Dublin magazines. Claiming to have…...
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…...
Bricc (Briccín da Beccóg)
Bricc (Briccín da Beccóg) (fl. 7th cent.), associated with Túaim Drecain (Tomregan, Co. Cavan), was a descendant of Ailill Ólom (qv), ancestral figure of the Éoganachta of Munster, according to late genealogies. At the time of…...
Bridgeman, Joanna (Sister Mary Francis)
Bridgeman, Joanna (Sister Mary Francis) (1813–88), Sister of Mercy, educator, and Crimean war nurse, was born in Ballagh, Ruan, Co. Clare, one of four children (two sons and two daughters) of St John Bridgeman and his wife Lucy Reddan. Her mother was a relative of…...
Bridle, Kathleen
Bridle, Kathleen (1897–1989), artist and art teacher, was born 19 November 1897 at Swalecliff, Kent, England, second of three daughters of James Bridle, a lieutenant and coastguard, and Janet Bridle (née Flower), a school teacher. Due to her father's profession, her family moved to…...
Brigit (Brighid, Bríd, Bride, Bridget)
Brigit (Brighid, Bríd, Bride, Bridget) (possibly c.450–524), reputed foundress and first abbess of Cell Dara (Kildare), is the female patron saint of Ireland, but it is uncertain whether she existed as a person. Most scholars regard her as a ghost personality generated in the…...
Briúinsech Cael (Briuineach)
Briúinsech Cael (Briuineach) (6th cent.?), church foundress and saint in the Irish tradition; her father is named as Crimthann, but her lineage is unrecorded. She is said to have had two sisters, Luchad and Tudella. Briúinsech apparently became a member of the community of…...
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…...