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…...
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…...
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, 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…...
Bran
Bran (d. 838), son of Fáelán and overking of Leinster 835–8, was a member of the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. He belonged in fact to the lineage of Uí Dúnchada, which had probably by this time established its base at Liamain (Newcastle Lyons, on the boundary of counties Kildare and Dublin…...
Bran Ardchenn
Bran Ardchenn (d. 795), son of Muiredach and overking of Leinster, belonged to the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. His father Muiredach (reigned 738–60) was a strong ruler whose descendants through Bran (whose sobriquet may be rendered as ‘high head’) later formed the dynastic lineage of…...
Bran (Bróen)
Bran (Bróen) (d. 1052), son of Máel-mórda and overking of Leinster 1016–18, belonged to the Uí Fháeláin lineage of the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty. His father Máel-mórda (qv), who had held the overkingship of Leinster, was slain in the battle of…...
Brandub
Brandub (d. c.605/8), son of Eochu and overking of Leinster, belonged to the dynasty of Uí Chennselaig, which in the late sixth to early seventh century contested supremacy in Leinster with the Uí Máil dynasty. Little seems to be known about his father Eochu; he may…...
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…...
Brian Bórama (Bóruma, Boru)
Brian Bórama (Bóruma, Boru) (d. 1014), high-king of Ireland, was born towards the middle of the tenth century. The surviving sources record the event under the year 941, but may have done so retrospectively in recognition of the fame he acquired relatively quickly in death. His epithet…...
Brión
Brión (5th cent.?), son of Eochaid (Eochu) Mugmedóin, an early figure of the Connachta and eponymous ancestor of the Uí Briúin dynasty, is represented in genealogical tradition as the eldest son of the king of Connacht and Mongfhind, his queen (Rawl. B 502, 138a; Lec. 389a;…...
Brodir (Brodar)
Brodir (Brodar) (d. 1014), viking leader and alleged slayer of Brian Bóruma, may be identified as a son of Audgisl, a jarl from the Scandinavian kingdom of York. The Irish annals place him among the prominent figures slain in the battle of Clontarf, designating him as a commander of…...
Bruce, William
Bruce, William (1702–55), publisher and writer, was born in Killyleagh, Co. Down, the youngest of the three sons of the Rev. James Bruce (qv) (1660?–1730), and his wife, Margaret (née Trail), of Tullychin (d. 1706). He was educated at the…...
Bulkeley, Sir Richard
Bulkeley, Sir Richard (1660–1710), politician and eccentric philanthropist, was born 17 August 1660 in Dublin. His great-grandfather was Archbishop Lancelot Bulkeley (qv), while his father, Richard Bulkeley (1634–85), MP for…...
Bulleid, Oliver Vaughan Snell
Bulleid, Oliver Vaughan Snell (1882–1970), railway engineer, was born 19 September 1882 at Invercargill, New Zealand, eldest child of William Bulleid (originally of North Taunton, Devon, England) and his wife, Marian, daughter of Oliver Vaughan Pugh of Llanfyllin, Montgomeryshire,…...
Burgess, Henry Givens
Burgess, Henry Givens (1859–1937), transport administrator, was born 6 April 1859 at Finnoe House, near Borrisokane, Co. Tipperary, son of George Burgess, land steward of the Waller family; his mother's maiden name was Givens. His father farmed in an area so ‘troubled’ by…...
Burke, Mary
This is a co-subject for the entry on O'Rourke (Ó Ruairc), Brian Ballach. View the original entry....
Butler, Isaac
Butler, Isaac (1689/90?–1755), almanac maker, botanist, and antiquary, was by 1725 in business as a bookseller and publisher in Patrick Street, Dublin; he was a quarter-brother of the printers’ guild (1728–31). His first almanac was Advice from the stars (1725), which he…...
Byrne, Patrick
Byrne, Patrick (1740/41–1814), printer, bookseller, and United Irishman, had a flourishing business in Dublin, at 35 College Green (1779–85) and 108 Grafton Street (1785–99). Byrne's business was probably the largest of its kind in Ireland in the eighteenth century. One indication…...
Cahill, Pearse
Cahill, Pearse (1917–2011), aviator, businessman and race driver, was born Matthew Pearse Cahill (in honour of the executed leader of the 1916 rising) in Dublin on 26 January 1917, son of Hugh Cahill (1883–1966), of Glasnevin, Dublin, and his wife Caroline (née O'Connor). The owner-…...
Cairell
Cairpre
Cairpre (fl. c.501?), putatively son of Niall and king of Tara, is the eponymous ancestor of the Cenél Cairpri. He may be regarded as a proto-historical figure; quite apart from his role as a dynastic ancestor, his inclusion in the seventh-century tract ‘Baile Chuinn’…...
Cairpre (Corpre) Lifechair
Cairpre (Corpre) Lifechair , son of Cormac and putatively king of Tara, is a pseudo-historical character and an ancestor-figure of the Connachta and Uí Néill. He is represented in genealogical tradition as a son of Cormac (qv) son of Art,…...
Cano
Cano (d. 688), son of Gartnait and a contender for the kingship of Dál Riata in Scotland, was among the leading figures of the royal line of Cenél nGartnait. He is probably to be identified as a son of Gartnait son of Accidán, whose followers opposed the Dál Riata ruling lineage of…...