Anthony, Richard Sydney
Anthony, Richard Sydney (1875–1962), trade unionist and politician, was born 20 October 1875 in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, son of John Anthony, printer, and Mary Anthony (née Clancy or Clooney). Little is known about his early life or education except that the family moved to Cork when…...
Asgill, John
Asgill, John (1659–1738), eccentric writer and politician, was born at Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, England, and baptised on 25 March 1659, son of Edward and Hester Asgill. Little is known of his early life, but in 1686 he became a student of the Middle Temple and was called to…...
Barr, Andrew (Andy)
Barr, Andrew (Andy) (1913–2003), trade unionist and communist, was born 23 September 1913 at 29 Cluan Place, off Mountpottinger Road, Ballymacarrett, Belfast, second child among two sons and five daughters (two other children died in infancy) of Andrew Barr (d. 1986, aged 98), a…...
Barrett, John (‘Jacky’)
Barrett, John (‘Jacky’) (1753–1821), eccentric scholar, was born in Ballyroan, Queen's Co. (Laois), son of the Rev. Daniel Barrett, Church of Ireland clergyman, and his wife Rossamund Gofton. Educated by a Mr Sheils in Dublin, he entered TCD…...
Barry, Denis
Barry, Denis (1883–1923), Irish Volunteer, commandant of the Cork No. 1 Brigade and trade unionist, was born on 13 July 1883, in Riverstick, Cullen, Co. Cork, the son of John Barry, farmer and Nora Barry (née Sullivan). Denis was born on the family farm, the second youngest of eight…...
Beattie, John (‘Jack’)
Beattie, John (‘Jack’) (1886–1960), socialist and trade unionist, was born 14 April 1886 into a presbyterian family in Ballymacarrett, Belfast, son of Robert Beattie, dealer, and Eliza Beattie (née Downey). He left school aged 13 and worked at the Belfast Ropeworks before joining…...
Bergin, Patrick
Bergin, Patrick (1913–91), trade unionist and republican, was born in Carlow on 6 February 1913, one of nine children of a railway signalman. His mother, an ardent republican and a devout catholic, came from a Co. Westmeath family of shopkeepers and small farmers. Having been…...
Binks, J. Harold
Binks, J. Harold (1911–86), trade unionist, was born in Portadown, Co. Armagh, one of several sons of Thomas J. Binks (who was probably the Thomas James Binks, carpenter, resident at 66 Hanover Street, married to Annie S. Binks (née Kelly)). He attended a mixed-denominational…...
Blease, William John ('Billy')
Blease, William John ('Billy') (1914–2008), Baron Blease of Cromac, trade unionist and politician, was born 28 May 1914 in Gosford Street, off the Ormeau Road, Belfast, eldest of three sons and one daughter of William John Blease (1886–1954), restaurant chef and trade-union activist,…...
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…...
Boran, Nicholas (Nixie)
Boran, Nicholas (Nixie) (1903–72), trade unionist, was born in 1903 at Massford in the colliery district north of Castlecomer in Co. Kilkenny, the second in a family of four born to George Boran, a small farmer and coal carter, and his wife, Mary (née Maher). Nicholas attended…...
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.…...
Bowman, Alexander
Bowman, Alexander (1855–1924), trade unionist, was born 16 March 1855 at Dromara, Co. Down, eldest child among three sons and two daughters of William McKeown, farmer and weaver, and his wife Elizabeth (née Rodgers). McKeown was a catholic; Rodgers, a presbyterian, had been previously…...
Boyd, Alexander (‘Alex’)
Boyd, Alexander (‘Alex’) (fl.1902–1923), trade-union and independent Orange leader, was born in Belfast, where he was employed as a stoker in the gasworks. By 1902 he was organiser of Belfast's Municipal Employees’ Association (MEA), recruiting among the largely protestant…...
Boyd, Thomas William (‘Tom’)
Boyd, Thomas William (‘Tom’) (1903–91), socialist and trade unionist, was born 13 April 1903 in Woodstock Road, east Belfast, one of nine children of James Boyd, shipyard clerk, and Mary Boyd (née McCully), both originally from Co. Down. He left Ravenscroft national school,…...
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…...
Brosnahan, Seán
Brosnahan, Seán (1911–87), teacher and trade unionist, was born 26 August 1911 in Killaloe, Co. Clare, one of nine children of John Brosnahan, RIC sergeant, and Norah Brosnahan (née Ryan) (d. 1946). One of his brothers was Thomas J.…...
Brown, George
Brown, George (1906–37), communist and trade unionist, was born 5 November 1906 in Ballyhale, Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, son of Francis Brown, a farrier with the Manchester Railway Company and an active trade unionist, originally from Inistiogue, Co. Kilkenny, and Mary Brown (née…...
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…...
Burn, Thomas Henry
Burn, Thomas Henry (1875–1949), trade unionist and politician, was born in Belfast, son of Thomas Henry Burn. Little is known of his family life but he was educated at Belfast National School and subsequently trained as a lithographic printer. The Ulster Unionist Labour…...
Butler, John (‘Jack’)
Butler, John (‘Jack’) (1891–1968), trade unionist and politician, was born in Lackendarra, Ballinamult, Co. Waterford, and grew up in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. Leaving school aged fifteen, he became a labourer and on the formation of the…...
Byrne, James
Byrne, James (c.1875–1913), trade unionist, was born at 5 Clarence St., Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire), Co. Dublin, and lived at the address all his life. A large, strapping giant of a man, he worked locally on the docks, and eventually in Heiton's coal depot. About 1910 he…...
Byrne, Robert (‘Bobby’)
Byrne, Robert (‘Bobby’) (1889–1919), trade unionist and republican, was born 28 November 1889 at 5 Upper Oriel St., Dublin, one of three sons of Robert Byrne, fitter, of North Strand, Dublin, and Annie Byrne (née Hurley) of Limerick. He was a cousin of…...
Campbell, David R.
Campbell, David R. (1875–1934), trade unionist, was born in Belfast. Coming from a protestant and Orange background, Campbell was a member of the Belfast Socialist Society and of the Belfast Trades Council, where he represented insurance agents. He was elected president of the BTC…...
Campbell, John Patrick (‘Seán’)
Campbell, John Patrick (‘Seán’) (1889–1950), trade unionist, was born 4 March 1889 in Dublin, the son of John Campbell, a labourer, and Isabella Campbell (née Darragh). The family lived at 27 New Bride Street. He was educated at CBS…...