Archdeacon, Matthew
Archdeacon, Matthew (1798–1853), writer and schoolmaster, was born 17 March 1798 in Castlebar, Co. Mayo. He was probably the son of G. Archdeacon, recorded in 1810 as running a 'mathematical and mercantile school' in Castlebar, since from 1825 Matthew Archdeacon himself ran a '…...
Archer, James
Archer, James (1550–1620), Jesuit priest and administrator, was born at Kilkenny and belonged, it can be deduced, to a patrician family prominent in that city. To prepare for an ecclesiastical career he went (c.1564) to the Spanish Netherlands, to Louvain, a hotbed of the…...
Arkins, Thomas Michael
Arkins, Thomas Michael (1888–1913), founder of the Students' Representative Council, UCD, was born 14 September 1888 in Knockroe, Co. Clare, eldest of at least four sons and three daughters of John Arkins, farmer, and Bridget Arkins…...
Armstrong, James
Armstrong, James (1781?–1839), unitarian minister and educationist, was born at Ballynahinch, Co. Down, where his father John Armstrong (1754?–1837) was a merchant; his mother, Margaret (1751?–1836), was a daughter of John Strong (d. 1780), presbyterian minister at Ballynahinch (…...
Arnold, Thomas
Arnold, Thomas (1823–1900), literary scholar and teacher, was born at Laleham, Middlesex, on 30 November 1823, the third child and second son of Dr Thomas Arnold (1795–1842), later famous as the headmaster of Rugby School, and his wife, Mary, née Penrose (1791–1873). Throughout his life…...
Atkins, Henry St John
Atkins, Henry St John (1896–1987), president of UCC, was born in Cork on 19 March 1896, son of Patrick Atkins and Agnes Atkins (née Egan); he was educated at North Monastery school in Cork, and graduated…...
Beirne, Bryan Patrick
Beirne, Bryan Patrick (1918–98), entomologist and pest control expert, was born 22 January 1918 in Ballygeary, Co. Wexford, the elder son of Patrick Beirne, tax inspector with UK Customs and Excise and later the Irish Revenue Commissioners, and his wife Mabel, daughter of…...
Betagh, Thomas
Betagh, Thomas (1738–1811), Jesuit priest and educator, was born in May 1738 in Kells, Co. Meath, into a family of tanners whose ancestors had lost their estates in the Cromwellian confiscation. He received his early education at Kells, but was enrolled in the Jesuit academy in…...
Bewerunge, Heinrich
Bewerunge, Heinrich (1862–1923), musicologist, educator, and composer, was born 7 December 1862 in Letmathe, Westphalia, Germany, the second of nine children of Heinrich Hermann Bewerunge (1836–1901), a building contractor from Lüchtringen-an-der-Weser, and his wife, Maria…...
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…...
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…...
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…...
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.…...
Bruodin (MacBrody), Anthony
Bruodin (MacBrody), Anthony (d. 1680), Franciscan author and lecturer, was the son of Miler Bruodin, a landowner, and Margaret O'Mollony; he was a member of a bardic family of Ballyhogan, Co. Clare, who traditionally acted as chroniclers and genealogists to the O'Brien kings of…...
Bullen, Denis Brenan
Bullen, Denis Brenan (1802–66), surgeon and lecturer, probably born in Cork, was baptised 2 June 1802, second son (and second child) among three sons and five daughters of William Bullen, MD, and his wife Catherine Quindan. He was educated…...
Burke, James Dominic
Burke, James Dominic (1833–1904), Christian Brother and pioneer of technical education, was born in December 1833 in Limerick, eldest among five sons and two daughters of John Burke, cabinet-maker, and Mary Burke (née Ahern). He was educated at the…...
Burke, Patrick (Thomas; 'Tom')
Burke, Patrick (Thomas; 'Tom') (1923–2008), Carmelite priest, scientist and co-founder of the Young Scientist exhibition, was born Thomas Burke on 4 November 1923 in Dublin, one of five children (four boys and a girl) of Edmund Burke, and his wife Elizabeth (née Traynor), who later…...
Butler, James Bayley
Butler, James Bayley (1884–1964), biologist and academic, was born 8 April 1884 at Secundrabad, India, only son among four children of Col. James William Butler and Henrietta Butler (née Bayley). His father had been an administrator in the East India Company. On his family's…...
Byrne (O'Byrne), Patrick James
Byrne (O'Byrne), Patrick James (1759–1819), president of Maynooth College, was born in Eglish, Co. Tyrone, one of at least three children of Art O'Byrne (1710–92), farmer, and Martha O'Byrne (née Kempson). He studied at the Irish College of Nantes, France, where, after gaining a…...
Byrne, William (Aloysius)
Byrne, William (Aloysius) (1872–1933), poet (‘William Dara ’) and professor of English, was born 30 January 1872 in Rathangan, Co. Kildare. His father, Joseph, who became the principal teacher in the local national school, married Marcella Murray (October 1870) and William was the…...
Campbell, James Joseph
Campbell, James Joseph (1910–79), educationist, classical scholar, author, and broadcaster, was born 8 March 1910 at 237 New Lodge Road, Belfast, second child of James Campbell, barber, and Bridget Campbell (née McTaggart), whose first child died in infancy, and who later had…...
Carney (Kearney, O'Carney), James
Carney (Kearney, O'Carney), James (d. 1648), Jesuit priest and rector, was born in Cashel, Co. Tipperary. As a youth in Cashel, he studied classics before being sent to Spain, because of legal restrictions, to complete his education. He read philosophy at the Irish college of…...
Cassidy, Joseph
Cassidy, Joseph (1933–2013), archbishop and preacher, was born on 29 October 1933 in Charlestown, Co. Mayo, the only son of seven children of John Cassidy, national school headteacher, and Mary Cassidy (née Gallagher). His maternal uncle, Canon Eddie Gallagher, was parish priest of…...