Bryant, Sophie
Bryant, Sophie (1850–1922), educationist, home ruler, Celticist, and suffragist, was born 15 February 1850 in Sandymount, Dublin, second daughter and third child of Sophia Willock (née Morris) of Dublin and Skreen Castle, and the Rev. William Alexander Willock (d. 1879 in London),…...
Buckley (Goulding), Margaret (‘Maggie’; ‘Margaret Lee’)
Buckley (Goulding), Margaret (‘Maggie’; ‘Margaret Lee’) (1879–1962), republican, trade unionist, and writer, was born in July 1879, at Winter's Hill, Cork, the eldest daughter of James Goulding and his wife Ellen (née Joyce), both of Cork. Her father, who was employed as a labourer…...
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,…...
Bull, (George) Lucien
Bull, (George) Lucien (1876–1972), inventor, was born 5 January 1876 at 16 Upper Gloucester St., Dublin, one of two sons and two daughters of Cornelius Bull of Bedford, England, and Gabrielle Jouvé of Paris, owners of Bull's religious depository, Suffolk St., Dublin. Educated at…...
Burgh, Thomas
Burgh, Thomas (1670–1730), architect and military engineer, was born in Drumkeen, Co. Limerick, third son of Ulysses Burgh, dean of Emly and later bishop of Ardagh, and Mary de Burgh, daughter of William Kingmill of Ballibeg, Co. Cork. Educated at Delany's school, Co. Dublin, he…...
Burgoyne, Sir John Fox
Burgoyne, Sir John Fox (1782–1871), engineer and administrator, was born 24 July 1782, eldest of the four illegitimate children of Lt-gen. ‘Gentleman’ John Burgoyne and Susan Caulfield, singer. Educated at Eton and Woolwich military academy, he joined the Royal Engineers at 16; saw…...
Burkitt, James Parsons
Burkitt, James Parsons (1870–1959), ornithologist and engineer, was born 20 August 1870 at Killybegs, Co. Donegal, second son among five sons and two daughters of Thomas Henry Burkitt, presbyterian minister, and Emma Eliza Burkitt (née Parsons). He was educated at Galway grammar…...
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…...
Butler, Mary Ellen Lambert
Butler, Mary Ellen Lambert (1873–1920), novelist, was born 28 June 1873 in England, the youngest of the two daughters and a son of Peter Butler (1840–80) of Bunnahow House, Co. Clare, and Mary Ryan of Tipperary. The Butlers were landowners who remained catholic. Through intermarriage,…...
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…...
Cahalan, Cissie
Cahalan, Cissie (1876–1948), trade unionist and suffragist, was born in Cork in 1876. Little is known of her early life, other than that she was apprenticed to the drapery trade, and by 1906 was based in Dublin where she worked as a draper's assistant in Arnott's of Henry St. Her…...
Cahill, Hugh
Cahill, Hugh (1883–1966), commercial aviation pioneer, was born in Dublin on 23 June 1883, the first of three sons of Matthew Cahill, a publican of Lower Rutland Street, Dublin, and his wife Martha (née Shaw), who had previously been widowed and had a daughter from her first…...
Caitilín Dubh
Caitilín Dubh (fl. 1624–9), poet, lived in Thomond (present-day Co. Clare). She is the earliest woman poet for whom texts in the Irish language survive in quantity. Five of her elegies, in accentual (or stressed) caoineadh metre, are copied into Duanaire Uí Bhriain…...
Caldbeck, William Francis
Caldbeck, William Francis (c.1824–1872), architect and civil engineer, was the son of Richard Caldbeck and grandson of John Frederick Caldbeck (d. 1848) of Moyle Park, Clondalkin, Co. Dublin; his mother's name is not known, but she is said to have been Roman catholic, and…...
Callanan, Jeremiah J.
Callanan, Jeremiah J. (1795–1829), poet and verse translator, was born in Ballinhassig, Co. Cork, of a respectable medical family. Educated locally and in Cobh, he studied for the priesthood in Maynooth at the encouragement of his parents, but left (1818) to begin medical studies in…...
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…...
Candy, Joseph Phelan
Candy, Joseph Phelan (1895–1960), engineer, was born in Derry 7 July 1895, one of the sons among at least three sons and two daughters of James Candy, stationmaster at Waterside railway station, and his wife Mary Catherine (née Gribbon). The family lived at the Station House,…...
Canty, Michael
Canty, Michael (1857–1914), socialist and trade unionist, was born in Cork. With Adolphus Shields, he was appointed (1890) Dublin organiser of the National Union of Gasworkers and General Labourers (NUGGL), a British-based trade union formed by Will Thorne and Eleanor Marx of the…...
Capper, Wilfrid Meredyth
Capper, Wilfrid Meredyth (1905–89), conservationist and creator of the Ulster Way, was born in Belfast on 12 July 1905, the second son of four children (two boys and two girls) of John Malcolmson Capper, a cotton yarn merchant, and Elizabeth Jane Capper (née Stewart); the family was…...
Cardiff, Patrick Joseph ('Paddy')
Cardiff, Patrick Joseph ('Paddy') (1925–2005), trade union leader, was born 8 November 1925 at 11 Upper Basin Street, near James's Street, Dublin, third child and second son among five sons and one daughter of Patrick Cardiff (d. 1945), a foundry labourer, and later a boiler scaler in…...
Carlin, Terry (Terence)
Carlin, Terry (Terence) (1946–2003), trade unionist, was born 25 January 1946 in Derry city, the seventh child among eight sons and four daughters of Neil Carlin (d. 1981), a painter and decorator, and his wife Lizzie. The family resided on Elmwood Street in the city's Bogside. His…...
Carlisle, Alexander Montgomery
Carlisle, Alexander Montgomery (1854–1926), ship designer and businessman, and his two brothers John Carlisle (1856–1945), engineer and shipowner, and Henry Montgomery Carlisle (1863?–1945), shipowner, were sons of John Carlisle (d. 1884), teacher, and Catherine Carlisle (née…...