Barrington, Charles
Barrington, Charles (1834–1901), mountaineer and horseman, was born 5 October 1834, sixth son and ninth child of Edward Barrington of Fassaroe, Bray, Co. Wicklow, a well-to-do quaker farmer, and his first wife, Sarah (née Leadbeater) of Ballytore, Co. Kildare. Nothing is known of…...
Barrington, Sir Charles Burton
Barrington, Sir Charles Burton (1848–1943), 5th baronet, sportsman and landowner, was born at Glenstal Castle, Murroe, Co. Limerick, the eldest of four sons of Sir Croker Barrington and his wife, Anna Felicia, the eldest daughter of John Beattie West, MP for Dublin (1835–7, 1841–2…...
Barry, John Joseph
Barry, John Joseph (1924–94), ‘the Ballincurry Hare’, middle-distance athlete, was born 5 October 1924 in Joliet (near Chicago), Illinois, USA, eldest among four sons and a daughter of Michael Barry, gardener, from Knockview, Co. Roscommon, and Mary Jo Barry (née Cashin), from The…...
Bartlett (Barthelet), Richard
Bartlett (Barthelet), Richard (d. 1603?), cartographer, of Norfolk, England, may have been related to Thomas Berthelet (c.1490–1555), king's printer under Henry VIII, or to Edward Barthelet of Attleborough (d. 1605). He is thought to have taken part in the Ulster and…...
Bartlett, William
Bartlett, William (1809–54), topographical draughtsman, was born 26 March 1809 in Kentish Town, London; nothing is known of his parents. In 1823 he was articled to the topographer and antiquarian, John Britton (1771–1857). During the seven years of his apprenticeship thirty-nine of…...
Barton, Frederick (Derick)
Barton, Frederick (Derick) (1900–93), athlete, farmer, and political activist, was born in London on 19 June 1900, the eldest son of Bertram Hugh Barton and his wife, Lilian (née Carden). The Barton family had lived in Ireland since Elizabethan times and built Straffan House, Co.…...
Barton, Sir John George
Barton, Sir John George (1850–1937), engineer and surveyor, was born 13 October 1850 (possibly in Dundalk, Co. Louth), eldest son of James Barton (qv), a prominent engineer. John was one of the seven children of James Barton's first…...
Beamish, Sir George Robert
Beamish, Sir George Robert (1905–67), rugby international and air marshal, was born 29 April 1905 in Dunmanway, Co. Cork, son of Frank George Beamish of Carthall, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, inspector of schools for Ireland, and Mary Elizabeth (‘May’) Beamish (née Graham), teacher,…...
Beary, Michael
Beary, Michael (1894–1956), jockey and trainer, was born 9 December 1894 at Anne St., Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, second son of John Beary, clerk of the Clonmel union, and Hannah Beary (née Skeahan). He began his apprenticeship as a jockey with Col.…...
Beasley, Henry Herbert (Harry)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Beasley, Thomas (Tommy). View the original entry....
Beasley, Thomas (Tommy)
Beasley, Thomas (Tommy) (1848–1905) and Henry Herbert (Harry) (1852–1939), jockeys, were born at Salisbury House, Athy, Co. Kildare, first and third of the five sons of Joseph Lapham Beasley, large farmer. Four of the boys were to become jockeys, but neither Willie (d. 1892, after a…...
Beaufort, Daniel Augustus
Beaufort, Daniel Augustus (1739–1821), clergyman, architect, and cartographer, was born 1 October 1739 in London, son of Daniel Cornelius Beaufort and Esther Beaufort (née Gougeon), members of the huguenot community. The family moved to Ireland when Daniel's father became chaplain…...
Beaufort, Sir Francis
Beaufort, Sir Francis (1774–1857), rear-admiral and hydrographer, was born 27 May 1774 at Flower Hill, Navan, Co. Meath, younger son of Daniel Augustus Beaufort (qv), rector of Navan, and Mary Beaufort (née Waller). He attended…...
Beckett, James C[rothers?] (‘Jim’)
Beckett, James C[rothers?] (‘Jim’) (1884–1971), water-polo international, national swimming champion, all-round sportsman, and administrator, was born 17 October 1884 in Prince William Terrace, Dublin, one of four sons and one daughter of William Francis Beckett, a successful…...
Beechey, Richard Brydges
Beechey, Richard Brydges (1808–95), artist, naval officer, and marine surveyor, was born 17 May 1808 in London, the youngest son of the noted portrait painter Sir William Beechey RA (1753–1839) and his second wife, Ann Phyllis…...
Bell, Sir William Ewart
Bell, Sir William Ewart (1924–2001), rugby international and civil servant, was born 13 November 1924 in Belfast, son of the Rev. Dr Frederick George Bell, an ordained minister of the presbyterian church, and Margaret Jane Bell (née Ewart), a qualified teacher. He was the eldest…...
Bennett, Alexander (‘Alec’)
Bennett, Alexander (‘Alec’) (1897–1973), motorcyclist, was born 25 April 1897 in Craigantlet, Co. Down, son of Robert Bennett, farmer, of Craigantlet, and Isabella Bennett (née Rea). Having emigrated to Canada at an early age, he began competing as a motorcyclist, primarily on half-…...
Bennett, William Thomas (‘Bill’)
Bennett, William Thomas (‘Bill’) (1877–1967), champion athlete and road bowler, was born 7 September 1877 at Killeady, Ballinhassig, Co. Cork, one of two sons and three daughters of William Bennett, farmer, from Killeady, and Eliza Bennett (née Hobbs), who was from a well known…...
Bergin, Stanley Francis
Bergin, Stanley Francis (1925–69), cricketer and journalist, was born 19 November 1925 at 8 St John's Road, Sandymount, Dublin, as Stanislaus Mary Bergin, youngest of seven sons of Bernard Christopher Bergin, assistant director GPO, and…...
Best, George
Best, George (1946–2005), professional footballer, was born 22 May 1946 in the Royal Maternity Hospital, Belfast, eldest child among two sons and four daughters of Richard 'Dickie' Best (1919–2008), a shipyard iron turner with Harland and Wolff, and his wife Ann Mary 'Annie' Best (née…...
Betham, Cecilia Maria Eleanor
Betham, Cecilia Maria Eleanor (1843–1913), archer, was born in January 1843 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the second child and only daughter of Molyneux Cecil John Betham (1813–80), archivist, and Elizabeth Betham (née Ford), the daughter of Sir Richard Ford, chief magistrate (1800–06)…...
Bianconi, Charles
Bianconi, Charles (1786–1875), transport entrepreneur, was born Joachim Carlo Guiseppe Bianconi on 24 September 1786 at Tregolo, near Como in Lombardy, Italy, the second of five children of Pietro and Maria Bianconi. His father owned a farm and a silk mill, and was agent for the…...
Binns, John
Binns, John (1730?–1804), silk merchant, canal developer, and radical politician, was the son of Joshua Binns, who in 1719 was admitted to the Dublin weavers' guild by special grace. John Binns was admitted to the guild by birth in 1756, so he was probably born in the mid 1730s.…...
Blake, Edmund
Blake, Edmund (fl. 1752), co-founder of steeplechasing, is credited with taking part in the first recorded steeplechase when he and ‘O'Callaghan’ raced four-and-a–half miles (7.24 km) from Buttevant church to the steeple of St Leger, Doneraile, Co. Cork, in 1752. The first…...
Blake, Richard Thomas
Blake, Richard Thomas (1868–1937), secretary of the GAA and journalist, was born 15 January 1868 at Ladyrath, Rathkenny, Navan, Co. Meath, eldest son of seven sons and one daughter of Philip Blake (d. 1906), large farmer, and Eliza Martha Blake (née Cogan). His interest in and…...