Ancketill (Anketell), Henry
Ancketill (Anketell), Henry (1855–1930), writer, journalist and politician, was born 4 May 1855 in Ancketill's Grove, Co. Monaghan, the fourth son of Major Matthew John Anketell, deputy lieutenant and JP, and his wife, Catherine Frances…...
Archdall, Mervyn
Archdall, Mervyn (1723–91), clergyman and antiquary, was born 22 April 1723 in Dublin, elder son among two sons and three daughters of William Archdall, goldsmith, and his wife Henrietta, a widow who was daughter of Henry Gonne, curate of Finglas. William Archdall was Dublin assay…...
Arthur, William
Arthur, William (1819–1901), methodist minister and author, was born 3 February 1819, probably in Kells, Co. Antrim, son of James Arthur and Margaret Arthur (née Kennedy), and spent his childhood in Westport, Co. Mayo. Though brought up an episcopalian, he attended (1837–9)…...
Bailey, Mary (‘Lady Bailey’) (née Westenra)
Bailey, Mary (‘Lady Bailey’) (née Westenra) (1890–1960), aviator, was born on 1 December 1890 at 30 Grosvenor Square, London, to Derrick (Derry) Warner William Westenra (1853–1921), the fifth Baron Rossmore, and his wife Mittie (née Naylor) (d. 1953), the daughter of a wealthy English…...
Baillie, George
Baillie, George Lockhart (c. 1848–1922), pioneer of Irish golf, was born around 1848 in Inveresk, Scotland, the son of Lockhart Baillie, an Inland Revenue official of Inveresk, and his wife Margaret (née Telfer). From the age of ten George played golf at the nearby Royal…...
Baird, Robert William
This is a co-subject for the entry on Baird, William Savage. View the original entry....
Barlow, James William
Barlow, James William (1826–1913), historian and writer, was born 21 October 1826 in Co. Dublin, eldest son of the Rev. William Barlow and Catherine Barlow (née Disney). He was marked by his mother’s unhappiness: as a young woman she had been in love with…...
Barrett, Richard
Barrett, Richard (c.1793/4–1854), journalist, was born possibly in Co. Cork, son of Richard Barrett, gentleman. His mother may have been Eleanor Stannard. Little is known of his early life but after working briefly as a brewer he became a journalist. A protestant, he was…...
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…...
Barrington, Sir Jonah
Barrington, Sir Jonah (1756/7–1834), memoirist, judge, and MP, was born at Knapton, near Abbeyleix, Queen's Co. (Laois), third son among sixteen children of John Barrington, country gentleman, and his wife Sibella, daughter of Patrick French of Peterswell, Co. Galway. He spent his…...
Barton, Arthur Henry ('Harry')
Barton, Arthur Henry ('Harry') (1916–2006), naval officer, writer, broadcaster, and public figure in Northern Ireland, was born 13 January 1916 in Belfast, only son of Arthur Willis Barton (qv), then Church of Ireland curate in…...
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.…...
Beaty, James
Beaty, James (1798–1892), politician and newspaper proprietor in Canada, was born near Killeshandra, Co. Cavan, in 1798, possibly on 2 September. He was the youngest of five sons of Robert Beaty, land surveyor, and Catherine Beaty (née Crawford); his father was of a fairly…...
Beckett, James Camlin
Beckett, James Camlin (1912–96), historian, was born 8 February 1912 in Belfast, third son of Alfred Beckett, linen salesman, and Frances Lucy Beckett (née Bushell). He was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, and at QUB…...
Bedell, William
Bedell, William (1571–1642), scholar and churchman, was born in late December 1571 at Black Notley, Essex, England, second son of John Bedell and his wife, Elizabeth Elliston, and entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1584, the year of its foundation. He graduated in 1588, took his…...
Bewley, Sir Edmund Thomas
Bewley, Sir Edmund Thomas (1837–1908), judge, genealogist, and professor of law, was born at the family home at Clara, King's Co. (Offaly), only son of Edward Bewley of Moate, Co. Westmeath, and Mary Bewley (née Mulock) of Kilnagarna, King's Co. He entered…...
Binns, John
Binns, John (1772–1860), radical politician and journalist, was born 22 December 1772 in Dublin, second son of John Binns, a wealthy ironmonger, and his wife Mary, daughter of Benjamin Pemberton of Mount Olive, near Raheny, Co. Dublin. The Binnses were Moravians in religion and…...
Blanshard, Paul
Blanshard, Paul (1892–1980), journalist and author, was born 27 August 1892 at Fredericksburg, Ohio, USA, one of twin sons of Francis George Blanshard, a congregational clergyman, and his wife Emily (née Coulter), both of whom had been born in Canada. His maternal grandfather came…...
Blythe, Ernest (de Blaghd, Earnán)
Blythe, Ernest (de Blaghd, Earnán) (1889–1975), revolutionary, politician, government minister, managing director of the Abbey Theatre, and Irish-language revivalist, was born 13 April 1889 at Magheragall, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, eldest child among two sons and two daughters of James…...
Borlase, Edmund
Borlase, Edmund (d. 1682), historian, is recorded first as a young man in 1642. His father, Sir John Borlase (qv), was major-general of ordnance in Ireland in 1634, and served as a lord justice between 1640 and 1643. Edmund may have…...
Boucher, Edgar William John ('Billy')
Boucher, Edgar William John ('Billy') (1918–2003), musician and broadcaster, was born 5 December 1918 in Dublin, the son of George Alexander Boucher, a plumber, and his wife Sarah Maria (née Jones), a dressmaker; he had two older brothers and two or three older sisters. The family…...
Bourchier, James David
Bourchier, James David (1850–1920), journalist and Balkan intermediary, was born 18 December 1850 at Baggotstown, Bruff, Co. Limerick, fourth son among six children of John Bourchier, landowner and JP of Baggotstown, and Sarah Bourchier (…...
Boyce, James
Boyce, James (1909–66), actor and broadcaster, was born on 17 March 1909 in Belfast, the oldest of three sons of Hugh Boyce, a coachbuilder, and his wife Ellen (née Hayes), a dressmaker before marriage. The family, who were Christian Brethren in religion, lived in Rosebury Road, Ormeau…...
Boyd, John
Boyd, John (1912–2002), radio producer and playwright, was born 19 July 1912 at 9 Baskin Street, in a working-class area of east Belfast, the first of three children (two boys and a girl) of Robert Boyd, a fireman on steam engines and later an engine driver, and Jane Boyd (née Leeman).…...