Brenon, Edward St John (Brennan, Edward John)
Brenon, Edward St John (Brennan, Edward John) (1842/3–1916), journalist and poet, was born Edward John Brennan in Dublin, son of William Brennan, master of St Mathias's Church of Ireland school; his mother was mistress of St Mathias's girls’ school. William Brennan also acted as tutor…...
Brett, (Sir) Charles Edward Bainbridge
Brett, (Sir) Charles Edward Bainbridge (1928–2005), solicitor, architectural historian and public figure in Northern Ireland, was born 30 October 1928 in Holywood, Co. Down, eldest of three children, two boys and a girl, of Charles Anthony Brett, a Belfast solicitor, and his wife…...
Brittaine, George
Brittaine, George (1788–1848), protestant evangelical preacher and novelist, was born in 1788 in Dublin, the son of Rev Patrick Brittain (1762–1804), curate of St James's parish from 1789 to 1804. (The spelling Brittaine was adopted by George). He entered…...
Brontë, Patrick
Brontë, Patrick (1777–1861), Church of England clergyman and writer, was born 17 March 1777, in Emdale, Drumballyroney, Co. Down, the eldest of the ten children of Hugh Prunty , or Brunty, a protestant farm labourer, and Eleanor or Alice (née McClory), born a catholic. He is known…...
Brooke, Henry
Brooke, Henry (1703–83), literary and political writer, was born in Ratavan, near Virginia, Co. Cavan, son of the Rev. William B. Brooke, wealthy rector of Killinkere and Mullagh, and Letrice Digby. His mother, possibly the second daughter of Dr…...
Brooke, Stopford Augustus
Brooke, Stopford Augustus (1832–1916), clergyman and author, was born 14 November 1832 at ‘Glendoen’, near Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, eldest of eight children of the Rev. Richard Sinclair Brooke, the local curate, and Anna Brooke (née Stopford). When his maternal grandfather and…...
Bullock, Shan Fadh (John William)
Bullock, Shan Fadh (John William) (1865–1935), author, was born 17 May 1865 at Inisherk, Co. Fermanagh, eldest son among eleven children of Thomas Bullock (1840–1917), estate steward and farmer, and his wife Mary Wheery. Thomas Bullock worked on the Crom Castle demesne of John Crichton…...
Burdy, Samuel
Burdy, Samuel (c.1758?–1820), Church of Ireland clergyman and writer, was born at Dromore, Co. Down, on 22 September, probably in the late 1750s, the only son of Peter Burdy, a merchant. He entered TCD as a sizar on 22 March…...
Burke, John Bernard
This is a co-subject for the entry on Burke, John. View the original entry....
Burk, John Daly
Burk, John Daly (1772?–1808), author and radical, was possibly the son of James Burk, a protestant schoolmaster from Co. Cork, who may have been related to Edmund Burke (qv) (Augusta Chronicle, 11 Nov. 1809). In 1790 John was…...
Butler, Isaac
Butler, Isaac (1689/90?–1755), almanac maker, botanist, and antiquary, was by 1725 in business as a bookseller and publisher in Patrick Street, Dublin; he was a quarter-brother of the printers’ guild (1728–31). His first almanac was Advice from the stars (1725), which he…...
Butler, Richard
Butler, Richard (1794–1862), clergyman and antiquarian, was born 14 October 1794 near Granard, Co. Longford, second son among six sons and a daughter of Richard Butler, clergyman in Burnchurch, Co. Kilkenny, and Martha Butler (née Rothwell). He attended Kilkenny College and…...
Campbell, Thomas
Campbell, Thomas (1733–95), Church of Ireland clergyman and miscellaneous writer, was born at Glack, Co. Tyrone, on 4 May 1733, the eldest son of the Rev. Moses Campbell (1695?–1772) and his wife, Elizabeth (née Johnston) of Tully, Co. Monaghan. He entered…...
Canning, George
Canning, George (1730?–71), writer, was eldest of three sons of Stratford Canning, who had an estate at Garvagh, Co. Londonderry, and his wife Letitia Newburgh. It is said that his father was ferociously strict; he disapproved of a youthful love affair in which George was involved…...
Carew, Sir George
Carew, Sir George (1555–1629), earl of Totnes , general, and antiquarian, was born 29 May 1555, second son of George Carew, a clergyman from Cockington, Devon, England, and his wife Anne, daughter of Sir Nicholas Harvey. Admitted (c.1570–72) to Broadgates Hall (later…...
Carleton, William
Carleton, William (1794–1869), novelist and short-story writer, was born, probably on 4 March 1794, in Prillisk, near Clogher, Co. Tyrone, the youngest of fourteen children (eight of whom survived) of James Carleton, a catholic tenant farmer, and his wife Mary Kelly. James Carleton…...
Carte, Thomas
Carte, Thomas (1686–1754), biographer, was born in April 1686 in Warwickshire, son of Samuel Carte, clergyman and antiquary. He graduated BA (1702) from University College, Oxford, and MA (1706) from King's…...
Cary (Tanfield), Elizabeth
Cary (Tanfield), Elizabeth (1585–1639), Viscountess Falkland , writer and translator, was born at Burford Priory, Oxfordshire, the only child and heir of Lawrence Tanfield (c.1551–1625), a wealthy lawyer, later appointed chief baron of the exchequer, and his wife,…...
Caulfield, Richard
Caulfield, Richard (1823–87), antiquary and local historian, was born 23 April 1823 in Cork, one of five sons of a merchant, William Caulfield, and his wife Catherine, who was the daughter of Henry Gosnell, a Cork doctor and surgeon. Richard was educated at Bandon endowed school,…...
Chaigneau, William
Chaigneau, William (1709–81), army agent and novelist, was born 23 December 1709 at Back Key, Dublin, and baptised at St John's, Dublin, on Christmas eve, second son among thirteen children of John Chaigneau, vintner, and Margaret Chaigneau (née Martyr), both of Dublin and of huguenot…...
Chatterton, (Henrietta) Georgiana
Chatterton, (Henrietta) Georgiana (1806–76), writer, was born 11 November 1806 at 24 Arlington Street, Piccadilly, London, the only child of the Rev. Lascelles Iremonger , prebendary of Winchester cathedral, and Harriet, sister of Admiral Lord Gambier. Educated primarily by a…...
Chetwood, Anna Maria
Chetwood, Anna Maria (1774–1870), writer, was born on 7 February 1774, a daughter of the Rev. John Chetwood of Glanmire, Co. Cork (1742–1814), and Elizabeth Chetwood (née Hamilton) (d. 1826?), and great-granddaughter of Knightley Chetwood of Woodbrook, Portarlington, a friend of…...
Clancy, Michael
Clancy, Michael (c.1704–1776), writer, was born in Co. Clare, son of Daniel Clancy, a soldier (or possibly a doctor) and a man of letters. His life, as recounted in his Memoirs (an incomplete and somewhat fanciful account), is dedicated to the earl of Kildare. He…...
Clare, Wallace George
Clare, Wallace George (1895–1963), priest and genealogist, was born 9 August 1895 in Ipswich, Suffolk, the only son of Frederick Clare, wine buyer, and Agnes Clare (née Keegan). His father died when Wallace was 2 years old, and his mother brought him and his sister up in…...
Clarke, Maud Violet
Clarke, Maud Violet (1892–1935), historian, was born 7 May 1892 in Belfast, second child and only daughter of Richard James Clarke, rector of Trinity church, Belfast, and Anne Nugent Clarke (née Jessop), of Mount Jessop, Co. Longford. In 1903 the family moved to Coole Glebe,…...