Águila, Don Juan del
Águila, Don Juan del (c.1541?–1603?), Spanish general, was born in Barracco in the province of Avila, Spain. He joined the army, serving in Flanders, in the Mediterranean fighting the Turks, and then in Flanders once more, rising to become a commander of a regiment.…...
Archer, James
Archer, James (c.1632–c.1680), military engineer and architect, was born in Kilkenny. His early life remains obscure, but he was a royalist, left Ireland at some point, and entered the French service; he later claimed to have served six years as a…...
Bagenal, Walter
Bagenal, Walter (1614–52), soldier and politician, was eldest son of George Bagenal of Dunleckney, Co. Carlow, and Joan, daughter of Walter Butler (qv), 11th earl of Ormond. The Bagenals originated from Staffordshire in England and only…...
Ball, John
Ball, John (1728–1804), silk manufacturer, was probably the John Ball who was the son of Richard and Abigail Ball of Dublin and was baptised at St Catherine's church in April 1728. Richard Ball's forebears lived at Ardee, Co. Louth, and were descended from a Cromwellian officer,…...
Barnewall, Nicholas
Barnewall, Nicholas (1668–1725), 3rd Viscount Barnewall of Kingsland , soldier, and catholic lobbyist, was born 15 April 1668, son of Henry Barnewall, 2nd Viscount Kingsland of Kingsland, and his second wife, Mary, daughter of Richard Nugent…...
Barrett, John
Barrett, John (d. 1693), soldier and Jacobite, emerged in James II’s (qv) reign (nothing being known of his early life) as the head of the Barrett family who held 400 acres in Castlemore, near Mallow, Co. Cork. MP for Mallow in…...
Barry, Garret (Gerat)
Barry, Garret (Gerat) (d. 1646), army officer, entered Spanish military service about 1601, by his own reckoning. It has been suggested that he departed Kinsale with the Spanish army in March 1601 with his father David Fitz Garrot Barry of Rincorran, his mother and three…...
Barry, John
Barry, John (1745–1803), United States Navy captain, was born at Ballysampson, Tacumshane parish, Co. Wexford, son of John Barry, clerk and small farmer, and Catherine Barry (née Kelly). After his family were evicted, they moved to Rosslare and the young Barry went to sea as a cabin boy…...
Bellew, John
Bellew, John (1605/1606–79), politician and army officer, was the eldest son, of the three sons and one daughter, of Patrick Bellew of Lisraney, Co. Louth, and his wife, Mary, daughter of James and Ellice Warren of Warrenstown castle, Co. Louth. He was admitted to Gray's Inn on 9…...
Bellew, Sir John
Bellew, Sir John (d. 1693), 1st Baron Bellew of Duleek , Jacobite colonel, was son of Sir Christopher Bellew of Bellewstown and his wife Frances, daughter of Matthew Plunkett, Lord Louth. His father was made governor of Louth (30 October 1641) with the object of suppressing…...
Belton, Andrew
Belton, Andrew (1882–1970), OBE, soldier, adventurer, and businessman, was born 17 April 1882 in Cleator Moor, Cumberland, son of John and Susannah Belton of Bowthorn Road, Cleator Moor. Educated locally at St Patrick…...
Berkeley, Sir John
Berkeley, Sir John (1607–78), 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton , soldier and politician, was baptised 1 February 1607, fifth and youngest son of Sir Maurice Berkeley of Bruton, Somerset, England, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Killigrew of Hanworth, Middlesex.…...
Blacker, William
Blacker, William (1777–1855), militia officer and Orangeman, was born 1 September 1777 at Carrickblacker, near Portadown, Co. Armagh, first of four sons of Stewart Blacker (1740–1826), dean of Leighlin and owner of Carrickblacker, and his wife Eliza, daughter of Sir Hugh Hill (…...
Blackwell, James Bartholomew
Blackwell, James Bartholomew (c.1765–1820), soldier, was born in Ennis, Co. Clare. Aged about ten, he was sent to Paris to be educated for the priesthood at the Irish College, where his maternal granduncle, Dr Bartholomew Murray, MD…...
Boran, Nicholas (Nixie)
Boran, Nicholas (Nixie) (1903–72), trade unionist, was born in 1903 at Massford in the colliery district north of Castlecomer in Co. Kilkenny, the second in a family of four born to George Boran, a small farmer and coal carter, and his wife, Mary (née Maher). Nicholas attended…...
Bourke, Fergus (Ignatius)
Bourke, Fergus (Ignatius) (1934–2004), photographer, was born 31 July 1934 in Bray, Co. Wicklow. His mother was Eileen (Eibhlín) Bourke (née Somers). His father Thomas Bourke (Tómas de Búrca), who worked for Dublin Corporation, was related to people prominent in twentieth‑century…...
Bourke, Theobald
Bourke, Theobald (c.1615?–1653), 3rd Viscount Mayo , soldier and politician, was son and heir of Miles Bourke (qv), 2nd Viscount Mayo, and Honora, daughter of Sir John Bourke of Derrymaclaghtny, Co. Galway.…...
Bourke, William
Bourke, William (1623–67), 5th Baron Castleconnell , soldier, was son and heir of Edmund Bourke and his first wife, Thomasine, daughter of Sir Thomas Browne of Hospital, Co. Limerick. Edmund held over 3,000 acres in Co. Limerick, primarily in the barony of Clanwilliam, alongside the…...
Brady, Thomas
Brady, Thomas (1752–1827), Baron von Brady , Feldzeugmeister (general of artillery) in the Austrian army, was born in Cootehill, Co. Cavan. Destined for the church, he was sent to Vienna to study theology. Here he attracted the attention of the empress Maria Theresa, who…...
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.…...
Browne, Francis Patrick Mary
Browne, Francis Patrick Mary (1880–1960), photographer and Jesuit priest, was born 3 January 1880 in Sunday's Well, Cork, youngest of eight children of James Browne, flour merchant and JP, and Brigid Browne (née Hegarty; 1840–80), who died…...
Browne, George
Browne, George (1660?–1729), soldier, count and baron of the Holy Roman Empire, and uncle of Field-marshal Maximilian Ulysses von Browne (1705–57), was second eldest of the eight sons of John Browne of Camus, Co. Limerick, and his wife Mary Roe of Hacketstown, Co. Waterford. With…...
Browne, Nicholas
Browne, Nicholas (1660?–1720), 2nd Viscount Kenmare , soldier and MP, was son and heir of Valentine Browne, 1st viscount, and his wife Jane, daughter and heiress of Sir Nicholas Plunkett (qv) of Dublin and Balrath, Co. Meath,…...
Browne, Sir Valentine
Browne, Sir Valentine (1638–94), 3rd baronet, 1st Viscount Kenmare , politician, and soldier, was son and heir of Sir Valentine Browne, 2nd baronet, and his wife Mary, daughter of Charles MacCarthy, 1st Viscount Muskerry. He succeeded his father in the baronetcy at the age of two…...
Bryan, Daniel (‘Dan’)
Bryan, Daniel (‘Dan’) (1900–85), soldier and intelligence officer, was born at Dunbell, Co. Kilkenny, on 9 May 1900, the eldest of the twelve children of John Bryan, farmer, of Dunbell, and his wife, Margaret Mary (née Lanagan), of Maddoxstown, Co. Kilkenny. Educated at the…...