Blake, Sir Henry Arthur
Blake, Sir Henry Arthur (1840–1918), police officer, resident magistrate, and colonial governor, was born 18 January 1840 in Corbally, Co. Limerick, son of Peter Blake (1809–50) of Corbally Castle, Co. Galway, county inspector of Irish Constabulary, and Jane Blake (née Lane) of…...
Blease, William John ('Billy')
Blease, William John ('Billy') (1914–2008), Baron Blease of Cromac, trade unionist and politician, was born 28 May 1914 in Gosford Street, off the Ormeau Road, Belfast, eldest of three sons and one daughter of William John Blease (1886–1954), restaurant chef and trade-union activist,…...
Blennerhassett, Sir John
Blennerhassett, Sir John (d. 1624), judge, born in Norfolk, England, was probably a son of Edward Blennerhassett and Susan Blennerhassett (née Pickerell) of The Laythes, Norwich, and probably also a nephew of …...
Blow, James
Blow, James (1676–1759), printer and papermaker in Belfast, was born 29 July 1676 in Scotland, possibly in Culross, Perthshire, a younger son among nine children of John Blow and Elizabeth Blow (née Wilson). He was apprenticed to the printer Patrick Neil (who had married his sister…...
Boal, Desmond Norman Orr
Boal, Desmond Norman Orr (1928–2015), lawyer and politician, was born on 8 August 1928 in St Columb’s Court, Derry city, the third of five children (and only son) of James Boal, cashier and bakery manager, and his wife Kathleen (nèe Walker). Brought up in the Church of Ireland, he was…...
Bodkin, Matthias McDonnell
Bodkin, Matthias McDonnell (1849–1933), journalist and lawyer, was born in October 1849 at Tuam, Co. Galway, younger son among five children of Thomas Bodkin (c.1799–1886), doctor and FRCSI, and Maria…...
Boland, John Mary Pius
Boland, John Mary Pius (1870–1958), politician, lawyer, and tennis player, was born on 16 September 1870 at 135 Capel Street, Dublin, the second son of Patrick Boland (1840–1877), a prosperous milling merchant, and his wife Mary Donnelly. After beginning his education at the Catholic…...
Bolton, Sir Edward
Bolton, Sir Edward (1592–1659), lawyer and judge, was the eldest of the seven sons and two daughters of Sir Richard Bolton (qv), lawyer and judge, and his first wife, Frances, daughter of Richard Walter of Stafford. He was a member…...
Bolton, Sir Richard
Bolton, Sir Richard (c.1570–1648), lord chancellor, was son of John Bolton of Fenton Culvart, Stafford, England, and his wife Margaret, daughter of Richard Ash, also of Staffordshire. He entered the Inner Temple unusually late, in 1601, and left it unusually soon for a career…...
Booth, Eva Selina Gore-
Booth, Eva Selina Gore- (1870–1926), poet, mystic, trade unionist and suffragist, was born on 22 May 1870 at Lissadell, Co. Sligo, the second of three daughters (and two sons) of Sir Henry Gore-Booth, 5th baronet and Arctic explorer, and his wife, Georgina (née Hill) of Tickhill castle…...
Booth, Sir Robert
Booth, Sir Robert (1626–81), judge, was baptised 2 July 1626, the eldest son of Robert Booth (d. a. August 1637) of Salford, Lancashire, and Ann, daughter of Oswald Mosley of Manchester. After an education at Manchester grammar school and St John's College, Cambridge, he…...
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, Thomas
Bourke, Thomas (fl. 1643–4), printer, has been considered the first known printer in Waterford. Though his background is not known, it has been argued that the ‘good standard of the typesetting and printing of his extant works demonstrate that he was already a well-trained…...
Bowes, John
Bowes, John (1691–1767), lord chancellor of Ireland and MP, was possibly born in either Surrey or Hertfordshire, second son of Thomas Bowes of Bishopsgate, London, member of the Turners' Company; his mother's name was North. Admitted to the Inner Temple, London (6 December 1712),…...
Bowman, Alexander
Bowman, Alexander (1855–1924), trade unionist, was born 16 March 1855 at Dromara, Co. Down, eldest child among three sons and two daughters of William McKeown, farmer and weaver, and his wife Elizabeth (née Rodgers). McKeown was a catholic; Rodgers, a presbyterian, had been previously…...
Boyd, Alexander (‘Alex’)
Boyd, Alexander (‘Alex’) (fl.1902–1923), trade-union and independent Orange leader, was born in Belfast, where he was employed as a stoker in the gasworks. By 1902 he was organiser of Belfast's Municipal Employees’ Association (MEA), recruiting among the largely protestant…...
Boyd, Thomas William (‘Tom’)
Boyd, Thomas William (‘Tom’) (1903–91), socialist and trade unionist, was born 13 April 1903 in Woodstock Road, east Belfast, one of nine children of James Boyd, shipyard clerk, and Mary Boyd (née McCully), both originally from Co. Down. He left Ravenscroft national school,…...
Boyle, (Christopher) Kevin
Boyle, (Christopher) Kevin (1943–2010), lawyer, academic and human rights activist, was born on 23 May 1943 in Newry, Co. Down, the fourth of nine children of Louis Boyle, a taxi driver, and his wife Elizabeth (or Alice) (née McArdle). The family was catholic. Kevin was educated locally…...
Boyle, Michael
Boyle, Michael (1615?–1702), Church of Ireland archbishop of Armagh, lord chancellor and lord justice, was probably born c.1615 (he gave his age as 64 in April 1679), the elder son among two sons and nine daughters of Richard Boyle (…...
Brabazon, Sir William
Brabazon, Sir William (d. 1552), vice-treasurer and lord justice of Ireland, was the son of John Brabazon, a landowner of Eastwell in Leicestershire, and his wife, whose maiden name was Chaworth. By 1526 he had entered the royal service as a land surveyor and accountant, gaining…...
Bradstreet, Sir Samuel
Bradstreet, Sir Samuel (1738–91), 3rd baronet, MP, and judge, was born in October 1738, second son among four children of Sir Simon Bradstreet (1693–1762), barrister and 1st baronet (cr. 1759) of Kilmainham, Co. Dublin, and his first cousin Ellen Bradstreet (1697?–1779), daughter…...
Brady, Hugh
Brady, Hugh (c.1600–1669), priest and jurist, was born at Castletara, Co. Cavan. Nothing is known of his parentage, or early life. He entered the University of Louvain on 18 December 1620 and read humanities in the College of the Most Holy Trinity. Two years later he…...
Brady, Maziere
Brady, Maziere (1796–1871), lord chancellor of Ireland and patron of the arts, was born 20 July 1796 in Dublin, second of three sons of Francis Tempest Brady (1763–1821) of Willow Park, Booterstown, Co. Dublin, manufacturer of gold and silver thread, and Martha Brady (née Hodgson…...
Brady, Patrick Joseph
Brady, Patrick Joseph (1868–1943), solicitor and politician, was eldest of the three sons of James Brady, merchant, of Idrone Terrace, Blackrock, Co. Dublin. Educated at Castleknock College (1880–87), and the Royal University, Dublin, he qualified as a solicitor in 1893, having…...
Brady, Rory
Brady, Rory (1957–2010), barrister and attorney general, was born on 20 August 1957 in Gray Street in the Liberties area of Dublin, son of John Brady and his wife Teresa (née Kennedy). John Brady worked in Guinness's brewery, and was an unsuccessful Clann na Poblachta candidate for…...