Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph ('Joe')
Ainsworth, Thomas Joseph (Joe; ‘Two Gun Joe’) (1927–2015), garda, was born 17 May 1927 at his parents’ home at Davitt’s Terrace, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, the elder of two sons of Harry (Henry) Ainsworth, a victualler, and his wife Margaret (née Feeney). Ainsworth was…...
Andrews, Thomas
Andrews, Thomas (1873–1912), shipbuilder, was born 7 February 1873 at Ardara, Comber, Co. Down, where his family, members of the non-subscribing presbyterian church, had been prominent in business for several generations. He was the second son of Thomas Andrews (1843–1916), for…...
Anthony, Richard Sydney
Anthony, Richard Sydney (1875–1962), trade unionist and politician, was born 20 October 1875 in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, son of John Anthony, printer, and Mary Anthony (née Clancy or Clooney). Little is known about his early life or education except that the family moved to Cork when…...
Armstrong, Sir Alexander
Armstrong, Sir Alexander (1818–99), naval surgeon and explorer, was born in Co. Donegal, son of Alexander Armstrong of Croghan Lodge, Co. Fermanagh. His family was originally from Cumberland and one of his ancestors was Maj.-gen. John Armstrong (d. 1742), a military engineer and…...
Aylmer, Matthew
Aylmer, Matthew (c.1650–1720), 1st Baron Aylmer of Balrath , admiral, and commander-in-chief of the fleet, was second child and second son among three sons and one daughter of Christopher Aylmer (d. 1671), 1st baronet, of Balrath, Co. Meath, and his wife Margaret, third…...
Barr, Andrew (Andy)
Barr, Andrew (Andy) (1913–2003), trade unionist and communist, was born 23 September 1913 at 29 Cluan Place, off Mountpottinger Road, Ballymacarrett, Belfast, second child among two sons and five daughters (two other children died in infancy) of Andrew Barr (d. 1986, aged 98), a…...
Barry, Denis
Barry, Denis (1883–1923), Irish Volunteer, commandant of the Cork No. 1 Brigade and trade unionist, was born on 13 July 1883, in Riverstick, Cullen, Co. Cork, the son of John Barry, farmer and Nora Barry (née Sullivan). Denis was born on the family farm, the second youngest of eight…...
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…...
Baugh (Bagh, Bough, Boghe), William
Baugh (Bagh, Bough, Boghe), William (c.1587–1619?), pirate, was probably born in England. He was a ‘rear-admiral’ of the confederation of North Atlantic pirates c.1611, when many were sheltering in Ireland from the attempts of governments to eradicate piracy in…...
Beattie, John (‘Jack’)
Beattie, John (‘Jack’) (1886–1960), socialist and trade unionist, was born 14 April 1886 into a presbyterian family in Ballymacarrett, Belfast, son of Robert Beattie, dealer, and Eliza Beattie (née Downey). He left school aged 13 and worked at the Belfast Ropeworks before joining…...
Beatty, Sir William
Beatty, Sir William (1773–1842), naval surgeon, was born in the Waterside district of Derry, the eldest of four sons and two daughters of James Beatty, excise gauger, and his wife, Anne (née Smyth). Nothing is known about William's early life but he presumably attended a local grammar…...
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…...
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, Alan
Bell, Alan (1857–1920), policeman and resident magistrate, was born in Banagher, King's Co. (Offaly), one of at least two sons of the Rev. James Adamson Bell, Church of Ireland clergyman; his mother's name is unknown. Educated locally, he joined the…...
Bennett, Louisa (‘Louie’)
Bennett, Louisa (‘Louie’) (1870–1956), suffragist, trade unionist, and peace activist, was born 7 January 1870, in Garville Avenue, Rathgar, Dublin, the eldest daughter of James Cavendish Bennett, a prosperous auctioneer, and his wife Susan (née Bolger). She was brought up at Temple…...
Beresford, Lord Charles William de la Poer
Beresford, Lord Charles William de la Poer (1846–1919), admiral and MP, was born 10 February 1846 in Baronstown, Dundalk, Co. Louth, second son of the Rev. John de la Poer Beresford (1814–66), 4th marquis of Waterford, and Christiana Beresford (1820–1905; née Leslie). He was…...
Bergin, Patrick
Bergin, Patrick (1913–91), trade unionist and republican, was born in Carlow on 6 February 1913, one of nine children of a railway signalman. His mother, an ardent republican and a devout catholic, came from a Co. Westmeath family of shopkeepers and small farmers. Having been…...
Bingham, Edward Barry Stewart
Bingham, Edward Barry Stewart (1881–1939), rear-admiral, RN, was born 26 July 1881 in Bangor Castle, Co. Down, third of seven sons and three daughters of John George Barry Bingham (1852–1916), 5th Baron Clanmorris, landowner, and Matilda Catherine Bingham, daughter and heiress of…...
Binks, J. Harold
Binks, J. Harold (1911–86), trade unionist, was born in Portadown, Co. Armagh, one of several sons of Thomas J. Binks (who was probably the Thomas James Binks, carpenter, resident at 66 Hanover Street, married to Annie S. Binks (née Kelly)). He attended a mixed-denominational…...
Blackwood, Sir Henry
Blackwood, Sir Henry (1770–1832), vice admiral, was born 28 December 1770 at Ballyleidy, Upper Clandeboye, Co. Down, seventh son of Sir John Blackwood (qv), 2nd baronet, and Dorcas Blackwood (née Stevenson), afterwards 1st Baroness…...
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,…...
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…...
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…...
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…...