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 …...
Blomfield, Sara Louisa
Blomfield, Sara Louisa , Lady (1859–1939), Bahá'í pioneer and humanitarian, was born in Knockanevin, Borrisoleigh, near Thurles, Co. Tipperary, the daughter of Matthew (Matthias) John Ryan and his wife Emily (née Crowe). Religious tension between her catholic father and anglo-…...
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…...
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…...
Bolton, Theophilus
Bolton, Theophilus (c.1678–1744), archbishop and benefactor, was born in Borisool, Co. Mayo, and graduated BA (1698), MA (1701), BD and…...
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…...
Bouhéreau, Élie (Elias)
Bouhéreau, Élie (Elias) (1643–1719), huguenot bibliophile, librarian, cleric, diarist, and administrator, was born 5 May 1643 at La Rochelle, France, son of Élie Bouhéreau, pastor of Fontenay, and Blandine Bouhéreau (née Richard). The family was of the upper middle class. He was…...
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),…...
Boyd, John St Clair
Boyd, John St Clair (1858–1918), surgeon, Gaelic Leaguer and philanthropist, was born at Cultra House, Holywood, Co. Down, only son of John Kane Boyd, co-proprietor of the Blackstaff Mill. He was educated in Paris and Edinburgh before graduating from Queen's College, Belfast (QCB), and…...
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, Reginald
Brabazon, Reginald (1841–1929), 12th earl of Meath , landowner, philanthropist, and disciplinarian, was born in London on 31 July 1841, the second son of William Brabazon, eleventh earl, and Harriet, second daughter of Sir Richard Brooke, sixth baronet, of Norton Priory, Cheshire…...
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…...
Bradshaw, Henry
Bradshaw, Henry (1831–86), bibliophile, librarian, and scholar, was born 2 February 1831 at 2 Artillery Place, Finsbury Square, London, third son of Joseph Hoare Bradshaw (d. 1845), a native of Mile Cross, near Newtownards, Co. Down, and a partner in the city banking firm of Barnett…...
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, 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…...
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…...
Brodrick, Alan
Brodrick, Alan (c.1655–1728), 1st Viscount Midleton , lord chancellor of Ireland, was the second son of St John Brodrick, a beneficiary of the Cromwellian land settlement who originated from Wandsworth in Surrey and established himself at Ballyannan, near Midleton in Co.…...
Browne, Arthur
Browne, Arthur (1756?–1805), lawyer, legal and classical scholar, and MP, was born probably in Newport, Rhode Island, North America, the only son of Marmaduke Browne (1731–71), rector of Trinity church, Newport, and later a founding fellow of Rhode Island College (from 1804 Brown…...
Budd, Frederic Gardner Orford
Budd, Frederic Gardner Orford (1904–76), barrister and judge, was born 11 April 1904 in Ennis, Co. Clare, second son of Samuel Duguid Budd, later chief officer of the Provincial Bank of Ireland, and Fanny Beatrice, the daughter of Dr Orford of Leicestershire. Samuel Budd had five…...
Bulkeley, Sir Richard
Bulkeley, Sir Richard (1660–1710), politician and eccentric philanthropist, was born 17 August 1660 in Dublin. His great-grandfather was Archbishop Lancelot Bulkeley (qv), while his father, Richard Bulkeley (1634–85), MP for…...
Burgh, Walter Hussey
Burgh, Walter Hussey (1742–83), politician and lawyer, was born 23 August 1742, the only son of Ignatius Hussey (d. 1743), barrister, of Donore, Co. Kildare, and his second wife, Elizabeth (1705–57), daughter of Thomas Burgh (1670–1730) of Oldtown, Co. Kildare, surveyor general of…...
Burrowes, Peter
Burrowes, Peter (1753?–1841), barrister and politician, was born at Portarlington, Queen's Co., the first son of Thomas Burrowes, whose family was long established there. He entered TCD (1772), graduated …...
Bushe, Charles Kendal
Bushe, Charles Kendal (1767–1843), lawyer, judge, MP, and political writer, was born 13 January 1767 at Kilmurry, near Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, the only son of the Rev. Thomas Bushe of Kilmurry, rector of Gowran, Co. Kilkenny, and Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, and Catherine Bushe (née…...
Butt, Isaac
Butt, Isaac (1813–79), barrister and politician, was born 6 September 1813 in the Rectory at Glenfin, Co. Donegal, the only son of Robert Butt (d. 1829), a Church of Ireland parson, and his second wife, Berkeley (née Cox), daughter of the Rev. R. Cox, of Dovish, Co. Donegal and a…...