Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’)
Airey, Johanna (‘Josie’) (1932–2002), legal-aid campaigner, was born 4 May 1932 at 154 Bandon Road, Cork city, one of two daughters and two sons of Michael Lynch , labourer, and Eileen Lynch (née Sullivan). Her parents both died early, leaving her in the care of her grandmother,…...
Anster, John Martin
Anster, John Martin (1793–1867), poet, translator of Goethe's Faust, and regius professor of civil law in Dublin University, was born 21 October 1793 in Charleville, Cork, son of John Anster, distiller, and Mary Ann Anster (née Hiffernan). The family was catholic, and…...
Asmal, (Abdul) Kader
Asmal, (Abdul) Kader (1934–2011), human rights jurist, anti-apartheid campaigner and South African government minister, was born on 8 October 1934 in Stanger (KwaDukuza), Natal, South Africa, the youngest of eight children (six sons and two daughters) of Ahmed Asmal, grocer, and his…...
Ball, Nicholas
Ball, Nicholas (1791–1865), lawyer and politician, was born on 6 July 1791 in Dublin, only son of John…...
Barnewall, Sir John
Barnewall, Sir John (1634?–1691?) barrister and judge, was one of eleven children of Richard Barnewall (qv) of Crickstown, Co. Meath, and his second wife Julia, daughter of Sir Gerald…...
Barrett, (Denis) Cyril
Barrett, (Denis) Cyril (1925–2003), Jesuit priest, art critic and historian, and philosopher, was born Denis Barrett in Dublin on 9 May 1925 (Cyril was his name in religion). He was the son of Denis Barrett, the last assistant commissioner of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. His…...
Barron (Baron), Geoffrey
Barron (Baron), Geoffrey (1606–51), lawyer, politician, and diplomat, was eldest son of Lawrence Barron, a catholic merchant from Clonmel, and Mary Wadding of Waterford, sister of the Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding (qv). The Barrons, a…...
Bellew, William
This is a co-subject for the entry on Bellew, Sir Patrick. View the original entry....
Bellings (Bealing), Richard
Bellings (Bealing), Richard (c.1603–1677), lawyer, politician, and historian, was eldest son of Sir Henry Bellings (of an Old English catholic family with properties in Dublin and Kildare) and his wife Maud, about whom nothing else is known. Richard gained admittance to…...
Bewley, Charles Henry
Bewley, Charles Henry (1888–1969), barrister and diplomat, was born 12 July 1888 in Dublin, eldest son among four children of Henry Theodore Bewley (qv), MD and quaker, and Elizabeth…...
Blake, Anthony Richard
Blake, Anthony Richard (1786–1849), lawyer, administrator, and ‘backstairs viceroy of Ireland’, was second son of Martin Blake of Holly Park, Athenry, Co. Galway. He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn, London, 13 May 1808. A protégé of Charles Butler, former secretary of the catholic…...
Blake, Richard
Blake, Richard (c.1595–1663), lawyer and politician, was the eldest son of Robert Blake, a wealthy merchant from Ardfry, Co. Galway, and Katherine, daughter of Richard Darcy of Gorteen, Co. Galway. The Blakes, one of the fourteen ‘tribes’ of Galway, were centrally…...
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…...
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…...
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, 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…...
Browne, Geoffrey
Browne, Geoffrey (d. 1668), lawyer and politician, was the eldest son, of the four sons and five daughters, of Sir Dominick Browne, merchant, and mayor of Galway in 1634, and his wife, Anastasia, daughter of James Darcy, mayor of Galway in 1603, and sister of…...
Browne, John
Browne, John (1638–1712?), lawyer and entrepeneur, of Kinturk and Westport, Co. Mayo, was the second son of Major John Browne (d. 1670) of the Neale, near Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, and his wife Mary. His mother was a daughter of Sir …...
Bryan, Patrick
Bryan, Patrick (d. 1663), lawyer and politician, was third son of James FitzJohn Bryan of Whiteswall and Eleanor, daughter of Piers Butler of Callan, Co. Kilkenny. Patrick qualified as a barrister, having studied in Gray's Inns in the late 1630s, and married a daughter of James…...
Burke, James Michael
Burke, James Michael (1873–1936), barrister, newspaper editor, and politician, was born 4 November 1873 at 31 Bridge St., Skibbereen, Co. Cork, seventh among twelve children (seven sons and three daughters survived to adulthood) of Patrick Burke, grocer and farmer, and Mary Burke (née…...
Burnell, Henry
Burnell, Henry (d. 1614), lawyer, was the son of John Burnell of Castleknock, Co. Dublin; the family also owned land at Balgriffin, Co. Dublin, and had strong connections with the city of Dublin, principally through Sir Robert Burnell, who was mayor on several occasions in the…...
Butler, Sir Theobald (Toby)
Butler, Sir Theobald (Toby) (c.1650–1721), lawyer, was the second of the five sons of James Butler (d. 1682) of Boytonrath, Co. Tipperary, and later of Shanagollen, Co. Clare, and his wife, Mary (d. a.1684), a daughter of James and Ellen Butler of Kilmoyler, Co.…...
Butler, William Archer
Butler, William Archer (1812?–1848), clergyman and professor of moral philosophy, was second son of Pierce Archer Butler and Anna Maria Butler (née Gallwey); their seven children were brought up as Roman Catholics by their mother, though the father, who had several times been…...
Byrne, Séamus
Byrne, Séamus (1904–68), playwright and lawyer, was born in Dublin on 27 December 1904. Educated at Blackrock College, he graduated LLB from UCD and qualified as a solicitor in 1927. He worked as…...