Blathmac
Blathmac (d. 825), son of Flann, prior or acting abbot of Iona, was guardian of the relics of Colum Cille (qv) during the absence of the abbot, Diarmait, and was murdered by the vikings. According to Walafrid Strabo's ‘Vita…...
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…...
Boisil
Boisil (d. c.660), abbot of Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland, was a successor of the Columban mission to Scotland and Northumbria. Bede (‘Historia ecclesiastica’, iv, 27) describes him as ‘a priest of great virtues, endowed with the spirit of prophecy’. He became the…...
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…...
Brendan (Brénainn)
Brendan (Brénainn) of Birr (d. 565/73), saint in the Irish tradition, was the son of Neman. The historical facts concerning him are few, and nothing survives of his monastic foundation at Birr, Co. Offaly. He is said to have been educated at the great monastery of Bangor. According…...
Brendan (Brénainn)
Brendan (Brénainn) of Clonfert (d. 577/83), saint in the Irish tradition, monastic founder, and reputed voyager, is believed to have been born in the district around what is now Tralee, Co. Kerry, into a south-western branch of the Ciarraige: the Ciarraige Luachra, of whom he is the…...
Bricc (Briccín da Beccóg)
Bricc (Briccín da Beccóg) (fl. 7th cent.), associated with Túaim Drecain (Tomregan, Co. Cavan), was a descendant of Ailill Ólom (qv), ancestral figure of the Éoganachta of Munster, according to late genealogies. At the time of…...
Brigit (Brighid, Bríd, Bride, Bridget)
Brigit (Brighid, Bríd, Bride, Bridget) (possibly c.450–524), reputed foundress and first abbess of Cell Dara (Kildare), is the female patron saint of Ireland, but it is uncertain whether she existed as a person. Most scholars regard her as a ghost personality generated in the…...
Briúinsech Cael (Briuineach)
Briúinsech Cael (Briuineach) (6th cent.?), church foundress and saint in the Irish tradition; her father is named as Crimthann, but her lineage is unrecorded. She is said to have had two sisters, Luchad and Tudella. Briúinsech apparently became a member of the community of…...
Broccán (Brogan) Clóen
Broccán (Brogan) Clóen (‘squint[-eyed]’) (d. 650), abbot of Ros Tuirc in Ossory, was credited with the poem, ‘Ní car Brigit búadach bíth’, on the miracles of St Brigit (qv). According to its preface, Broccán's…...
Bruce, William
Bruce, William (1702–55), publisher and writer, was born in Killyleagh, Co. Down, the youngest of the three sons of the Rev. James Bruce (qv) (1660?–1730), and his wife, Margaret (née Trail), of Tullychin (d. 1706). He was educated at the…...
Buite
Buite (d. 521) was the founder of the monastery of Mainistir Buite (Monasterboice, Co. Louth), and is a saint in the Irish tradition. The only biographical source is a late and imperfect Latin Life, according to which he was a a son of Brónach, a member of the Cianachta Breg of…...
Butler, Isaac
Butler, Isaac (1689/90?–1755), almanac maker, botanist, and antiquary, was by 1725 in business as a bookseller and publisher in Patrick Street, Dublin; he was a quarter-brother of the printers’ guild (1728–31). His first almanac was Advice from the stars (1725), which he…...
Byrne, Patrick
Byrne, Patrick (1740/41–1814), printer, bookseller, and United Irishman, had a flourishing business in Dublin, at 35 College Green (1779–85) and 108 Grafton Street (1785–99). Byrne's business was probably the largest of its kind in Ireland in the eighteenth century. One indication…...
Cadoc
Cadoc (fl. c.497–570) of Llancarfan, one of the best known of the early Welsh saints and monastic founders, had many close links with Ireland. The sources for his life are late but contain some material of historical value. The earliest Lives are by Lifris, abbot of…...
Cadróe
Cadróe (d. 974 × 978), abbot, was born of noble family into an Irish community in Scotland, probably in the west or north-west. He received his first education from a teacher named Beanus or Béoán, and was subsequently educated at Armagh. He set out from Scotland on a pilgrimage…...
Caillín
Caillín (fl. late 6th/early 7th cent.), patron saint of Fenagh (Fidnacha Maige Réin), Co. Leitrim, has no published Life and the extant accounts of him, all late, are almost entirely imaginary. Yet the archaeological evidence for his foundation at Fenagh and his…...
Caimín
Caimín (d. 654), founder of the monastery of Inis Celtra on the island of Lough Derg, near Scariff, Co. Clare, is said to have been a half-brother to Guaire Aidni (qv) (d. 663), king of Connacht. Although his pedigree, which makes him…...
Caínchomrac
Cainnech
Cainnech (d. 600/03), son of Luigthech, founder and first abbot of Achad Bó in Osraige (Aghaboe, Co. Laois) and saint in the Irish tradition, probably belonged to the lineage of Corco Dalláin. There are marked difficulties, however, in relation to his ancestry, his early…...
Cainner (Cannera)
Cainner (Cannera) (6th cent.?), foundress of Cluain Cláraid and saint in the Irish tradition, belonged to the old north Munster population group of Corcu Óchae. Despite a degree of genealogical confusion, it seems reasonable to identify her with Cainner daughter of Fintan. According…...
Caintigern (Kentigerna)
Caintigern (Kentigerna) (d. 734), anchoress of Loch Lomond and saint in the Irish tradition, was daughter of Cellach Cualann (qv), Uí Máil overking of Leinster, but it is not clear which of his successive wives was her mother. She…...
Cairnech
Cairnech (fl. 5th/6th cent.), a saint reputedly of Welsh or Cornish origin and known outside Ireland as Carannog, was probably born in the region of Cardigan (Dyfed) in south-west Wales, but his travels brought him into contact with places in Ireland, Cornwall, and…...
Camelacus (Cáemlach?, Camulacus)
Camelacus (Cáemlach?, Camulacus) ( fl. 5th cent.), an almost unknown saint in the Irish tradition, is mentioned in the late seventh-century ‘Collectanea’ of Tírechán (qv) in the Book of Armagh (f. 11r a): ‘And crossing the River…...
Carey, Mathew
Carey, Mathew (1760–1839), author, bookseller and publisher, was born 28 January 1760 in Dublin, one of five sons to Christopher Carey, a baker who prospered provisioning the British navy, and Mary Carey (née Sheridan). Small and lame from infancy (having been dropped by his nurse),…...