Baird, William Savage
Baird, William Savage (1824–86) and George Courtenay Baird (1833–75), printers and newspaper proprietors, were brothers, natives of Randalstown, Co. Antrim; they had at least one other brother, Thomas Drew Baird (d. 1890), who joined the business after George Baird died. Both William…...
Bambrick, James (Joe)
Bambrick, James (Joe) (1905–83), association footballer, was born 3 November 1905 at 20 Buckingham St., Belfast, son of Henry Bambrick, trunk-maker, and Elizabeth Bambrick (née Henning). After several years with local sides Rockville, Ulster Rangers, and Bridgemount, he joined (1926…...
Barrett, Edmond (‘Edward’)
Barrett, Edmond (‘Edward’) (1877–1932), Olympic athlete, wrestler, and hurler, was born 3 November 1877 in Rahela (also known as Rahealy or Rathella), Ballyduff, Co. Kerry, one of twelve surviving children of Thomas Barrett, farmer, and Bridget Barrett (née Whelan). He was educated…...
Barrett, Joseph
Barrett, Joseph (1902–52), GAA footballer, was born 17 July 1902 at 67 Rock St., Tralee, Co. Kerry, seventh of ten children of John Barrett, Tralee livestock dealer, and Nora Barrett (née O'Mahony) of Ballyduff, Co. Kerry. Educated locally, at the age of 14 he took up the family…...
Barrington, Charles
Barrington, Charles (1834–1901), mountaineer and horseman, was born 5 October 1834, sixth son and ninth child of Edward Barrington of Fassaroe, Bray, Co. Wicklow, a well-to-do quaker farmer, and his first wife, Sarah (née Leadbeater) of Ballytore, Co. Kildare. Nothing is known of…...
Barrington, Sir Charles Burton
Barrington, Sir Charles Burton (1848–1943), 5th baronet, sportsman and landowner, was born at Glenstal Castle, Murroe, Co. Limerick, the eldest of four sons of Sir Croker Barrington and his wife, Anna Felicia, the eldest daughter of John Beattie West, MP for Dublin (1835–7, 1841–2…...
Barry, John Joseph
Barry, John Joseph (1924–94), ‘the Ballincurry Hare’, middle-distance athlete, was born 5 October 1924 in Joliet (near Chicago), Illinois, USA, eldest among four sons and a daughter of Michael Barry, gardener, from Knockview, Co. Roscommon, and Mary Jo Barry (née Cashin), from The…...
Barton, Frederick (Derick)
Barton, Frederick (Derick) (1900–93), athlete, farmer, and political activist, was born in London on 19 June 1900, the eldest son of Bertram Hugh Barton and his wife, Lilian (née Carden). The Barton family had lived in Ireland since Elizabethan times and built Straffan House, Co.…...
Battersby, William Joseph
Battersby, William Joseph (1794/5–1873), catholic bookseller and writer, is first mentioned in 1825, in Wilson's Dublin Directory, as a printer at 33 Winetavern Street, Dublin. He was to flourish in the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s, a period of rapidly growing catholic…...
Beamish, Sir George Robert
Beamish, Sir George Robert (1905–67), rugby international and air marshal, was born 29 April 1905 in Dunmanway, Co. Cork, son of Frank George Beamish of Carthall, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, inspector of schools for Ireland, and Mary Elizabeth (‘May’) Beamish (née Graham), teacher,…...
Beary, Michael
Beary, Michael (1894–1956), jockey and trainer, was born 9 December 1894 at Anne St., Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, second son of John Beary, clerk of the Clonmel union, and Hannah Beary (née Skeahan). He began his apprenticeship as a jockey with Col.…...
Beasley, Henry Herbert (Harry)
This is a co-subject for the entry on Beasley, Thomas (Tommy). View the original entry....
Beasley, Thomas (Tommy)
Beasley, Thomas (Tommy) (1848–1905) and Henry Herbert (Harry) (1852–1939), jockeys, were born at Salisbury House, Athy, Co. Kildare, first and third of the five sons of Joseph Lapham Beasley, large farmer. Four of the boys were to become jockeys, but neither Willie (d. 1892, after a…...
Beckett, James C[rothers?] (‘Jim’)
Beckett, James C[rothers?] (‘Jim’) (1884–1971), water-polo international, national swimming champion, all-round sportsman, and administrator, was born 17 October 1884 in Prince William Terrace, Dublin, one of four sons and one daughter of William Francis Beckett, a successful…...
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…...
Bell, Sir William Ewart
Bell, Sir William Ewart (1924–2001), rugby international and civil servant, was born 13 November 1924 in Belfast, son of the Rev. Dr Frederick George Bell, an ordained minister of the presbyterian church, and Margaret Jane Bell (née Ewart), a qualified teacher. He was the eldest…...
Bennett, Alexander (‘Alec’)
Bennett, Alexander (‘Alec’) (1897–1973), motorcyclist, was born 25 April 1897 in Craigantlet, Co. Down, son of Robert Bennett, farmer, of Craigantlet, and Isabella Bennett (née Rea). Having emigrated to Canada at an early age, he began competing as a motorcyclist, primarily on half-…...
Bennett, William Thomas (‘Bill’)
Bennett, William Thomas (‘Bill’) (1877–1967), champion athlete and road bowler, was born 7 September 1877 at Killeady, Ballinhassig, Co. Cork, one of two sons and three daughters of William Bennett, farmer, from Killeady, and Eliza Bennett (née Hobbs), who was from a well known…...
Bergin, Stanley Francis
Bergin, Stanley Francis (1925–69), cricketer and journalist, was born 19 November 1925 at 8 St John's Road, Sandymount, Dublin, as Stanislaus Mary Bergin, youngest of seven sons of Bernard Christopher Bergin, assistant director GPO, and…...
Best, George
Best, George (1946–2005), professional footballer, was born 22 May 1946 in the Royal Maternity Hospital, Belfast, eldest child among two sons and four daughters of Richard 'Dickie' Best (1919–2008), a shipyard iron turner with Harland and Wolff, and his wife Ann Mary 'Annie' Best (née…...
Betham, Cecilia Maria Eleanor
Betham, Cecilia Maria Eleanor (1843–1913), archer, was born in January 1843 in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the second child and only daughter of Molyneux Cecil John Betham (1813–80), archivist, and Elizabeth Betham (née Ford), the daughter of Sir Richard Ford, chief magistrate (1800–06)…...
Bladen, William
Bladen, William (c.1585–1663), printer and bookseller, was born in England, son of Thomas Bladen, yeoman of Derbyshire; nothing is known of his mother. In 1602 he became an apprentice in the London Stationers’ company, being freed on 7 May 1610. Thereafter he worked in…...
Blake, Edmund
Blake, Edmund (fl. 1752), co-founder of steeplechasing, is credited with taking part in the first recorded steeplechase when he and ‘O'Callaghan’ raced four-and-a–half miles (7.24 km) from Buttevant church to the steeple of St Leger, Doneraile, Co. Cork, in 1752. The first…...
Blake, Richard Thomas
Blake, Richard Thomas (1868–1937), secretary of the GAA and journalist, was born 15 January 1868 at Ladyrath, Rathkenny, Navan, Co. Meath, eldest son of seven sons and one daughter of Philip Blake (d. 1906), large farmer, and Eliza Martha Blake (née Cogan). His interest in and…...
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…...