Abbot, Charles
Abbot, Charles (1757–1829), tourist in Ireland, chief secretary for Ireland (1801–02), speaker of the British house of commons, creator of a system of arranging parliamentary papers, and later 1st Baron Colchester , was born 14 October 1757 at Abingdon, Berkshire, England, second…...
Adair, Sir Robert Alexander Shafto
Adair, Sir Robert Alexander Shafto (1811–86), 2nd baronet, Baron Waveney, MP and author, was born 25 August 1811, elder son of Sir Robert Shafto Adair (1st baronet, of Flixton Hall, Suffolk, and Ballymena, Co. Antrim) and Elizabeth Adair (née Strode), and educated at Harrow (1823–8).…...
Adams, William George Stewart
Adams, William George Stewart (1874–1966), economist, academic, and public servant, was born 8 November 1874 at Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland, youngest child of John Adams, headmaster of St John's Grammar School, Hamilton, and Margaret, daughter of John Stewart, Glasgow cotton…...
Arensberg, Conrad Maynadier
Arensberg, Conrad Maynadier (1910–97), anthropologist and sociologist, was born 12 September 1910 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the eldest of the four sons of Charles F. C. Arensberg, attorney, from a steel and banking dynasty, and his wife, Emily Wright Maynadier Arensberg (née…...
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…...
Ashe, Thomas
Ashe, Thomas (1770–1835), novelist and travel writer, was born 15 July 1770 in Glasnevin, Co. Dublin, third son among eleven children of Jonathan Ashe, soldier, and Margaret Ashe (née Hickman), heiress to estates in Co. Clare. According to his own account, he spent his early life at…...
Ball, John
Ball, John (1818–89), scientist, politician, and mountain traveller, was born 20 August 1818 in Dublin, eldest son among four children of Nicholas Ball (qv), politician and judge, and Jane Ball (neé Sherlock) of Butlerstown, Co.…...
Bartlett, William
Bartlett, William (1809–54), topographical draughtsman, was born 26 March 1809 in Kentish Town, London; nothing is known of his parents. In 1823 he was articled to the topographer and antiquarian, John Britton (1771–1857). During the seven years of his apprenticeship thirty-nine of…...
Bastable, Charles Francis
Bastable, Charles Francis (1855–1945), economist and academic, was born in Charleville, Co. Cork, the only son of the Rev. Robert Bastable, rector of Knock Temple and Kilbolane, and his wife Louisa, daughter of a Dr Little of Sligo. Educated at Fermoy College and…...
Beaumont, Gustave de
Beaumont, Gustave de (1802–66), French writer on Ireland, was born at Beaumont-la-Chartre in the département of the Sarthe. He belonged to a conservative, aristocratic family, his full name being Gustave-Auguste de la Bonnière, comte de Beaumont, but, like his friend and…...
Beddy, James Patrick
Beddy, James Patrick (1900–76), public servant and economist, was born 28 September 1900 in Cobh, Co. Cork, the eldest son and second of the three children of Thomas Robert Beddy, RIC constable, and Mary Beddy (née Barry), of Macroom, Co…...
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…...
Blackwood, Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-
Blackwood, Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple- (1826–1902), 1st marquess of Dufferin and Ava , diplomat and writer, was born in Florence on 21 June 1826, the only child of Price Blackwood, 4th Baron Dufferin and Clandeboye (in the Irish peerage), and his wife,…...
Bland, John Otway Percy
Bland, John Otway Percy (1863–1945), administrator, journalist and travel writer, was born 15 November 1863 in Woodbank, Whiteabbey, Co. Antrim, second son of Maj.-gen. Edward Loftus Bland and Emma Frances Bland (née Franks) of Jerpoint, Co. Kilkenny. Educated in Switzerland and…...
Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen
Blunt, Wilfrid Scawen (1840–1922), eccentric, traveller, and poet, was born 17 August 1840 at Petworth House, Sussex, second son of Francis Scawen Blunt of Crabbet House, Sussex, who was a grenadier guard, and his wife Mary Chandler of Surrey, daughter of a Church of England…...
Booth, Sir Henry William Gore-
Booth, Sir Henry William Gore- (1843–1900), 5th baronet, landlord, and Arctic explorer, was born at Lissadell House, Co. Sligo, second son among two sons and three daughters of Sir Robert Gore-Booth, 4th baronet, landlord, and MP for Sligo, and his second wife, Caroline Susan (née…...
Bransfield, Edward
Bransfield, Edward (c.1785–1852), sailor and explorer, was born in Ballinacurra, Midleton, Co. Cork, about 1785; the date is calculated from his age at date of death, as recorded from his death certificate. He was the son of a sea captain who is thought to have been of…...
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…...
Browne (Altamont), Jeremy Ulick
Browne (Altamont), Jeremy Ulick (1939–2014), 11th marquis of Sligo and entrepreneur, was born on 4 June 1939 in London, the only child of…...
Bryans, Robert Harbinson ('Robin Harbinson'; 'Robert Harbinson')
Bryans, Robert Harbinson ('Robin Harbinson'; 'Robert Harbinson') (1928–2005), memoirist and travel writer, was born on the Newtownards Road, Belfast, on 24 April 1928, third child and only son of Robert Bryans, musician and window cleaner, and his wife Georgina (née Campbell), known as…...
Bulfin, William
Bulfin, William (1863–1910), journalist in Argentina and travel writer, was born at Derrinlough House, near Birr, King's County (Offaly), and baptised 14 November 1863, fourth son in the family of ten sons and one daughter of William Bulfin, a strong farmer, and his wife Ellen (née…...
Burke, Robert O'Hara
Burke, Robert O'Hara (1820/21?–1861), police officer and explorer, was born at Issercleran House, near Loughrea, Co. Galway, second son of James Hardiman Burke (1788–1854), high sheriff (1826), and his wife Anne (d. 1844), daughter of Robert O'Hara of Raheen, Co. Galway. The family…...
Bury, Charles Kenneth Howard-
Bury, Charles Kenneth Howard- (1883–1963), soldier, explorer, plant collector, and politician, was born 15 August 1883 in London, though his parents generally lived in Charleville castle, Tullamore, King's Co. (Co. Offaly). He was the only son of Captain Kenneth Howard, army officer…...
Busteed, John
Busteed, John (1895–1964), economist, was born 30 June 1895 at Mayfield, a suburb of Cork city, son of John Busteed, ship's steward, and Mary Busteed (née Hickey). Educated at the North Monastery School, Cork, he was the first recipient of the Honan scholarship to…...
Butler, William Francis
Butler, William Francis (1838–1910), soldier and author, was born 31 October 1838 in a farmhouse at Ballyslateen, Golden, Co. Tipperary, youngest child among four sons and three daughters of Richard Butler (1792–1870), a modest landowner and large tenant farmer of Suirville, Co.…...