BABINGTON, WILLIAM 1756-1833

William Babington was born in Portglenone, County Antrim, and received his medical education at Guy's Hospital, London, where he practised as a physician after serving as a naval surgeon. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, and he founded the Geological Society. Among his works is New System of Mineralogy. His monument is in St Paul's Cathedral, London.

BAGENAL, HENRY c.1556-1598 Henry Bagenal was an Elizabethan soldier who succeeded his father as marshal of the army in Ireland in 1590. In 1591 his sister Mabel became the third wife of Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone; Henry Bagenal was opposed to the marriage. In 1595 the armies of both men clashed at the Yellow Ford, two miles from Armagh. Henry Bagenal was killed by a musket ball when he lifted the visor of his helmet, and his army was defeated.

BAGENAL, MABEL 16th century

Mabel Bagenal was the sister of Henry Bagenal, who refused to allow Hugh O'Neill to marry her. Hugh defied him and mar-ried Mabel, who was half his age, secretly. Henry Bagenal tried to prove that Hugh was not properly divorced from his first wife, and two years after the marriage, he still witheld the dowry which had been left to Mabel by her father. She has often been cited by historians as the cause of hostili-ties between O'Neill and Bagenal, the `Helen of the Elizabethan Wars', though this simplistic assessment has been discred-ited. In 1594, Hugh and Mabel were described as papists, who supported semi-nary priests.

BAIRD, ROBERT HUGH HANLEY 1855-1934 Robert Baird was born in Belfast and was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Instution. In 1869 he was an apprentice compositor and a year later worked for the Belfast Telegraph, which had been founded by his father. He had sole control of this newspaper from 1886 and established many other papers. He was a justice of the peace and Deputy Lieutenant and was knighted in 1921.

BALLANCE, JOHN 1839-1893 John Ballance was born in Glenavy, County Antrim and was educated at Glenavy National School and Wilson's Academy, Belfast. When he was fourteen, he was apprenticed to an ironmonger. In 1866 he emigrated to New Zealand. There he became involved in journalism and founded and edited The Wanganui Herald. He served in the Maori war of 1867, and entered parliament in 1875. After a career in politics he became Premier of New Zealand in 1891, bringing its first Liberal Party government to power. During this period his policies were seen as radical and forward-looking in regard to land reform and votes for women, and he introduced the world's first welfare state. This association with prosperity gained him the title of 'Rainmaker'.

BAMBRICK, JAMES (JOE, or `HEAD, HEEL OR TOE') 1905-1983

Joe Bambrick was born in Belfast. During the course of his career he played soccer for Rockville, Ulster Rangers, Bridgemount, Glentoran, Linfield, Chelsea and Walsall. He was the first British player to score a double hat-trick in a full international match against Wales at Celtic Park in 1930. He won eleven international caps between 1929 and 1938. In the 1929-30 season with Linfield he scored ninety-four goals. He scored thirty-three goals for Chelsea in only fifty-nine games. Between the years 1925 to 1940 it is said that he scored approximately a thousand goals.

BARBER, SAMUEL c.1738-1811 Samuel Barber was born in Killead, County Antrim, and became a Presbyterian minister. He was colonel of the Volunteers from 1782 and was imprisoned for his part in the 1798 rebellion. He died in Rathfriland, County Down.

BARCLAY, JOSEPH 1831-1881 Joseph Barclay was born in County Tyrone and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was involved in missionary work among the Jews and became the Bishop of Jerusalem in 1861. He translated portions of the Talmud into English.

BARNARD, ANDREW FRANCIS 1773-1855 Andrew Barnard was born in Fahan, County Donegal. In 1794 he joined the army and fought in Canada, the West Indies, the Peninsular War and was wounded at Waterloo. He became a general, and susequently Governor of Chelsea Hospital, and was knighted.

BARNETT GEORGE 1876-1965

George Barnett lived most of his life in Owenreagh, Sixtowns, County London-derry. He was a geologist and archaeologist and discovered Beaghmore Bronze Age site in County Tyrone. He suggested that it was a lunar observatory. He experimented by making his own stone tools modelled on those of the Stone Age. He had an inti-mate knowledge of the northeast Tyrone landscape and frequently contributed arti-facts to Draperstown Museum

BARRE, WILLIAM J. 1830-1867

William Barre was born in Newry, County Down and as an architect practised in Newry and Belfast. He designed many major public buildings in Belfast, including the Ulster Hall and the Albert Memorial.

BARRINGTON, MARGARET 1896-1982

Margaret Barrington was born in Malin, County Donegal, and was educated in, among other places, Dungannon and Trinity College, Dublin. In 1926 she married Liam O'Flaherty, her second husband. She wrote many short stories, and in 1939 published a novel, My Cousin Justin. David's Daughter, Tamar, a selection of her short stories, was published in 1982, five months after her death. During the 1930s she wrote a woman's page for the Tribune and lived in England. She helped refugees from Nazi Germany and was an active supporter of the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. In the 1940s she returned to Ireland and lived in West Cork in almost total obscurity.

BARRY, REDMOND 1866-1913

Redmond Barry was born in Cork and educated at the Royal University of Ireland. He was called to the Bar and later became a Liberal member of parliament for North Tyrone, from 1907 to 1911. He was appointed Solicitor-General and in 1909, Attorney-General. He became Lord Chancellor in 1911.

BARTON, DUNBAR PLUNKETT 1853-1937

Dunbar Barton was educated in England and was called to the Bar in 1880. From 1885 to 1891 he was professor and lecturer at King's Inns and served as Unionist member of parliament for Mid-Armagh from 1893 to 1900. He was Solicitor-General from 1898 and in 1900 was appointed a judge of the High Court. He was a member of the Royal Irish Academy and the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland and he served on the Senate of the National University of Ireland. Among his publications are Bernadotte, Prince and King; Links between Ireland and Shakespeare; Timothy Healy; and Links between Shakespeare and the Law.

BATTY, WILLIAM HENRY WEST see BETTY

BAX, ARNOLD EDWARD TREVOR 1883-1953

Arnold Bax was an English composer who made many visits to County Donegal, lived in Glencolumbkille for a number of years during the 1920s and was heavily influenced by Irish literature and folklore. He was knighted in 1937 and in 1941 became Master of the King's (later Queen's) Musick. He wrote seven symphonies and several symphonic poems, including 'The Garden of Fand' and 'Tintagel' as well as a violin concerto, a cello concerto, piano solos and music for choral and chamber groups. He wrote several novels under the pseudonym Dermot O'Byrne. In his autobiography, Farewell My Youth, he writes of his dying wish as being 'to gaze from his window at Glen Head in late evening'.

BEATTY FRANCIS S. fl. 1839-1860

Francis Beatty is listed in the 1839 Belfast Directory as `engraver and linen ornament manufacturer'. Only weeks after Daguerre had published his method of photography by mercury vapour development of silver iodide exposed on a copper plate, Francis Beatty produced a Daguerrotype of the Long Bridge in Belfast. In 1841 Richard Beard, who had bought the Daguerrotype concession for England and Wales, engaged Beatty, when he opened the first photographic studio in London. The following year, Beatty opened his own studio in Castle Street, Belfast, but soon his business collapsed. He contributed regularly to photographic journals and in 1860 took out a patent for early experiments in photo-lithography

BECKETT, SAMUEL 1906-1989

Samuel Beckett was born in Foxrock, Dublin, and was educated at Portora, Enniskillen, and Trinity College, Dublin. He lectured in English in Paris, where he became a close friend of James Joyce, and in French at Trinity College, Dublin. Returning to Paris in 1932, he wrote several novels, Murphy; Watt; Molloy; Malone Dies and The Unnamable. It was with his plays that he made his international reputation, beginning with Waiting for Godot in 1952, followed by Endgame; Krapp's Last Tape; and Happy Days as well as many shorter works. His Collected Poems (1930-1978) was published in 1984, and he wrote several volumes of short stories, including More Pricks than Kicks and No's Knife. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. He died in Paris renowned as one of the great writers of the twentieth century.

BEGGS, THOMAS 1789-1847

Thomas Beggs was born in Glenwhirry, County Antrim. When he was six years of age, the family moved to Whiteabbey on the shore of Belfast Lough, and Thomas went to sea in a coasting vessel. He was ship-wrecked off Rathlin Island, and returned home. He moved to Ballyclare, County Antrim, and became employed in a local bleachworks. He contributed poems to the Belfast Penny Journal, the News-Letter and the Banner of Ulster. His first book, Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse, was published in 1819. He intended to go to France to work in a linen firm, but when this didn't materialised, and he found himself unemployed, he set out on a north Antrim walking tour. The following year, Rathlin was published, and a year later, The Rhyming Pedagogue. He moved to Belfast in 1825 to work in the bleachworks, and in 1828 published The Momento, a Choice Variety of Original Poems. In 1830 he published a prose work, Nights in a Garrett. Despite again becoming unemployed, and having to rely on his brother for food and shelter for he and his family, he continued to publish. Eventually he was re-employed and given a cottage. He is buried in Ballylinny, near Ballyclare, County Antrim, in an unmarked grave.

BELFAST, EARL OF see CHICHESTER, FREDERICK RICHARD

BELL, ARTIE c.1915-1972

Artie Bell was born in Belfast. He was a motorcycle sprinter, a grasstrack rider, a hill-climber and a car rallyer, having com-peted in the Circuit of Ireland Rally. He is best known as a road racer and was a mem-ber of the Norton factory team. He won the Isle of Man Senior T.T. race in 1948 and the 1950 Isle of Man Junior T.T. on Norton motorcycles. He also won the 1947 and 1948 Dutch T.T. and the 1948 Swiss Grand Prix. In 1949 he finished fifth in the 500cc World Championship, and in 1950, fourth in the 350cc World Championship. During 1950 he had a serious accident in the Belgian Grand Prix, leaving him un-able to race.

BELL, CHARLES DENT 1819-1898

Charles Dent Bell was born in Ballymaguigan, County Londonderry, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was ordained in the Church of England and appointed Canon of Carlisle. He was a prolific writer of prose and religious verse.

BELL, GEORGE 1794-1877

George Bell was born in Fermanagh and fought at Badajoz in 1812 and Sebastopol in 1855. He rose to the rank of general and was knighted.

BELL, HENRY NUGENT 1792-1822

Henry Bell was born in Bellvue, County Fermanagh. He was educated at the Inner Temple, and became a specialist in genealogy and ancient laws and titles. He was the brother of Sir George Bell.

BELL, JAMES 1824-1908

James Bell was born in Armagh and was educated at University College, London. He was appointed consulting chemist to the government of India after running the Somerset House laboratory. He was Companion of the Bath and a Fellow of the Royal Society.

BELL, JOHN 1793-1861

John Bell was born in Camelon, near Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland, but at the age of twenty he was known in Newry, County Down, as a landscape painter. In the course of the next seven years he had a number of letters and articles published in the local press, and he lived in Armagh, Newry, Dundalk and Dublin. He was an antiquarian, collecting, it is said 'anything from flint arrowheads to traditional Irish harps'. In 1839 he was employed as drawing master at the Royal School, Dungannon. In 1844 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and five years later a member of the Royal Irish Academy. During this period he was collecting both antiquities and folklore in County Tyrone and investigating a number of archaeological sites throughout Ulster. His drawings frequently illustrated his own archaeological research. When the Irish Antiquities Exhibition took place in Belfast in 1852, John Bell's collection was by far the largest. It was bequeathed to the Society of Antiquaries in Edinburgh and went to their museum.

BELL, ROBERT 1864-1934

Robert Bell served his apprenticeship at the Harland & Wolff shipyard and spent the next forty years of his life working as a hot rivetter. He was interested in geology and became a member of Belfast Naturalists' Field Club. He collected zeolite minerals for which he gained an international reputation.

BELL, SAM HANNA 1909-1989

Sam Hanna Bell was born in Glasgow, but came to live in County Down when he was nine years old. After a variety of jobs he began to work for Northern Ireland Radio as a features producer in 1945, retiring in 1969. During this period, he and Michael J. Murphy collected folklore, and with Sean O'Boyle, he collected traditional music. This material was used in many radio programmes, and is in the B.B.C. Archive in the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Cultra, County Down. He also wrote a great deal about the theatre, and several novels, among which are The Hollow Ball and A Man Flourishing. His novel December Bride was published in 1951, reprinted in 1982, and filmed in 1991.

BELMORE, 4th EARL OF, see LOWRY-CORRY, SOMERSET

BENEN, ST (or BENIGNUS) d.468

St Benen is said to have been baptised by St Patrick in 433 and to have travelled on St Patrick's behalf to all parts of Ireland. He is believed to have succeeded in 465 to the see of Armagh, where he died in 468. His feast day is the 9th of November.

BENN, EDWARD 1798-1874

Edward Benn was born in Tandragee, County Armagh, and began working in the brewing trade with his brother George in Downpatrick, County Down. They then moved to Glenravel estate where they distilled potatoes. In 1837 he was a member of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, and he bequeathed his collection of antiquities to it. He wrote many papers, including 'Objects in Glass'. He, along with his brother George, established the Belfast Hospital for Diseases of the Skin in Glenravel Street in 1875; the Benn Ulster Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital; and the Samaritan Hospital. His donation allowed Royal Belfast Academical Institution to open a school of mathematics, and another donation enabled the Poorhouse in Clifden Street to build two new wings.

BENN, GEORGE 1801-1882

George Benn was born in Tandragee, County Armagh. During his time as a pupil at Belfast Royal Academy and Royal Belfast Academical Institution he wrote a History of Belfast, published in 1823. This topic continued to preoccupy him, and in 1877 and 1880 he published two volumes of a new edition, which utilised William Pinkerton's research. He contributed articles to several journals. For a time he was a distiller in Downpatrick, County Down, and later a farmer and distiller on the family estate at Glenravel, Ballymena. He moved to Liverpool, but when iron ore was dicovered on the Glenravel estate, he returned home. He and his brother Edward were responsible for the establishment of three hospitals in Belfast: the Samaritan Hospital, the Hospital for Diseases of the Skin and the Benn Ulster Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. His collection of antiquities was presented to the Ulster Museum.

BENNETT, ALEC 1897-1973

Alec Bennett was born in Craigantlet, County Down. He was a motorcycle racer and rode dirt track in Canada, and then as a road tester for Sunbeam. In the 1920s he won eleven of the twenty-nine top events in which he rode, seven of which were European Grand Prix events. In 1923 in the International Six Days Trial he won a Gold Medal. He had a motorcycle business in Hampshire until his death.

BERESFORD, JOHN CLAUDIUS 1738-1805

John Beresford was born in Dublin and was educated at Kilkenny College and Trinity College, Dublin. In 1760 he was called to the Bar but never practised. From 1760 until 1805 he was member of parliament for Waterford. In 1768 he became a Privy Counsellor, in 1770 a Comissioner of Revenue and in 1780 First Comissioner of Revenue. He was instrumental in the building of the new Custom House in Dublin and the extension of the quays. He was a close colleague of Pitt's, and a strong supporter of the Act of Union. His seat was at Walworth in County Londonderry, where he died.

BERESFORD, JOHN GEORGE 1773-1862

John George Beresford was born in Dublin and was educated at Eton and Oxford. He entered the Church and came to Armagh in 1822 as Archbishop and Primate of All Ireland, having been Bishop of Cork and Ross, Raphoe, and Clogher and Archbishop of Dublin. He was Vice Chancellor of Dublin University and later Chancellor. He restored the Cathedral of Armagh as well as installing a campanile in the library-square of Trinity College, Dublin. As the son of the first Marquis of Waterford he became Lord George Beresford. He published sermons, and is buried in Armagh Cathedral.

BERESFORD, JOHN POO c.1768-1844

Sir John Beresford joined the navy and attained the rank of admiral. He was an Member of Parliament for Chatham, Berwick and Coleraine and in 1814 was created a baronet.

BERESFORD, WILLIAM 1742-1819

William Beresford was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and became Doctor of Divinity in 1780. In that year he was ap-pointed Bishop of Dromore, and two years later Bishop of Ossory. In 1794 he was given the Archbishopric of Tuam and in 1812 was created Baron Decies.

BERKELEY, GEORGE 1685-1753

George Berkeley was born at Dysart Castle, County Kilkenny, and educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he became a Fellow. He travelled in Europe and when he returned to Ireland, wrote: 'Essay Towards Preventing the Ruin of Great Britain'. He entered the Church and was made Dean of Derry in 1724. During this period he sought financial support for a proposed college in the Bermudas which never came to fruition. Three years were spent in Rhode Island where he wrote Alciphron. He became Bishop of Cloyne in 1734. His interest in Irish social and economic issues was reflected in The Querist, a work in three volumes. He retired to Oxford where he subsequently died, and he is buried in Christ Church Cathedral. He published many influential works.

BERWICK, EDWARD 1750-1820

Edward Berwick was born in County Down. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he antagonised the provost, Major Hely Hutchinson, by refusing to vote for parliamentary candidates of the provost's nomination. In 1775 Berwick was deprived of his scholarship, ostensibly because he had not been in residence for the required period, but after putting his case before the archbishops of Armagh and Dublin, he was reinststed. He was ordained in the Church of Ireland and became minister of Tullylish, County Down, from where he moved to Leixlip, County Dublin and then Clongish, County Longford, as domestic chaplain to the Earl of Moira. He published theological and classical works, including A Treatise on the Government of the Church, 1811. Subsequently, he became chaplain to the Marquis of Hastings, under whose patronage he edited the Rawdon Papers.

BEST, RICHARD IRVINE 1872-1959

Richard Best was born in Ulster and studied in Paris. He became a renowned Celtic scholar and was Senior Professor of Celtic Studies at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies. He published such works as The Irish Mythological Cycle and Celtic Mythology, The Martyrology of Tallaght, and The Book of Leinster, formerly Lebar Na Nuachongbala. He was Director of the National Library and President of the Royal Irish Academy. His major publication is judged to be Bibliography of Irish Philology and Manuscript Literature, Publications 1913 - 1941. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Bibliographical Society of Ireland, had two honorary doctorates conferred upon him, and was awarded the highly regarded Leibniz Medal of the Royal Prussian Academy.

BETTY (or BATTY), WILLIAM HENRY WEST 1791-1874

William Henry West Betty came from Dromore, County Down, and was a well-known boy actor, under the name of 'Young Roscius'. He played on the London stage, and it has been claimed that Pitt the Younger adjourned parliament so that he could see Betty playing in Hamlet. Betty is said to have retired at the age of twenty-one with a large fortune.

BIGGAR, JOSEPH GILLIS 1828-1890

Joseph Biggar was born in Belfast. He was a provision merchant and became active in nationalist politics, sitting as member of parliament for Cavan from 1874 to 1890. He was the originator of the policy of 'obstruction' in the House of Commons. He was a Presbyterian who converted to Catholicism. He was a member of the Fenians from 1875 to 1877, and treasurer of the Land League.

BIGGER, FRANCIS JOSEPH 1863-1926

Francis Joseph Bigger was born in Belfast and was educated at Royal Belfast Academical Institution, of which his grandfather was a founder, and in Liverpool. Though he began to practise as a solicitor in 1888, he was devoted to the study of Irish archaeology and Ulster history. He revived the Ulster Journal of Archaeology and restored many ruined castles and churches. A member of the Royal Irish Academy, he believed in the worth of Irish culture, especially folk music and song, and he advocated learning the Irish language. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland and produced a series of pamphlets: Irish Penal Crosses; The Ulster Land War of 1770; and The Northern Leaders of 98. In 1924 he edited Ulster Dialect Words and Phrases. His private library of three thousand volumes was given to the Belfast Public Library. A selection of his work, Articles and Sketches, was published a year after his death.

BING, GEOFFREY HENRY CECIL 1909-1977

Geoffrey Bing was born in County Down and was educated in Tonbridge, Oxford University and Princeton University. He was a lawyer, and served in Gibraltar, Ghana and Nigeria. During the war he was a signals officer, and afterwards he became a Labour member of parliament for Hornchurch. From 1957 to 1961 he was Attorney-General in Ghana under President Nkrumah. He was author of the best-selling John Bull's Other Island and of Reap the Whirlwind. He became a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1960.

BINGHAM, JOHN 1908-1988

John Bingham became 7th Baron Clanmorris of Bangor Castle in 1960. He was a prolific author of crime and spy nov-els. His obituary in The Times acknowledged his ability to bring authentic police and intelligence procedures to his writing. He had worked for MI5.

BINGHAM, MADELEINE 1912-1988

Madeleine Bingham married John Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris of Bangor Castle. Among other works she published The Man from the Ministry in 1946 and Peers and Plebs in 1976.

BIRCH, THOMAS LEDLIE d.1808

Thomas Ledlie Birch was born in County Down and was ordained in the Presbyterian Church in 1752. A United Irishman, he was court-martialed at Lisburn in 1798, and had to flee to America. He published many sermons.

BIRKETT, GEORGE fl. 1614

George Birkett was a bricklayer and builder from London. He was sent over to Ulster by the Drapers' Company of the City of London, to build the castle at Moneymore, the Drapers' Plantation in County Londonderry. By 1620, six stone and six timber houses had been erected. He was appointed Surveyor by the parishioners of Donoghenry, near Stewartstown, County Tyrone, to repair their ruined parish church.

BIRMINGHAM, GEORGE A. see HANNAY, JAMES OWEN

BLACK, JAMES early 19th century

Little is known of James Black, except for his large oil painting, the 'City of Armagh', which was presented to Armagh town commissioners in 1870. He painted shop signs and some local portraits. According to the Belfast Mews-Letter of the 10th of February, 1829, James Black was returning home one evening, past a butcher's, when he interfered in a row between the butcher and his wife. He was struck on the head with a cleaver, and died a few days later.

BLACK, JOSEPH 1728-1799

Joseph Black was an eminent chemist and physician, born in Bordeaux of Belfast parents. He was educated, initially at home by his mother, then in Belfast and at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. In 1754 he took the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and his inaugural thesis was regarded highly by the pneumatic school of medicine. He made valuable observations about 'fixed air' (carbon dioxide) and was appointed Professor of Chemistry at Glasgow in 1756 and began research into the nature and properties of heat. Lavoisier, who developed Black's theories, recommended him as an Associate of the Academie Royale des Sciences in Paris. In 1766 he became Professor of Chemistry at Edinburgh University. He was artisitic and musical and belonged to many learned societies both in England and Europe. He died suddenly 'and was discovered sitting before his usual frugal meal of bread, prunes and milk - his death had been so calm that the mug of milk set down upon his knee remained unspilled'. James Watt's first steam engine used Black's research and he is acknowledged for having laid the foundation of modern chemistry. His Lectures on Chemistry were published in many editions.

BLACK, ROBERT 1752-1817

Robert Black was born in County Armagh and was educated in Glasgow. In 1777 he was ordained in the Presbyterian Church at Dromore, County Down and was bitterly opposed to the United Irishmen. He did, however, support Catholic Emancipation and the reform of the electoral system. He had considerable contact with Lord Castlereagh, to whom he gave advice. He was appointed synod agent for the 'regium donum', a post which he occupied from 1788 until his death. In 1801 he received an honorary doctorate from America. His theology was regarded as controversial, as was his support for the Arian, William Porter, whom he sought as a colleague. Among other works he published A Catechism. He committed suicide by throwing himself into the River Foyle.

BLACK, SAMUEL 1762-1832

Samuel Black was probably born in County Down. He was educated at Edinburgh University and studied anatomy, surgery, materia medica, midwifery, the theory and practice of medicine, natural philosophy and botany. He graduated in 1786 as a doctor of medicine. His thesis, which dealt with the properties of water, is in the library of Queen's University, Belfast. He set up a medical practice in Newry in the late 1780s and though he spent some time in Dublin, resided there until his death. His major contribution was his diagnosis of angina and his disection of four cases of angina pectoris. In his book, Clinical and Pathological Reports (1818), he lists people who were liable to develop heart disease: men, people psychologically stressed, those with an accumulation of fat around the heart, those who ate well and did not exercise. He also lists those who were not: women, foot soldiers, the poor and the French. In 1795 his first paper on angina pectoris was published, where he notes that through disection he had observed 'ossification of the arteries of the heart'. In 1812 he is mentioned in the first edition of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. In 1817, he treated victims of the typhus epidemic in Newry, and in 1821 published 'Account of the Fever Lately Epidemic in Ireland'. He also made a significant contribution to the study of neurology, diabetes and public health.

BLACKER, VALENTINE 1778-1826

Valentine Blacker was born in Armagh and made his career in the army. He was Companion of the Bath. He was promoted to the rank of colonel and was appointed Surveyor-General of India where he wrote The History of the Mahratta War.

BLACKER, WILLIAM 1777-1855

William Blacker was born in Armagh and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was present at the 'Battle of the Diamond' and subsequently became a prominent Orangeman. He was appointed to the rank of colonel in the army and wrote many songs, publishing Ardmagh in 1848.

BLACKHAM, DOROTHY ISABEL 1896-1975

Dorothy Blackham was born in Dublin and trained as an artist in the Royal Hibernian Academy, The Metropolitan School of Art, and Goldsmith's College, London, from 1921 to 1922. She taught art for a period and was awarded medals at the Tailteann Festivals of 1928 and 1932. She worked in Gibraltar among refugees from 1939 until 1945. She married and moved to Donaghadee, County Down, where she continued to paint under her maiden name. She designed posters, Christmas cards, and worked in oils, water-colours and tempera as well as producing drawings for The Bell and other magazines. She exhibited widely at the Royal Academy, the Ulster Women Artists' Group, the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists, the Ulster Academy, the Watercolour Society of Ireland, and the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland. Examples of her work are in the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin.

BLACKWOOD, FREDERICK WILLIAM HAMILTON TEMPLE 1826-1902

Frederick Blackwood, 1st Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, was born in Florence and was educated at Eton and Oxford. In 1847 he went to Skibbereen to help famine victims. He returned to his estates at Clandeboye and managed them for ten years, whence, after various senior ministerial appointments, he became Governor-General of Canada from 1872 to 1878, Ambassador to Russia, to Turkey, to Egypt, to Italy and to France and Governor-General of India from 1884 to 1888. One of the most distinguished diplomats of Victorian Britain, he wrote many books, including Letters from High Latitudes. He died at Clandeboye, County Down.

BLACKWOOD, HARIOT (nee ROWAN HAMILTON)

Hariot Blackwood, Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava, was the wife of Frederick Blackwood, 1st Marquis of Dufferin and Ava. They lived at Clandeboye, County Down. From 1872 to 1879 she accompanied him when he was made Governor General of Canada, from 1879 to 1871 when he was British Ambassador to Russia and from 1881 to 1883 when he was British Ambassador to Turkey. She subsequently published My Russian and Turkish Journals in 1916. When Frederick Blackwood was appointed Viceroy of India from 1884 to 1888, Hariot again accompanied him. She was interested in photography and the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland has her album, entitled 'My First Efforts in Photography, India 1886'. While she was in India she founded the Countess of Dufferin's Fund in Support of the National Association for Supplying Female Medical Aid to the Women of India. The fund eventually provided Zenana wards and hospitals, such as the Dufferin Maternity Hospital, Agra, and the Dufferin Hospital for Women, Agpur. Money was set aside for the training of Indian nurses and female doctors. Rudyard Kipling dedicated to her a poem, 'The Song of the Women'. When she returned to Ireland she became involved with the Ulster District of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families Association, of which she was president and treasurer. Her journal, Our Viceregal Life in India, was published in 1891.

BLACKWOOD, HELEN SELENA (nee SHERIDAN) 1807-1867

Helen Blackwood grew up in South Africa, and returned to England to live at Hampton Court Palace with her family after her father had died. She married Captain Blackwood, who succeeded to the barony of Dufferin in 1839. They lived in Italy, England and Clandeboye, County Down. In 1863 she went to Egypt and after a trip on the Nile with her son, wrote Lispings from Low Latitudes, or Extracts from the Journal of the Honorable Impulsia Gushington. Her play, Finesse, or a Busy Day in Messina was produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London, later the same year. In 1862 she re-married, Lord Gifford, fourteen years her junior, when he received terminal injuries and was brought to her house to be nursed. Her son, Frederick Blackwood, wrote of her 'I doubt whether there have been any who combined, with so high spirit, such strong unerring good sense, tact, and discretion'. She was the author of many famous Irish ballads, for example 'The Bay of Dublin', 'Terence's Farewell' and 'The Irish Emigrant'. In 1894 a collection of her work was published privatley.

BLACKWOOD, HENRY 1770-1832

Henry Blackwood was born in Ballyleidy, County Down. He served as a captain in the navy. In 1792 he went to France to learn French and was suspected of spying, as a result of which he had to flee. On the morning of Trafalgar, he witnessed the will of his friend Admiral Horatio Nelson who gave him command of all the frigates. He became a baronet in 1814, was appointed a commander-in-chief in the East Indies, and was knighted in 1819. He became vice-admiral in 1821. He died in Ballyleidy.

BLACKWOOD, HENRY JOSEPH JAMES 1920-1992

Harry Blackwood was born in Armagh and was educated there and Queen's University, Belfast, where he took a degree in dental surgery in 1941. In 1945 he graduated in medicine and he held various junior posts in surgery in the Harrogate and District General Hospital. He was Resident Surgical Officer at the Baguley EMS Hospital Altrincham and in 1948 was appointed Registrar at the Royal Dental Hospital in London. He was a prominent dental scientist and was awarded a Nuffield Foundation Fellowship at the London Hospital. In 1959 he attained a Doctorate of Medicine at Queen's University, Belfast. He contributed to the Bone and Tooth Society and edited the proceedings of their conferences. His own research centred on the anatomy and diseases of the teeth and oral tissues. He was Honorary Consultant in Oral Pathology at the Royal Dental Hospital and a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. In 1983 he became President of the Odontological Section of the Royal Society of Medicine.

BLAKELEY, FLETCHER 1783-1862

Fletcher Blakeley was born in Ballyroney, County Down, and was educated at Glasgow. He was ordained in Moneyrea, County Down. A Unitarian minister, he resigned in 1857, but continued to preach until the installation of his successor. He was in favour of education, supported the rights of tenants and wrote many controversial books. He was joint editor of the Bible Christian (1830-33).

BLAND, HUMPHREY c.1686-1763

Humphrey Bland was born in Lisburn, County Antrim. He joined the army and fought at Culloden before being appointed Governor of Gibraltar and later commander-in-chief in Scotland.

BLAND, LILLIAN 1878-1971

Lillian Bland was born in Kent, and at the age of twenty-eight came to live at Tobercoran House, the family home in Carnmoney, near Belfast. By this stage she had earned a reputation as a press photographer and sports writer. Her aspirations were fired by the achievements of the Wright brothers in the USA and she began to construct a bi-plane glider, and was the first woman in the British Isles, possibly in the world, to design, build and fly her own plane. She named the plane 'Mayfly' with deliberate irony. The 'Mayfly' did fly, and she fitted an engine by A. V. Roe & Co. This modified craft flew successfully in 1910. It is said that her father's offer of a car diverted her attention to running a motor agency, and she then married and left for Vancouver. At the age of ninety-three the Belfast Telegraph quoted her as saying that the only excitement left to her was gambling.

BLAYNEY, ANDREW THOMAS 1770-1834

Andrew Blayney, 11th Baron Blayney, was born in Castleblayney, County Monaghan. He joined the army in 1789 and fought in Flanders, Egypt, the Cape and the Peninsular War, where he was taken prisoner in 1810. He was held for four years and wrote an account of his imprisonment. In 1819 he attained the rank of lieutenant-general.

BLYTHE, ERNEST (DE BLAGHD, EARNAN) 1889-1975

Ernest Blythe was born in Magheragall, near Lisburn, County Antrim, where he was educated. At the age of fifteen he went to work in Dublin. During his stay he learned Irish, and Sean O'Casey reputedly encouraged him to join the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He returned to the North as a journalist for the North Down Herald. He became involved in the Irish Volunteer movement and was many times imprisoned as a consequence. He was elected to the Dail in 1918, and later served under W. T. Cosgrave as Minister for Finance. He held other ministerial posts and was Vice-President of the Executive Council. He retired from politics in 1936. From this point he devoted time and energy to the Irish language revival in the form of an Irish language theatre and the establishment of an official Irish press, An Gum. He was managing director of the Abbey Theatre from 1939 to 1967 and in 1957 published the autobiographical work Trasna na Boinne, followed in 1969 with Slan le hUltaibh. His other publications include a volume of poetry in 1938 and Briseadh na Teorann in 1955.

BODLEY, JOSIAS c. 1550-1617

Josias Bodley was born in Exeter and was educated at Merton College, Oxford. After a military career in Ireland and Europe he came to Ireland as Director-General of the Fortifications and Buildings in Ireland. In 1614 he was appointed by the Lord Deputy to inquire into the progress of the London Companies' plantations in County London-derry. His report was presented to James I.

BOND, OLIVER 1762-1798

Oliver Bond was born in County Londonderry. He had a woollen business in Dublin and was active in Irish politics, joining the United Irishmen on their formation in 1791. Despite a term of imprisonment in Newgate, by 1797 he was enthusiastically engaged in administering the United Irishmen's oath, and enrolling and arming men. Meetings of the Leinster Directory of United Irishmen took place at his house which was the setting for the resolution 'We will pay no attention to any measure which the Parliament of this kingdom may adopt, to divert the public mind from the grand object we have in view; as nothing short of the entire and complete regeneration of our country can satisfy us.' He was tried and convicted for high treason on the 24th of July, 1798, and after six weeks in prison died suddenly. He is buried in St Michan's graveyard, Dublin.

BORU, BRIAN 941-1014

Brian Boru was born in Thomond and became King of Munster in 978. It was said that he united the kingdoms under his rule, reformed the Church and defeated the Scandanavian settlers of Dublin at the Battle of Clontarf where he died, having gained sovreignty over all of Ireland. His body was brought to Armagh and buried in the Cathedral.

BOULTER, HUGH 1671-1742

Hugh Boulter was born in London and was educated at Oxford. He held, among other eminent positions, the chaplaincy to George I, the bishopric of Bristol and in 1724 became Archbishop of Armagh. During the nineteen years of his primacy in Armagh he was deeply politically involved on behalf of the English government. On his death he left his estate for the purchase of glebes for the Irish clergy. His inability to make converts to Protestantism was a source of great concern to him : 'I can assure you the Papists are here so numerous that it highly concerns us in point of interest...to bring them and theirs over to the knowledge of the true religion; and one of the most likely methods we can think of is...instructing and converting the young generation....The ignorance and obstinacy of the adult Papists is such that there is not much hope of converting them.' He published Letters, containing an Account of the Most Interesting Transactions which Passed in Ireland from 1724 to 1738.

BOURKE, RICHARD SOUTHWELL 1822-1872

Richard Bourke, Lord Naas, subsequently 6th Earl of Mayo, was born in Dublin and was member of parliament for Kildare from 1847 to 1852 and Coleraine from 1852 to 1857. He was Chief Secretary for Ireland during the Fenian rising in 1867. He succeeded as Earl of Mayo, was knighted and appointed Governor-General of India. He was shot while visiting penal settlements in the Andaman Islands.

BOWDEN, JOHN 1916-1988

Jack Bowden played hockey for Lisnagarvey and won Irish Senior Cup medals in 1945, 1946, 1951 and 1952. Between 1938 and 1950, he won nineteen hockey interna-tional caps for Ireland. He was a member of the Irish hockey side, which won four Triple Crowns, in 1938, 1939, 1947 and 1949. Between 1946 and 1955 he also played cricket for Ireland on eighteen occasions.

BOWEN, GRETTA 1880-1981

Gretta Bowen was born in Dublin, but lived most of her life in Belfast. As a widow, she reared three sons, two of whom, George and Arthur Campbell, were artists. She was seventy years old when she discovered her own artistic talent. An article was written about her in The Times and she exhibited at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, the Royal Hibernian Academy, and the Oireachtas. She had one-woman exhibitions in the Bell Gallery in 1965 and the Tom Caldwell Gallery in 1970 and 1976. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland commissioned her son George to paint her portrait in 1975. She attracted international attention and her work is represented in the Ulster Museum.

BOYCE, JOHN (pseud. PEPPERGRASS, PAUL) 1810-1864

John Boyce was born in County Donegal and educated at Maynooth. He emigrated to the United States in 1845, eight years after being ordained priest. He published some lectures, and a number of novels, including Shandy Maguire (1848); The Spaewife and Mary Lee, under his pseudonym Paul Peppergrass. He also published lectures on the influence of Catholicity on the Arts and Sciences, and on Mary Queen of Scots and Charles Dickens.

BOYD, HENRY c.1750-1832

Henry Boyd was born near Dromore, County Down. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and became a vicar in Rathfriland and chaplain to the Earl of Charleville. He wrote poems and translated into English Dante's Inferno and Divine Comedy.

BOYD, HUGH MACAULEY 1746-1794

Hugh Macauley Boyd was born in Ballycastle, County Antrim and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He edited the political paper, the Freeholder in Dublin, before going to London, where he joined the club attended by Johnson, Goldsmith and Burke. He accompanied Lord Macartney to India as his secretary and was captured and imprisoned by the French. He became Master-Attendant in Madras where he edited the Madras Courier and other Anglo-Indian journals. His miscellaneous works were published between 1798 and 1800, and there were many who believed him,(rather than Sir Philip Francis), to be the author of the 'Junius Letters', which had appeared in the Public Advertiser, London, from 1769 to 1772, attacking George III and his ministers.

BOYD, JOHN McNEILL 1812-1861

John McNeill Boyd was born in Derry and became a captain in the Royal Navy. He served in the Baltic and is remembered chiefly for his bravery in attempting to rescue a crew in a hurricane near Kingstown, an action which cost him his life.

BOYD, JOHN ST CLAIR 1858-1918

John St Clair Boyd was born in Holywood, County Down, and was educated at Queen's College, Belfast. He graduated as a medical doctor. He moved to the Birmingham and Midland Hospital for Women, where he worked as a surgical assistant. In 1888 he returned to Belfast and worked at the Hospital for Sick Children, Queen Street, as assistant surgeon. In 1889 he became gynaecologist at the Ulster Hospital for Children and Women. He was then appointed Senior Surgeon to the Samaritan Hospital. He was the first President of the Belfast Gaelic League, which had grown out of the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club, in 1895. He was also President of the Dublin Pipers' Club and adjudicated at musical festivals.

BOYD, WILLIAM d.1772

William Boyd was a Presbyterian minister in Macosquin, County Londonderry. He was one of the leaders in the Bann Valley exodus. When in 1718 over 200 men of Aghadowey and Macosquin districts petitioned the king to be allowed to found a colony in America, those who emigrated settled at Nutfield, which they renamed Londonderry, in New Hampshire. They founded the linen industry in the land of their adoption. William Boyd returned to Ireland to minister in County Donegal, where he died.

BOYLE, MICHAEL c.1609-1702

Michael Boyle, the eldest son of Richard Boyle, Archbishop of Tuam, was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and in 1640 he became Dean of Cloyne. In 1641 he was Chaplain-General to the English army in Munster, and later became Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross. In 1661 he became Archbishop of Dublin, and in 1665 he was appointed Lord Chancellor. During this period he founded a town, Blessington, in County Wicklow. In 1679 he became Archbishop of Armagh.

BOYLE, PATRICK 1905-1982

Patrick Boyle was born in Ballymoney, County Antrim, and was educated at Coleraine, County Londonderry. After a long career in the Ulster Bank, he published his first novel, Like Any Other Man. He afterwards published three collections of short stories: At Night All Cats Are Grey; All Looks Yellow to the Jaundiced Eye and A View from Calvary. The Port Wine Stain was a selected volume published in Dublin in 1983. He was a member of the Irish Academy of Letters.

BRABAZON, WILLIAM d.1552

William Brabazon was the Vice-Treasurer and Receiver-General in Ireland for eighteen years. In 1543 he was responsible for receiving the surrender of the Abbeys closed by Henry VIII. In 1543, 1546 and 1549 he was Lord Justice. In 1547 he became an Irish Privy Counsellor. He built the fort at Philipstown and suggested the repair of Athlone Castle. In 1552 he died in Carrickfergus and was buried in Dublin.

BRADFORD, ROBERT 1941-1981

Robert Bradford was born in Limavady, County Londonderry, where his family were evacuated in the Second World War. They returned to the Donegall Road area of Bel-fast when he was three years old. He left school at the age of fifteen to train as a professional footballer. He was, for a short period, on the list of Sheffield Wednesday, but returned to Belfast and played full-back for Glenavon and Distillery, and later for Queen's University, Belfast. He resumed his education at the age of seventeen and attended Edgehill College which was at-tached to Queen's University. He was ordained a Methodist minister in 1963. He joined the Unionist party and the Orange Order and was elected to Westminster as the Official United Unionist candidate for South Belfast in 1974. He was re-elected eight months later with a large majority and was again re-elected in 1979. He was in favour of the death penalty. He devoted much time to the social needs of his constituents. He was shot dead at a com-munity hall.

BRADY, THOMAS c.1752-1827

Thomas Brady was born in Cootehill, County Cavan, and was educated in Vienna where he was training for the priesthood. It is said that he attracted the attention of Maria Theresa. He joined her army, gaining promotion quickly and fought against Napoleon in defence of Austria. He became Privy Counsellor and a baron and Governor of Dalmatia. He married into the imperial family and died in Vienna.

BRAITHWAITE, CHARLES 1876-1941

Charles Braithwaite was born in Lisburn, County Antrim and attended the School of Art in Belfast until the turn of the century. He went to London where he studied art, craft-work and design at the Royal College of Art. He exhibited with both the Irish Arts and Crafts Society and the English Arts and Crafts Society, and specialised in lettering and illuminated work. His illuminations were used for the poems of, among others, Moira O'Neill, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Elizabeth Browning and an illuminated memorial board is in All Souls' Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, Elmwood Avenue, Belfast. He, with others, established the Ulster School of Arts and Crafts in Chichester Street, Belfast. In 1911 he joined the staff of the School of Art and taught writing, illuminating and lettering. He was an Associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy, and exhibited there and at the Arts and Crafts Society. He was a member of the Guild of Irish Art-Workers and Honorary Secretary to the Ulster Committee of the Arts and Crafts Society of Ireland from 1909 to 1925. From 1909 until his death he taught art in Methodist College, Belfast.

BRAMHALL, JOHN 1593-1663

After a distinguished career in the English Church, John Bramhall became Bishop of Derry in 1634 and then Archbishop of Armagh. He was in close contact with the English monarchy and was complimented by Charles I for his service in Ireland, though he had to flee the country after the king's troops were defeated at the Battle of Marston Moor. After the Restoration he was empowered as Primate to consecrate archbishops and bishops, one of whom was Jeremy Taylor, the Bishop of Down and Dromore. As a member of the House of Lords he used his considerable influence to increase the Church's capital. The most prominent of his many writings is an attack on Hobbes entitled The Catching of the Leviathan.

BRAND, THOMAS NORMAN 1899-1938

Thomas Brand played rugby and was selected for the 1924 Lions tour of South Africa. He was capped for the Lions before going on to be capped for Ireland. He accidently drowned in Poole, Dorset.

BRANDT, MURIEL 1909-1981

Muriel Brandt was born in Belfast, attended the Royal College of Art in London, and later married and settled in Dublin. She was commisioned to paint the portraits of many Dublin notables, among them Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. She also painted the panels in the Franciscan church of Adam and Eve, on Merchant's Quay, Dublin.

BRESLIN, CORMAC 1901-1978

Cormac Breslin was born in County Donegal and was educated at St Eunan's College, Letterkenny. From 1937 to 1977 he was a Dail deputy. He was Leas Ceann Comhairle from 1951 to 1967 and Ceann Comhairle from 1967 to 1973.

BRIDLE KATHLEEN 1897-1989

Kathleen Bridle studied at the Metropolitan School of Art, Dublin and at the Royal College of Art, London. She settled in County Fermanagh in 1926 and taught art there for many years. One of her pupils was T. P. Flanagan. She was an academician of the Royal Ulster Academy.

BRISTOL, EARL OF see HERVEY, FREDERICK AUGUSTUS

BROGAN, HARRY 1905-1977

Harry Brogan was born in Holywood, County Down, though soon after his birth his parents moved to Dublin. He was active in Irish theatre, on stage, on radio and later on television and film. He was a permanent member of the Abbey Theatre company.

BRONTË, PATRICK 1777-1861

Patrick Brontë was born at Ballynaskeagh, County Down, and his original family name was Prunty or Brunty. He was a local schoolmaster, but then attended St John's College, Cambridge, and became Vicar of Haworth in Yorkshire. Though he wrote and published prolifically himself, it is the work of his three daughters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne (all of whom he survived) which has impressed the world. His own publications include Cottage Poems; The Rural Minstrel and The Maid of Killarny.

BROOKE, BASIL 1888-1973

Basil Brooke was born in Colebrook, County Fermanagh, and was educated at Winchester and Sandhurst. He won two military honours in the First World War: the Military Cross and the Croix de Guerre. Having returned to manage his estate in Colebrook, in 1922 he was appointed Commandant of the Ulster Special Constabulary. He became a Unionist member of the Stormont parliament and held various ministerial posts, including Minister of Agriculture in 1933 and Minister of Commerce and Minister of Production in 1941, culminating in his appointment as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland in 1943, a position which he retained for twenty years. In 1952, he was created Viscount Brookborough. He was a prominent member of the Orange Order.

BROOKE, CHARLOTTE 1740-1793

Charlotte Brooke was born in Rantavan, County Cavan, and educated at home, where she studied Irish language and literature. She collected, translated and published Reliques of Irish Poetry in 1789. She also published The School for Christians in Dialogues, for the Use of Children in 1791, and edited her father Henry Brooke's works. Many of her translations from Gaelic poetry were published in Bolg an tSolair in 1795. Her tragedy Belisarius was never printed. She was a friend of Maria Edgeworth.

BROOKE, HENRY c.1703-1783

Henry Brooke was born in Rantavan, County Cavan, and was educated in Rantavan, at Dr Sheridan's School in Capel Street, Dublin and at Trinity College, Dublin. He went to London to study law and befriended Swift and Pope. He wrote political pamphlets on the need for the abolition of the penal laws and for equal rights, though he opposed the Jacobite rebellion and in 1745 published The Farmer's Letters to the Protestants of Ireland, warning them to prepare against such an occurence. An oratorio, an opera and several novels including, in five volumes, The Fool of Quality (1766-7) were also published by him. Among his plays are Gustavus Vasa; The Earl of Westmoreland and The Earl of Essex. He was the father of twenty-two children, one of whom was Charlotte. He died in Dublin.

BROOKE, STOPFORD AUGUSTUS 1832-1916

Stopford Brooke was born in Glendoen, County Donegal, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. After he had taken holy orders, he was chaplain to Queen Victoria and her daughter, the Empress of Germany, though he later became a Unitarian. For many years he was president of the Irish Literary Society in London and editor of a Treasury of Irish Poetry. Among his publications are sermons, poems, essays and criticism. [Biography by L. P. Jacks]

BROWN, ANDREW 1744-1797

Andrew Brown was born in Ulster and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He went to America in the service of the British army, settled there, and later fought on the side of the Americans in the War of Independence, rising to the rank of major. His subsequent career was varied, ranging from founding a women's college to the editing of a newspaper, the Federal Gazette. He died tragically while attempting to save his wife and three children from a fire in their home.

BROWN, JOHN 1850-1911

John Brown was born in Waringstown, County Down, and was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, Belfast, and in Bonn. He worked in his father's damask and linen manufacturing factories, though at the age of thirty-five he resigned in order to devote his time to scientific pursuits. He was a member of the British Association and an Associate of the Institute of Electrical Engineers, a Fellow of the Physical Society and a Fellow of the Royal Society. He wrote many scientific papers on voltaic action and electrolysis. His last paper was entitled 'Removal of the Voltaic Potential Difference by Heating in Oil'. At the age of thirty he arrived at the best possible method of construction of the Rumkorf Coil. Ten years later his paper on the subject of 'Education and Schools' was read before the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, asserting that 'In a good school the pupils should learn how to learn'. He was a member of many clubs. In 1895 he bought a steam car, and in 1905 he exhibited the first motor-car in Belfast. His motoring led to an awareness of road surfaces; he invented the 'Viagraph' to record the condition of the surface, and he was President of the Irish Roads Improvement Association.

BROWN, STEPHEN JAMES MEREDITH 1881-1962

Stephen Brown was born in Holywood, County Down, and was educated at Clongowes Wood. He was ordained as a Jesuit in 1914. He published three scholarly works : A Reader's Guide to Irish Fiction; A Guide to Books on Ireland; and Ireland in Fiction. He also edited Catalogue of Tales and Novels by Irish Writers. He was a campaigner for libraries, founding the Central Catholic Library. He was Director of the Academy of Christian Art.

BROWN, THOMAS WATERS 1879-1944

Thomas Brown was born in Newtownards, County Down, and was educated at Campbell College, Belfast, and Queen's University, Belfast. In 1907 he was called to the Bar and from 1918 to 1922 served as Unionist member of parliament for North Down. In 1921 he was appointed Attorney-General and later became a judge in the Northern Ireland High Court.

BROWN, WILLIAM 1784-1864

William Brown was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, which he left to enter the linen trade in Baltimore. He was highly successful and opened a branch in Liverpool at the age of twenty-five. He sat as member of parliament for Lancashire and became chairman of the Atlantic Telegraph Company. He was created a baronet and established a free library and museum in Liverpool.

BROWNE, FRANCES 1816-1879

Frances Browne was born in Stranorlar, County Donegal, and because of smallpox in infancy, was blind. She educated herself by memorising passages from dictionaries and grammar books. Her poems were first published in the Irish Penny Journal from 1840 to 1844. In 1847 she went to Edinburgh with her sister, determined to live by writing. She was a prolific author, and one of her books, Granny's Wonderful Chair and the Stories It Told, published in 1857, became internationally famous. She settled in London and was granted a small pension by Sir Robert Peel to whom she had dedicated her second volume of poems, The Star of Ateghei (1844). Other works include Lyrics and Miscellaneous Poems and Pictures and Songs of Home.

BROWNE, HAMILTON d.1916

Hamilton Browne was born in Comber, County Down, and is remembered for his exploits in the wars in the Antipodes, which gained him the nickname of 'Maori Browne'. He became a colonel and died in Jamaica.

BROWNE, THOMAS GEORGE 1888-1963

Thomas Browne was born in Moneymore, County Londonderry, and was educated at Cookstown Academy and the Veterinary College of Ireland. In 1913 he became a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in England, and from 1915 to 1953 was Professsor of Anatomy at the Veterinary College of Ireland, where he was principal from 1941 to 1953. He was responsible for negotiations which led to the affiliation of the Veterinary College with the National University of Ireland and Trinity College, Dublin.

BROWNE, WILLIAM FRAZER 1903-1931

William Browne was a rugby captain for Campbell College, Belfast. Between 1925 and 1928 he was capped twelve times for Ireland.

BROWNING, MICIAIH d.1689

Miciaih Browning, born in Derry, was a hero of the Siege of 1689. He is remembered for driving his vessel, the Mountjoy, through a boom placed across the River Foyle thus bringing supplies to the beleaguered city and thwarting the Siege. He was shot dead before the boat reached Derry quay. It is said that Robert Browning, the poet was interested in a possible genealogical link with Miciaih's family and that this link is now established.

BROWNLOW, ARTHUR (or CHAMBERLAIN, ARTHUR) 1645-1710

Arthur Chamberlain was born in Ardee, County Louth, and was educated at Trinity College Dublin. When he reached twenty-one he inherited the Brownlow estates in Armagh from his maternal grandfather and changed his surname to Brownlow. In 1697 he was appointed High Sheriff of Armagh, and from 1692 unitl 1710 he served as a member of parliament. He brought the linen industry to Lurgan, where it thrived. He came into possession of the Book of Armagh and twelve Irish manuscripts. In the last quarter of the seventeenth century he was patron of the Irish scribe, Eoghan Mac Oghannain, who was based in south-east Ulster. He himself translated Irish poems into English.

BRUCE, EDWARD d.1318

Edward Bruce took part in the Ayreshire Campaign in 1307, and in 1308 subdued Galloway. In 1313 he attacked Dundee and besieged Sterling Castle. In 1314 he com-manded the right wing at Bannockburn. In 1315 he took Carrickfergus and was crowned King of Ireland. He marched to-wards Limerick but retreated to Carrickfergus in 1317. He was killed in battle in Dundalk.

BRUCE, JAMES 1660-1730

James Bruce was born in County Down and ordained as a Presbyterian minister. He established a 'philosophical school' in Killyleagh, County Down.

BRUCE, JAMES ANDREW THOMAS b.1846

James Bruce was born at Downhill Castle and later became Admiral of the Fleet. His son, Henry Bruce, who was born in Ballyscullion, was also Admiral of the Fleet.

BRUCE, MICHAEL 1686-1735

Michael Bruce was born in Killyleagh, County Down, where his father, James Bruce had founded a college. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister, but on adopting Arianism he lost popularity. He lectured in Belfast and is thought to have written Narratives of the Seven Synods.

BRUCE, WILLIAM 1757-1841

William Bruce was born in Dublin and was educated there at Trinity College. He was ordained in the Presbyterian Church and became Principal of Belfast Academy. An active volunteer, he took part in the national convention at the Rotunda, Dublin 1783. With Henry Joy, he compiled Belfast Politics: a collection of the debates, resolutions and other proceedings of that town in the years 1792 and 1793. He was opposed to the United Irishmen and in 1798 he served in the yeomanry. An historian and theologian, he was an early member of the Belfast Literary Society and a founder member of the Unitarian Society.

BRUCE-JOY, ALBERT 1842-1924

Albert Bruce-Joy was born in Dublin and was educated at Becker's School, Offenbach; in Paris and at King's College, London. At the Royal Academy Schhols of Art in London, he studied to become a sculptor. He twice visited America and many of his statues are there. In 1878 he was awarded one of three medals given to British sculptors. In 1893 he was appointed a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy. He was responsible for the figure of Lord Kelvin in the Botanic Gardens, Belfast, modelled a bust of King Edward VII, and made his death mask. Examples of his work are in the National Portrait Gallery, the British Museum and the Ulster Museum.

BRUEN, JAMES 1921-1972

James Bruen was born in Belfast, and was educated in Cork, where he later became an insurance broker. He excelled at playing golf and, having won the British Boys' Championship in 1936, was chosen to play in the British and Irish Walker Cup team in 1938. He was the first Irishman to win the British Amateur championship (1946).

BRYCE, JAMES 1767-1857

James Bryce was of Scottish origin and was installed as minister of Killaig, Macosquin parish, County Londonderry in 1805. He was the founder of the Associate Presbytery of Ireland.

BRYCE, JAMES 1806-1877

James Bryce was born at Killaig, Coleraine, County Londonderry, and educated by his parents, both of whom were classical scholars, and by his elder brother Reuben. In 1826 he was appointed Master of the Mathematical and Commercial Department of Belfast Academy. He introduced the teaching of natural history and printed a catalogue entitled Tables of Simple Minerals, Rocks and Shells, with Local Catalogues of Species for use by the Students of Natural History in Belfast Academy. He was elected a Fellow of the Geological Societies of London and Dublin in recognition of his work on the fossils of Antrim. In the Geological Magazine he described the true origin of the Giant's Causeway, originally proffered by Nicholas Desmarest and William Hamilton but then erroneously discredited, and he produced a paper on the mineral resources of the north of Ireland. As secretary of the Natural History Society he gave a lecture on 'The Method of Supplying Large Towns with Water by Artesian Wells and on the Question of its Applicability to Belfast'. In 1846 he published a Cyclopaedia of Geography, and in 1877 he died in a fall from a cliff in the Highlands of Scotland. A memorial stone marks the spot at Foyers.

BRYCE, JAMES 1838-1922

James Bryce was born in Belfast and became Viscount Bryce of Dechmount. He was educated in Glasgow and at Trinity College, Oxford, and was elected to a fellowship in Oriel College. He began publishing in 1864 with his book The Holy Roman Empire and was called to the Bar at Lincoln's Inn. He was appointed Regius Professor of Civil Law at Oxford and British Ambassador to the USA and published many travel books: Transcaucasia and Ararat; South Africa; South America as well as Modern Democracies; Studies in History and Jurisprudence and Studies in Contemporary Biography. He resigned his professorship and entered parliament as a Liberal. When he died in 1922 he had been President of the Board of Trade, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Chief Secretary for Ireland, had received honorary degrees from thirty-three universities and belonged to thirty-five learned societies. His travels were world-wide, and the British Museum Catalogue contains ninety-two entries under his name. He was awarded the Order of Merit. The latter years of his life were spent in helping to establish the League of Nations.

BRYSON, SAMUEL 1778-1853

Samuel Bryson was born in Belfast and became a surgeon in the army. He returned to Belfast and worked on the staff of the Old Royal Hospital in Frederick Street. He wrote and collected several manuscripts in the Irish language and in 1805 published Remains of the Irish Bards. He promoted the study of the Irish language and literature, and Belfast Public Library is the repository for his work.

BULLOCK, JOHN WILLIAM see BULLOCK, SHAN F.

BULLOCK, SHAN F. (BULLOCK, JOHN WILLIAM) 1865-1935

Shan Bullock was born as John William Bullock in Crom, County Fermanagh, and his early childhood was spent around Crom Castle, where his father was steward. He was educated at Farra, County Westmeath. Having worked on his father's farm, he went to London and became a civil servant. He published two volumes of short stories: The Awkward Squad (1893) and Ring o' Rushes (1896) and many novels, including By Thrasna River (1895), The Squireen (1903), Dan the Dollar, and Robert Thorne. He published an autobiography and a final book of fiction, The Loughsiders, as well as two volumes of verse: Mores et Vita and Gleanings. His play Snow-Drop Jane was produced in Belfast in 1915. He was a member of the Irish Academy of Letters and was awarded the Order of the British Empire.

BUNTING, EDWARD 1773-1843

Edward Bunting was born in Armagh and at the early age of eleven became sub-organist in St Anne's Church, Belfast. The McCracken family befriended him, and he taught music for a livelihood. Following the Festival of Irish Harpers in Belfast in 1792, he became interested in collecting traditional Irish folksongs and tunes. He published A General Collection of the Ancient Irish Music in 1796, and further collections were published in 1809 and 1840. Bunting has been criticised for modifying and mutilating what he heard, though his publishers must accept more than part of the blame, since many of his original manuscripts have been much amended by them. He went to live in Dublin, where he was organist at St Stephen's Church. The material which he collected is unique and has been utilised by many, such as Thomas Moore.

BURDEN, HENRY 1835-1893

Henry Burden was born in Belfast and was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution and Queen's College, Belfast, where he studied medicine and won several awards. In 1860 he was appointed demonstrator of anatomy in Queen's College and in the same year was elected a member of the Clinical and Pathological Society. In 1861 he became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. For a short time he worked in the Maternity Hospital under his father, Professor William Burden. From 1888 to 1889 he was President of the Ulster Medical Society and was pathologist to the Belfast Royal Hospital until his death. Throughout his life he was active as a member of the Belfast Literary Society, the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society, the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club and the Royal Irish Academy.

BURDEN, WILLIAM 1798-1879

William Burden was born in India, but his parents died when he was twelve and he was sent home to Belfast to live with his aunts and to attend the Belfast Academy. He abandoned a business career in order to study medicine. He went to Glasgow, where he obtained his degree, and on returning to Belfast was elected a member of the Belfast Medical Society. For three years he was a medical practitioner in Newry. From 1838 to 1870 he was physician to the Belfast Maternity Hospital, and from 1840 to 1849 he lectured on midwifery to the Belfast Academical Institution, where in 1848 he was promoted to President of the Faculty of Medicine. He was the first professor elected to the Chair of Midwifery in Queen's College, in 1849. A portrait of him hangs in Queen's University.

BURGESS, JAMES HOWARD c.1817-1890

James Burgess worked for many years in the Carrickfergus, County Antrim, area. He contributed twenty-five illustrations to Halls' Ireland, its Scenery, Character, published in 1841. He also published Illustrations of the North of Ireland, which had a guide to the Giant's Causeway. Most of his work is of Irish coastal scenes, but he also painted in England and Scotland. He had a drawing academy in Belfast. Examples of his work are held by the Linen Hall Library, the Ulster Museum, Belfast Harbour Office, and the National Library of Ireland, Dublin.

BURKE, WILLIAM 1792-1829

William Burke was born in Urney, County Tyrone. In 1818 he moved to Scotland to work on a canal as a navvy. By 1827 he was living in a lodging house in Edinburgh kept by William Hare from Derry. Burke and Hare sold for dissection the body of an elderly person who had died in the house. They received £10 from Dr Robert Knox of Edinburgh University. In the next few years they disposed of at least fifteen people by intoxicating and then suffocating them and selling them to Dr Knox. In 1828 neighbours became suspicious when Marjorie Campbell disappeared and her corpse turned up in Dr Knox's house. On the 28th of January 1829, on the evidence of Hare, Burke was found guilty of murder and hanged in Edinburgh. His body was given to anatomists.

BURKITT, DENIS PARSONS 1911-1993

Denis Burkitt was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh. After qualifying in medicine from Trinity College, Dublin, he served as a surgeon in the Royal Army Medical Corps from 1941 to 1946. From 1946 until 1964 he was government surgoen in Uganda. During this period, he discovered a cancer which was caused by a virus, now known universally as 'Burkitt's Lymphona'. He served from 1964 until 1976 on the Medical Research Council External Scientific Staff. He received the highest scientific honours, became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1972, a member of the Academie de Sciences in 1990, and he won the United States Bower Prize in 1993. He was the recipient of honorary degrees from many countries. Because of him, the sciences of nutrition, gastroenterology and epidemiology were revolutionised when he advocated a high fibre diet, the benefits of which he had observed in Africa. From 1976 to 1984 he was Honorary Senior Research Fellow at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School.

BURROWS, J. W. fl. 1901-1913

J. W. Burrows had a photographic business in Strabane, County Tyrone, from 1901 to 1913. He also owned and ran the Pallidrome, and the local dance hall. His business was bought by Herbert Cooper and Burrows's work was presented to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland as part of the Cooper Collection, which is the largest single collection of photographs in Ireland. About 20,000 of the 200,000 plate glass negatives are concerned with events in Counties Tyrone and Donegal.

BURY, JOHN BAGNELL 1861-1927

John Bagnell Bury was born in Monaghan and was educated at Foyle College, Derry and Trinity College, Dublin. He became Professor of Modern History at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1893, and at Cambridge in 1902. In 1898 he was also briefly Professor of Greek at Trinity College, Dublin and he edited Pindar and Gibbon. He was a Fellow of Bristol Academy and a Harvard Lecturer. Among his best known works are History of Rome; History of Greece; Life of St. Patrick; The Ancient Greek Historians, History of the Later Roman Empire and A History of Freedom of Thought. He edited the Cambridge Ancient History. Honours were bestowed on him by numerous universities and international learned societies.

BUTLER, PIERCE 1652-1740

Pierce Butler was 3rd Viscount of Galmoy. He took part in the siege of Derry as a colonel of horse. He fought in the battle of the Boyne and the battle of Aughrim. He was one of the signatories of the Treaty of Limerick and was finally outlawed. In France, James II created him Earl of Newcastle and he remained there to serve as a colonel of an Irish cavalry regiment. In 1697 his estates in Ireland were confiscated.

BUTLER, WILLIAM ARCHER 1814-1848

William Butler was born in Clonmel, County Tipperary, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he became Professor of Moral Philosophy. He was appointed Rector of Raymochey, County Donegal, and devoted much energy to alleviating the suffering of the famine victims. Among his works are sermons and lectures which were published posthumously. He was a friend of William Wordsworth. He died in County Donegal.

BUTT, ISAAC 1813-1879

Isaac Butt was born in Glenfin, County Donegal, and was educated at Raphoe and Trinity College, Dublin. In 1833 the Dublin University Magazine was co-founded by him, and he served as its editor from 1834 to 1838. From 1836 to 1841 he held the Chair of Political Economy. He was called to the Bar in 1838 and became Queen's Counsel in 1844. He established the Protestant Guardian, a Dublin weekly newspaper, but having been a supporter of the Union, in opposition to O'Connell, by 1848 he had shifted his political stance and defended William Smith O'Brien. In 1869 he was appointed President of the Amnesty Association and in 1870 was one of those who founded the Home Government Association, later to become the Home Rule League. He served as a member of parliament for Harwich, Youghal and later for Limerick, but was displaced as party leader by Parnell. He was the author of many political and historical works, including The Handbook of the Land; Land Tenure in Ireland and The Problem with Irish Education. Among his works of fiction are The Gap of Barnesmore; Chapters of College Romance and Irish Life in Court and Castle. He died in Dublin and is buried in Stranorlar, County Donegal.

BUTTERS, MARY early 19th century

Mary Butters lived in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, and had the reputation of being a sorceress. A case arising from the death of three people was recorded in the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of Ireland in 1839. The jury returned the verdict that they found Mary Butters guilty of 'making use of some noxious ingredients, in the manner of a charm, to recover or relieve from witchcraft a cow, the property of Alexander Montgomery'.

BYERS, JOHN WILLIAM 1853-1920

John William Byers was born in Shanghai, the son of Margaret Byers. He came to Belfast to study at the Academical Institution and Queen's College, where he became Professor of Midwifery. An authority on diseases relating specifically to women and children, he published numerous medical papers, and was knighted in 1906. He also cultivated his interest in the myths and dialects of Ulster.

BYERS, MARGARET 1832-1912

Margaret Byers was born in Rathfriland, County Down, and was educated in Nottingham where she became a teacher. Her headmistress, whose maxim was, 'Women can do anything under God', is said to have had a profound influence on her. She married in 1852, and she and her husband left for China as missionaries. She showed great courage and fortitude when, barely twenty years old, she had to look after a new-born infant and her ailing husband, who died eight days before their ship reached New York. When she returned to Ireland, she taught in the Ladies' Collegiate School in Cookstown, County Tyrone, before establishing her own school, Victoria College, in Belfast. This institution occupied many sites but eventually moved from Lower Crescent to University Road. Margaret Byers was a teacher, a businesswoman, a pioneer of higher education for girls, a philanthropist and a suffragist. She said: 'My aim was to provide for girls an education...as thorough as that which is afforded to boys in the schools of the highest order.' In 1905 she was given an honorary degree by Trinity College, Dublin and in 1908 Queen's University, Belfast, appointed her to its Senate.

BYRNE, CHARLES 1761-1783

Charles Byrne was born in Littlebridge, near Derry. He had a tumour on his pituitary gland which stimulated unnatural growth and affected his intelligence. By the time he was twenty-one years old he was over seven feet tall. He travelled to London, where he formed a partnership with Count Joseph Borulwaski, who was only three feet tall, and together they gave exhibitions throughout the country. It was said that John Hunter, the surgeon, offered Byrne a sum of money for his body, which he wished to place in his museum, but Byrne refused. A very heavy drinker, Byrne died at the age of twenty-two, of tuberculosis, and it is said that Hunter procured his body and mounted it in a glass case. It is now in the College of Surgeons in London.

BYRNE, DONN see O'BEIRNE, BRIAN

BYRNE, FRANCIS (DEARG) 1903-1987

Francis Byrne was born in Kilcar, County Donegal and was educated locally. As a boy he was hired to work the land. He and his brother Mickey Byrne (1899-1980) were masters of the self-taught fiddle music of Donegal. They played to raise money for Father McDyer's co-operative scheme in Glencolumbkille. They composed music and oral poetry and told stories on any given occasion. Francis was the lead fiddler and Mickey played octave fiddle. They were revered by musicians all over the world, such as Sean Maguire and Boys of the Lough, many of whom came to visit Kilcar. Frequent recordings were made, especially by Ciaran Mac Mathuna from Radio Eireann. They won numerous prizes at Fleadhs and the Francie Dearg Memorial Fleadh is held on the 23rd of July in Kilcar. They are listed in RTE archives.

BYRNE, JOSEPH ALOYSIUS 1874-1942

Joseph Byrne was born in Derry and was educated in England and Belgium. In 1893 he joined the British army and was appointed Inspector-General of the Royal Irish Constabulary in 1916. He was knighted. In 1920 he was suspended with full pay because of his political views.

BYRNE, PATRICK d.1863

Patrick Byrne was born in Farney, County Monaghan. He was blind, but learned to play the harp at the school for harpers in Belfast. He was known as 'Young Byrne'. In 1845 he represented Ireland in Edinburgh, and later he played before Queen Victoria at Balmoral. A photograph of him survives.

BYRON, WILLIAM d.1961

Billy Byron was an International Rugby forward and won many Senior Cup medals for North of Ireland Football Club. Be-tween 1896 and 1899 he was capped eleven times for Ireland and was one of the five players to play in all matches in Ireland's Second Triple Crown success in 1899.