Bury was born and raised in Clontibret, County Monaghan, where his father was Rector of the Anglican Church of Ireland, educated first by his parents, then at Foyle College in Derry and Trinity College in Dublin, where he graduated in 1882 and was made a fellow in 1885, at the age of 24. In 1893 he gained a chair in Modern History at Trinity College, which he held for nine years. In 1898 he was appointed Regius Professor of Greek, also at Trinity, a post he held simultaneously with his history professorship.(1) . In 1902 he became Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University.