[1] Bradlaw was born Robert Brudno in Smorgon, Belarus on 22 February 1840.
Bradlaw was active in the Dublin Jewish community and was affectionately nicknamed "the prince of the immigrants".
He established a synagogue at 7 St. Kevin's Parade (Machzikei Hadass orthodox congregation which more inline with the practices of the eastern european jews moving to Ireland in the late 19th century) in 1883 and a new chevra kadisha and cemetery at Dolphin's Barn in 1898 (where he himself was buried[2]), replacing the Ballybough Cemetery.
[1][3][4][5][6] Bradlaw participated in the foundation ceremony for the opening of Adelaide Road Synagogue in 1892.
Bradlaw's grandson, Professor Robert Vivian Bradlaw (1905–1992), was a renowned dentist who founded the Faculty of Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and served as Dean of the Eastman Dental Hospital from 1959 to 1970.