Irish Language

Lynch, Patrick (Ó Loingsigh, Pádraig ) (1754/7–1818), schoolmaster and scholar was born 17 March in either 1754 or 1757, in Quin, Co. Clare. He attended a hedge school for his early education in Ennistymon, Co. Clare, where his teacher, Donnchadh ‘an Chairn’ Ó Mathghamhna, taught Latin…

Lynegar, Charles (Ó Luinín, Cormac) (  fl. 1708–1731), scribe, genealogist, and ‘professor’ of Irish at TCD, was known to some of his Irish-speaking acquaintances in Dublin as Cathal, the more usual Gaelic name to be translated…

MacAdam, Robert Shipboy (1808–95), folklorist and antiquary, was born in High St., Belfast, younger of two surviving sons of James MacAdam (1755–1821), who owned a hardware shop in the same street, and his wife Jane Shipboy (1774–1827), a native of Belfast. MacAdam was educated at…

Mac Airt, Seán Breandán (Arthurs, John Brendan) (1918–59), Irish-language scholar, was born 16 May 1918 in Keady, Co. Armagh, one of eight sons and two daughters of James Arthurs, owner of a hardware shop, and Mary Arthurs (née Nugent). One of his brothers, Eugene Arthurs, was bishop of…

Mac A Liondain (Mac Giolla Fhiondáin), Padraig (c.1665–1733), poet, was probably a native of the barony of Fews, Co. Armagh, the district in which he spent his adult life. The son of Eoghan Mac a Liondain and his wife Siobhán Nic Ardail, Mac a Liondain was a prosperous farmer…

Mac Amhlaigh, Dónall Peadar (1926–89), author, journalist, and labourer, was born 10 December 1926 in Co. Galway, the eldest of three sons and one daughter of James McCauley and his wife, Mary McCauley (née Condon). James McCauley was born in Limerick and served with the Munster…

Mac an Bhaird, Eoghan Ruadh (1560s?–1625?), possibly son of Uilliam Óg Mac an Bhaird (d. 1576), bardic poet and retainer of Ruaidhrí O'Donnell (qv) and Hugh O'Neill (qv), was a…

Mac an Bhaird, Fearghal Óg (late 1540s–c.1618), bardic poet and retainer of the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell, was the son of the poet and guesthouse keeper, Fearghal (d. 1550) son of Domhnall Ruadh Mac an Bhaird. Both Fearghal Óg and his brother Eoghan Ruadh (d. 1572) followed…

Mac An Lega, Uilliam (Iollann) (d. p.1475), scribe and author-translator of many texts, belonged, as his name suggests, to an hereditary medical family, but Uilliam himself seems to have composed or copied nothing of a medical nature. He has been accurately described as…

Mac Aonghusa, Criostóir (1905–91), teacher, author, critic, and campaigner for the Irish language, was born 13 December 1905 in Gort an Ghabhainn, Banagher, King's Co. (Offaly), son of Francis McGuiness (surname thus on his birth certificate), farmer, and his wife, Rosanna (née Egan).…

Mac Aonghusa, Proinsias (1933–2003), journalist and Irish language activist, was born in Salthill Nursing Home, Co. Galway, on 23 June 1933, eldest of four children (two sons and two daughters) of Criostóir Mac Aonghusa (qv), writer…

MacArthur, Sir William Porter (1884–1964), army medical officer, Irish-language scholar, and historian, was born 11 March 1884 at Belmont, east Belfast, Co. Down, the only son of John Porter MacArthur (d. 1930), tea merchant, and his wife Margaret Rainey (d. 1936), daughter of William…

Mac Brádaigh, Fiachra (c.1690–c.1760), poet, was a native of Co. Cavan. Nothing is known of his immediate family and his place of birth cannot be determined precisely, but he appears to have resided throughout his life in the parish of Drung – part of the MacBradys'…

Mac Brádaigh, Philip (c.1650–c.1719), poet and clergyman, commonly known as ‘Philip Ministir’ or ‘Parson Brady’, was born in Co. Cavan about the middle of the seventeenth century, probably in the district to the west of Cootehill that had previously formed the Cúil…

Mac Bruaideadha, Maoilín Óg (1550?–1602), poet, was a son of Maoilìn Mac Bruaideadha, ollamh le seanchas or chronicler to the O'Briens of Thomond and head of one of the learned families of Gaelic society. Maoilìn Òg received an education in keeping with his ancestors’ status,…

Mac Bruaideadha, Tadhg mac Dáire (1550?–1625?), poet, was one of a large family born to Dáire Mac Bruaideadha, proprietor of Knockanalban in the parish of Kilmurry Ibrickan, Co. Clare, and his wife, Fionnghuala Gray. The Mac Bruaideadhas were one of the learned families of Gaelic…

MacCabe (Mac Cába), Cathaoir (Cahir) (c.1670–c.1740), poet and harpist, was born at Cloghballybeg, parish of Mullagh, Co. Cavan; details of his parents are unknown. He acquired in youth some knowledge of Greek and Latin, an erudite literacy in the Gaelic verse…

Mac Cairteáin, Liam (an Dúna) (William MacCartain) (c.1668–1724), scribe and poet, was born in Doon, Co. Cork. Nothing is known of his parents, but it is believed that he was of Ulster origin. A Jacobite, he was a major in Mac Cárthaigh Spáinneach's cavalry regiment that took…

Mac Cana, Proinsias (1926–2004), Celtic scholar, was born 6 July 1926 in Belfast, son of George McCann and his wife Mary Catherine (née Mallon). He grew up in a catholic district in east Belfast, where inter-community tensions were keenly felt. He attended St Malachy's College during…

Mac Cárthaigh, Eoghan ‘an Mhéirín’ (‘of the little finger’) (c.1690–1756), poet, was born near Aherla, Co. Cork, son of Diarmaid Mac Cárthaigh, a great-grandson of Tadhg an Dúna Mac Cárthaigh, chief of the Dunmanway or Gleann an Chroim branch of the MacCarthys and a prominent…

Mac Cathmhaoil (Mac Aingil), Aodh (MacCaghwell, Hugh; Cavellus, Hugo) (1571–1626), Franciscan scholar and catholic archbishop of Armagh, was born in Downpatrick, Co. Down, a member of a Gaelic learned family that was originally located in Clogher, Co. Tyrone. Given his proficiency as a…

Mac Cluain, Seoirse (1894–1949), Irish-language scholar, was born 16 February 1894 in Capparoe, Scariff, Co. Clare, son of farmer John Clune and his wife, Ellen Rohan. He received his earliest education in Scariff national school and afterwards in the Sacred Heart College in Limerick…

Mac Coitir, Uilliam (Liam) ‘Rua’ (c.1675–1738), poet, was born at Curraghdermot, near Castlelyons, Co. Cork. Nothing is known of his parents except that his mother was a Murphy, but he had at least two brothers, Éamonn and Séamas. The latter, known as Séamas Mór Mac Coitir, was…

Mac Conmara, Donnchadh ‘Rua’ (c.1715–1810), poet, is believed to have been born in Cratloe, Co. Clare, but his early life is obscure and nothing is known of his family. According to tradition, he studied for the priesthood at the Irish college in Rome for five years, was…

Mac Con Midhe (MacNamee), Giolla Brighde (c.1210–p. 1272), bardic poet, belonged to the famous bardic family of Mac Con Midhe (MacNamee) who were settled around Ardstraw in Co. Tyrone, in the land between the rivers Finn and Mourne. They had a school of bardic…