Irish Language

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…

Mac Craith, Aindrias (c.1710–c.1795), poet, was born probably at Fantstown, near Kilmallock, Co. Limerick. Nothing is known of his immediate family or their circumstances, but by the early 1730s Mac Craith was teaching in the village of Croom, where he may have…

Mac Crimthainn, Áed (d. p.1201), is the only known scribe of the Book of Leinster. His genealogy (identified by F. J. Byrne) occurs in his own hand in the manuscript (p. 313). The relevant parts, back to the eponym of the surname, read: AEd m Gillai Ciarain . . ./…

Mac Cruitín, Aindrias (c.1670–1738), poet and scribe, was born at Moyglass, about 8 km south of Milltown Malbay, Co. Clare. The Mac Cruitíns were one of the hereditary learned families of Gaelic society and acted as seanchaithe (antiquaries or chroniclers) to the O'…

Mac Cruitín, Aodh ‘Buí’ (MacCurtin, Hugh) (c.1680–1755), poet and antiquary, was born in the parish of Kilmacrehy, Co. Clare, close to the modern village of Liscannor. The MacCurtins belonged to the hereditary learned caste of Gaelic society and members of the family served the…

Mac Cuarta, Séamas ‘Dall’ (c.1650–1732/3), poet, was probably born near Omeath, Co. Louth, although the Drumcondra area of Co. Meath is given as his birthplace in some sources. Little is known of his immediate family or their circumstances except that his father's name was…

Mac Cumhaigh (MacCooey), Art (c.1738–1773), poet, was probably a native of the townland of Mounthill in the parish of Creggan, Co. Armagh, but local tradition also links him with Mahereagh in the parish of Barronstown, near Dundalk, Co. Louth, and he may have lived in the…

Mac Domhnaill, Aodh (McDonnell, Hugh) (1802–67), writer and folklore collector, was born at Drumgill, near Drumcondra, Co. Meath. His father was named Séamas Mac Domhnaill but nothing else is known of his immediate family. In 1827 he married Bridget Roe of Ardee, Co. Louth, and they had…

Mac Domhnaill, Seán ‘Clárach’ (c.1690–1754), poet, was a native of the parish of Churchtown, some 10 km to the south of Ráth Luirc (Charleville), Co. Cork. Nothing is known of his immediate family, but he appears to have come from a prosperous farming background. He received a…

MacErlean, John Campbell (Mac Fhir Léinn, Eoin) (1870–1950), Irish-language scholar and church historian, was born 15 February 1870 in Belfast, son of Andrew MacErlean, legal clerk, and Eliza MacErlean (née Campbell). Having attended St Malachy's College, Belfast, he entered the…

Mac Fhionnlaoich, Peadar Toner (McGinley, Peter Toner; 'Cú Uladh') (1856–1942), president of the Gaelic League and writer, was born 5 October 1856 at Altinierin, Glenswilly, Co. Donegal, one of the ten children of Michael McGinley, farmer, and Susan McGinley (née Toner). He was educated…

Mac Firbhisigh, Dubhaltach Óg (c.1600–71), antiquary, was a native of Lackan, parish of Kilglass, Co. Sligo. His father, Giolla Íosa Mór Mac Firbhisigh, was a member of a family that had provided the O'Dowds, lords of Tír Fhiachrach (the barony of Tireragh, Co. Sligo),…

Mac Firbhisigh, Giolla Íosa Mór (fl. c.1392–c.1417), historian and poet, was a hereditary ollamh or master of bardic learning in the west Sligo territory of Tír Fhiachrach, ruled throughout the middle ages by the O'Dowda (Ó Dubhda) chieftains. The head of…

Mac Gearailt, Piaras (Fitzgerald, Pierce) (c.1709–c.1792), poet, was born in Ballykinealy, near Ballymacoda, Co. Cork, into a branch of the Fitzgeralds who were related to the knights of Kerry but had lost most of their property as a result of their involvement in the…

Mac Giolla Ghunna, Cathal ‘Buí’ (c.1680–c.1756), poet, was a member of a family that originated in Co. Fermanagh, but nothing is known of his immediate relatives. The local tradition suggests that he was a native of the district around Lough Macnean where the counties…

Mac Giolla Phádraig (FitzPatrick), Brian (d. 1652), catholic priest and Gaelic poet, was born in Co. Laois sometime in the late sixteenth century, the son of Turlough Mac Giolla Phádraig, the half-brother of Barnaby Mac Giolla Phádraig (Fitzpatrick), the second baron of Upper…

Mac Góráin (Mac Gabhráin), Riobard (1928–2007), promoter of the Irish language, was born 19 March 1928 in Dublin, the eldest of five children of Séamus McGoran, an army officer, and his wife Elizabeth 'Lily' (née Mulholland), originally from Glenavy, Co. Antrim. Séamus McGoran (1892–…

Mac Grianna (Mhic Ghrianna), Róise (1879–1964), traditional Irish-language singer and storyteller, was born 13 March 1879 in Seascann an Róinn, near Dungloe (Clochán Liath), Co. Donegal, one of five children of Tomas Ó Colla, farmer, and his wife, Maighréad, a noted musician and the…

Mac Grianna, Seosamh (1900–90), writer in Irish, was born 15 January 1901 in Ranafast, Co. Donegal, one of eleven children of Féilimí Dhónaill Phroinsiais, farmer and fisherman, and his wife, Máire (née Ní Dhomhnaill). Both of his parents came from a storytelling background. His brother…

Mac Kenna, Niall (MacCann) (fl.1700), poet, harper, and songwriter, was born in the Fews, Co. Armagh. His date of birth and parents’ names are unknown. Indeed very little is known about him apart from the songs he left behind. While O'Reilly gives MacKenna as the English…

Macken, Peter Paul (Peadar) (1878–1916), trade unionist and revolutionary, was born 29 June 1878 at 13 Nassau Place (latterly part of the Setanta building, Nassau Street), Dublin, youngest of three children of George Macken, house painter, and Anne Macken (née Shanahan) (d. 1901), both…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Kavanagh, Muiris (‘Kruger’). View the original entry.

MacNamee, Pádraig (1896–1975), teacher, Irish-language enthusiast, and GAA official, was born 8 August 1896 in Carrigastickan, near Forkhill, Co. Armagh, one of four children (two sons and two daughters) of James MacNamee, farmer, and Brigid MacNamee (née McCann). Growing up in a partly…

MacNeill, Eoin (John) (1867–1945), Gaelic scholar and nationalist politician, was born 15 May 1867 in Glenarm, Co. Antrim, sixth of eight children of Archibald MacNeill, baker, sailor and merchant, and his wife Rosetta (née Macauley). Family background and education MacNeill was…

Mac Réamoinn, Seán (1921–2007), broadcaster and journalist, was born John Redmond on 27 November 1921 in Birmingham, son of James Joseph Redmond, an insurance official from Boolavogue, Co. Wexford, and his wife Wilhelmina Mary (née Bruen), from Sligo; two elder siblings had died in the…