Breen, Aidan

Laisrén (Mo-Laisse) (d. 639/41), bishop of Lethglenn (Leighlin, Co. Carlow), and saint in the Irish tradition, was according to his genealogy son of Cairell, who belonged to the Dál nImde, a population group located among the Ulaid (Ulstermen). A tract on the mothers of the…

Lathcen (Laidcenn) (d. 661), son of Báeth Bandach, monk of Clonfertmulloe (Co. Laois) and biblical scholar, produced an abbreviated version of Gregory the Great's ‘Moralia’ on Job, a commentary in thirty-five books, written c.595. Lathcen's abbreviation in three books is…

Luccreth (fl. early 7th cent.) of the moccu Chiara, genealogist and poet, belonged (as indicated by his name) to the early tribal group known as the Ciarraige. In the genealogies he appears as Luccrad son of Áine, a remote descendant of …

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-Caille (d. c.489), bishop and abbot of Cruachán Breg Éile (Croghan Hill, barony of Lower Philipstown, Co. Offaly), and saint in the Irish tradition, was reputedly the son of Darerca, sister of St Patrick…

Mac-Caírthinn (d. 506), bishop and disciple of St Patrick (qv) and founder of the church of Clochar (Clogher, Co. Tyrone). Nothing is known of his ancestry other than that the Uí Maicc Caírthinn were one of the septs of…

Mac Cerbaill (MacCarwell), David (d. 1289), archbishop of Cashel, was most probably born in Co. Tipperary into an important native Irish ecclesiastical family, for, in a petition dated 1274 asking for the grant of certain privileges to the abbeys of Jerpoint and Cashel, he states…

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 Duinnshléibhe, Cormac (fl. 1459), physician and translator of medieval treatises on medicine. The family of Mac Duinnshléibhe were originally from north-east Ulster but were driven from their homeland by John de Courcy (…

Mac Gradoigh (Mag Raidhin, MacGrane), Aughuistín (Augustine) (c.1349–1405), Augustinian canon regular and author; his background is unknown, but he may have been from Co. Meath. He belonged to the monastic community of Oileán na Naomh (Saints’ Island), in Lough Ree, on the…

Mac Maghnusa (MacManus), Cathal Óg (1439–98), historian and annalist, compiler of the Annals of Ulster, was born on Seanadh Mhic Mhaghnusa, an island in Lough Erne, latterly called Belleisle or Ballymacmanus. He was the eldest son of Cathal Óg, also known as Cathal Meadhónach, son…

Mac Nisse (d. c.514), bishop of Condere (Connor, Co. Antrim), saint in the Irish tradition, and according to the hagiographers a disciple of St Patrick (qv), was son of Fáebrach son of Erc, who probably…

Mac Táil (d. 550), founder and first bishop of Cell Chuilinn (Kilcullen, Co. Kildare), and saint in the Irish tradition, belonged in all probability to a lineage of the Éoganachta. Although his personal name is given in his obit as Éogan, and attempts have been made to link him to…

Máedóc (Áed, Áedán, Mogue) (d. 625/6), founder and bishop of Ferns, Co. Wexford, is patron saint of the diocese of Ferns and of Drumlane (Co. Cavan) and Rossinver (Co. Leitrim). Later tradition says that his name Áed was changed to the hypocoristic form Máedóc (Mo-Áed-óc meaning…

Máel-Brigte (d. 927), churchman and scribe, who held a dual abbacy of Armagh and of the Columban community, was son of Tornán son of Máel-caích, who belonged to the Northern Uí Néill lineage of Cenél Bóguine, an offshoot in turn of Cenél Conaill. His mother was Sáerlaith, daughter…

Máel-díthruib (d. 840), abbot and anchorite of Tír-dá-Glass (Terryglass, near Lough Derg, Co. Tipperary), was a notable member of the Céli Dé reform movement. His first spiritual director or anamchara was Echtguide; but after he had spent some time in Tallaght…

Máel-Muire (d. 1106), son of Célechar, was scribe and glossator of the eleventh-century Irish manuscript known as Lebor na hUidre (RIA MS 23.E.25). He was son of Célechar Mugdornach, bishop of Clonmacnoise (d. 1067), who was of the Uí…

Máel-Ruain (d. 792), bishop and founder of the Céli Dé or Culdee reform movement, was (according to his genealogy) son of Colmán son of Senach; his mother's name was Sech. His tutor was his uncle Fer-dá-Chrích (qv) from Daire…

Máel-rubai (c.642–722), founder and first abbot (673–722) of the monastery of Applecross in Skye, Scotland, was born into the Cenél nÉogain (in the present Co. Derry–Co. Tyrone area). His mother was a niece of Comgall (qv), founder of…

Máel-Suthain (d. 1031) was confessor and personal attendant to Brian Bórama (qv). His personal name is unusual, but the death of one Máel-suthain Ua Cerbaill of the Éoganacht Locha Léin, recorded in the Annals of Ulster s.a…

Maguire, Nicholas (Magwyr, Nicolaus) (c.1460–1512), bishop of Leighlin and historian, was born in Tullamaguina in Idrone, Co. Carlow, son of a priest (sacerdotis spurius). He received a university education at Oxford, where he was awarded a degree in divinity. When…

Mailduf (d. c.675), teacher and scholar who gave his name to Malmesbury (Maeldufi urbem), is named by William of Malmesbury as the first teacher of Aldhelm (d. 709), the first Anglo-Saxon man of letters. William describes Mailduf as ‘an Irishman by birth, a…

Malachias Hibernicus (Malachy) (fl. end 13th cent.), friar at the Franciscan convent of Limerick, was later elected archbishop of Tuam, though never officially installed, since the see remained vacant till the appointment of Stephen de Fulbourn. His name is first…

Malcalan (Machalan) (d. 978), Irish monk, was a companion of Cadróe (qv), whom he assisted in establishing a community at Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache (in northern France, close to the present French-Belgian border), c.945. He is reputed…

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