McCourt, Kevin
McCourt, Kevin (1915–2000), businessman and director general of RTÉ, was born 14 April 1915 in Tralee, Co. Kerry, second son among three sons and one daughter of John McCourt, originally of Banbridge, Co. Down, clerk with the congested districts board at Tralee, and later a…...
McDonnell, Joseph Patrick
McDonnell, Joseph Patrick (1846–1906), revolutionary and labour activist, was born 27 March 1846 in Smithfield, Dublin, son of Peter McDonnell, baker's foreman. Educated at Marlborough Street national school (1853–8) and St Paul's Academy, Arran Quay (1858–60), he grew into a man of…...
McDowell, Kathleen Mary (‘Kay’)
McDowell, Kathleen Mary (‘Kay’) (1897–1975), trade union leader, was born 16 August 1897 at 20 Connaught St., Phibsborough, Dublin, daughter of William McDowell, wine merchant, of that address, and Mary McDowell (née Kirwan). Her father's family, which had roots in the north of…...
McDunphy, Michael
McDunphy, Michael (1890–1971), civil servant, was born 3 December 1890 in 5 Temple Cottages, Dublin, second of ten children of Michael McDunphy, bread-van driver, originally from Esker, Mountmellick, Queen's Co. (Laois), and Catherine McDunphy (née Conlon), dairy shopkeeper, from…...
McEnery, John
McEnery, John (1796–1841), palaeontologist and catholic priest, was born 17 November 1796 in Limerick city. Educated at St Munchin's seminary, Park House, near Limerick city, he was ordained in 1819 for the diocese of Limerick. Soon thereafter, pursuant to his participation in a…...
McGauley, James William
McGauley, James William (d. 1867), priest, scientist, and inventor, was apparently born into a Roman catholic family in Dublin, and is said to have been the son of a carpenter; it is possible he was in some way related to the family of the Venerable…...
McGrath, Sir Joseph
McGrath, Sir Joseph (1858–1923), first registrar of the NUI, was born 25 August 1858 at Main Street, Bagnelstown, Co. Carlow, the eldest of the four sons of Pierce McGrath and Alicia (née Hughes); he may also have had sisters. Aged fourteen he entered the Jesuit school at Tullabeg…...
McHugh, Edward
McHugh, Edward (1853–1915), political activist and trade unionist, was born on 21 August 1853 in Co. Tyrone (probably in the parish of Termonamongan in the far west of the county), the son of Matthew McHugh, smallholder and labourer, and his wife Margaret (née McCrory); he had one…...
McKenna, Kathleen Napoli
McKenna, Kathleen Napoli (1897–1988), republican and administrator, was born Kathleen Maria Kenna in Oldcastle, Co. Meath, on 9 September 1897, eldest of seven children (four daughters and three sons) of William Kenna (1862–1939), draper and hardware merchant, and his wife Mary (née…...
McKenna, Lambert (Mac Cionnaith, Láimhbheartach)
McKenna, Lambert (Mac Cionnaith, Láimhbheartach) (1870–1956), Irish-language scholar and catholic social thinker, was born 16 July 1870 in Clontarf, Co. Dublin, son of Andrew McKenna, accountant, and Mary McKenna (née Lambert). Having attended Belvedere College, Dublin, he entered the…...
McLaughlin, Patrick John (‘Paddy’)
McLaughlin, Patrick John (‘Paddy’) (1899–1973), priest and physicist, was reputedly born in Scotland. The early part of his life was spent in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, where his father was a publican. He entered Maynooth College, where he studied science (…...
McNeill, James
McNeill, James (1869–1938), civil servant, diplomat, and governor general of the Irish Free State, was born 27 March 1869 in Glenarm, Co. Antrim, ‘of a very old Co. Antrim family’ (Irish Times, 13 Dec. 1938), son of Archibald McNeill, shipbuilder, baker, and farmer, and…...
McNeill, Josephine
McNeill, Josephine (1895–1969), diplomat, was born 31 March 1895 in Fermoy, Co. Cork, daughter of James Ahearne , shopkeeper and hotelier, and Ellen Ahearne (née O'Brien). She was educated at Loretto Convent, Fermoy, and UCD (…...
McNulty, Kathleen Rita ('Kay')
McNulty, Kathleen Rita ('Kay') (1921–2006), pioneering computer programmer, was born on 12 February 1921 in the townland of Feymore, Creeslough, Co. Donegal, the third of six children (three boys and three girls) of James McNulty (1890–1977) and his wife Anne or Annie (née Nelis).…...
McWilliams, Brendan Eugene
McWilliams, Brendan Eugene (1944–2007), meteorologist, writer and broadcaster, was born in south Dublin on 7 August 1944, the only son of John (Sean) McWilliams and his wife Nora (née Smyth). Sean McWilliams (1911–84), originally from Maghera, Co. Londonderry, was one of the first…...
Meenan, James Francis
Meenan, James Francis (1910–87), barrister-at-law, political economist, and writer, was born 18 October 1910 in Dublin, eldest of three sons and one daughter of Dr James Nahor Meenan (qv), professor of medicine at…...
Meenan, Patrick Nahor
Meenan, Patrick Nahor (1917–2008), microbiologist and physician, the second of three sons of James Nahor Meenan (qv), professor of systemic medicine at UCD, and Mary Elizabeth Meenan (née…...
Meghen, Patrick Joseph
Meghen, Patrick Joseph (1900–71), civil servant, was born 1 July 1900 at Millmount Terrace, Drumcondra, Dublin, elder son among two sons and two daughters of Christopher Meghen, postal official, and Hannah Meghen (née Barry). He was educated at O'Connell…...
Meyrick, Francis James
Meyrick, Francis James (1873–1963), civil servant, was born 31 October 1873 at 16 Waltham Terrace, Blackrock, Dublin, third son of James Meyrick, commercial traveller, and Jane Meyrick (née Corbett). His father's family had been in Dublin for several generations but the Corbetts…...
Mills, Michael
Mills, Michael (1927–2008), journalist and ombudsman, was born 31 October 1927 in Mountmellick, Co. Laois, the son of Anthony Mills, originally from Gorthmelia, near Belmullet, Co. Mayo, and his wife Kathleen (née Phelan), originally from Radestown, Co. Kilkenny. His father managed a…...
Molloy, Gerald
Molloy, Gerald (1834–1906), priest and scientist, was born 10 September 1834 in Mount Tallant House, Terenure, Co. Dublin, second son of Thomas Molloy, tanner, and Catherine Molloy (née Whelan). He was educated first at a private school and then at Castleknock College. He entered…...
Molloy, John (‘Jack’) Gerald
Molloy, John (‘Jack’) Gerald (1916–92), diplomat, was born 30 March 1916 at 39 Melrose Avenue, Dublin, son of Thomas Molloy, civil service clerk, and Catherine Molloy (née Byrne). He was educated by the Christian Brothers and at UCD…...
Molony, Helena
Molony, Helena (1883–1967), actress, republican, trade unionist, and feminist, was born 15 January 1883 at 8 Coles Lane, off Henry St., Dublin, the younger of one daughter and one son of Michael Moloney, grocer, of that address, and Catherine Moloney (née McGrath). Orphaned at an early…...
Monahan, Philip
Monahan, Philip (1893–1983), Cork city manager and revolutionary, was born on 16 December 1893 in Lower Baggot Street, Dublin, one of three surviving children of Thomas Monahan, draper of Lower Baggot Street, and his wife Elizabeth (née O'Brien). Owing to the failure of his father's…...
Montgomery, Hugh Edmund Langton
Montgomery, Hugh Edmund Langton (1895–1971), diplomat and priest, was born 30 October 1895 at Blessingbourne, near Fivemiletown, Co. Tyrone, eldest among three sons and three daughters of Maj.-gen. Hugh Maude de…...