McKeown, Sean
McKeown, Sean (1910–98), army chief of staff, was born 3 June 1910 at Castletown, Cooley, Co. Louth, son of Thomas McKeown and his wife Catherine (née McGinn). He attended Mullaghbuoy national school in Co. Louth and CBS Dundalk…...
McKinney, Thomas Joseph
McKinney, Thomas Joseph (1887–1973), army surgeon and Irish scholar, was born 30 October 1887 at Greencastle, Co. Antrim, son of Thomas McKinney, sergeant in the RIC, and Mary McKinney (née McKillop). His family later moved to…...
McMillen, William ('Billy', 'Liam')
McMillen, William ('Billy', 'Liam') (1928–75) republican, was born 13 April 1928 in Belfast, the sixth of nine children (five girls and four boys) of Robert McMillen and his wife Sarah (née O'Neill) of 40 Ton Street. William's grandfather (also Robert) was a Scottish presbyterian.…...
Meagher, Thomas Francis
Meagher, Thomas Francis (1823–67), Young Ireland nationalist and soldier, was born 3 August 1823 in Waterford city, the eldest child of Thomas Meagher and his wife Alicia Quan. Both parents came from well-to-do catholic merchant families. His father was a shipowner, specialising in the…...
Mellows, Herbert Charles ('Barney')
Mellows, Herbert Charles ('Barney') (1896–1942), republican, was born on 24 March 1896 at 10 Annadale Avenue, Fairview, Dublin, the last of five children (four sons, one of whom, John, died in infancy, and one daughter) of William Joseph Mellows, a soldier, born in Gondah, India, with…...
Minch, Sydney Basil
Minch, Sydney Basil (1893–1970), soldier, politician and businessman, was born 14 June 1893 in Rockfield, Athy, Co. Kildare, one of five sons of Matthew Joseph Minch (1854–1921), nationalist and anti-Parnellite MP for Kildare South (1892–1903), and Agnes Minch (née Hayden). He had…...
Molloy, Dorothy (Mary)
Molloy, Dorothy (Mary) (1942–2004), poet, painter and journalist, was born 10 June 1942 in Ballina, Co. Mayo, third child of Patrick Molloy, who was in the building trade, and his wife Kathleen, known as Doris (née Murphy). The family of two daughters and three sons moved to Dublin…...
Moloney, Helen
Moloney, Helen (1926–2011), artist in stained glass and other media, was born 2 January 1926 in Henry Street, Tipperary town; she and her twin sister Mary (O'Halpin) were the eldest among four daughters and one son of James Moloney (1896–1981) and his wife Katherine (Kathleen)…...
Moore, Garret
Moore, Garret (d. 1706?), soldier and politician, is said to have been born in 1600, but a later date is probable. He was the eldest son of Garret Moore, of Cloghan, King's Co., while his mother's name is unknown. His grandfather John Moore (d. 1631) was a landowner in Galway…...
Moore, Maurice George
Moore, Maurice George (1854–1939), soldier and politician, was born 10 August 1854 at Moore Hall, Ballyglass, Co. Mayo, second child among four sons and one daughter of George Henry Moore (qv), MP for Mayo and leader of the tenant…...
Morphy, Garret
Morphy, Garret (c.1655–1716?), portrait painter, was probably born and educated in Ireland. His familial origins are obscure. His earliest works, from c.1676, are similar in style to Gaspar Smitz, who was working in Ireland at this time. It is possible that…...
Morris, Frank
Morris, Frank (1928–70), sculptor, was born 8 November 1928 in Arklow, Co. Wicklow, son of Edward Morris, convert to catholicism and draughtsman with the civil service, and Catherine Morris (née Collins). The family moved to Dublin in the mid 1930s and lived at 93 Ranelagh Road…...
Mossop, William
Mossop, William (1751–1805), and his son William Stephen (1788–1827), engravers and designers of medals, were born in Dublin. William Mossop was born as William Browne; when he was a child, his father (a Roman catholic) died and his mother – after her second marriage to William Mossop (…...
Moylan, Stephen
Moylan, Stephen (1734?–1811), soldier in the US army, was born in Co. Cork, son of John Moylan, a prominent catholic merchant. His father, socially restricted by the penal laws, was obliged to send his four sons to Paris for a catholic education. While Stephen's brother…...
Mulcahy, Patrick Anthony
Mulcahy, Patrick Anthony (1897–1987), soldier, was born 4 November 1897 at 70 Manor St., Waterford city, third youngest child among two sons and five daughters of Patrick Mulcahy, post office official, and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Patrick and Maria Slattery, also of…...
Mulcahy, Richard
Mulcahy, Richard (1886–1971), revolutionary and politician, was born 10 May 1886 at 70 Manor Street, Waterford, eldest son and second eldest among eight children of Patrick Mulcahy, post office clerk (d. 1923), and Elizabeth Mulcahy (née Slattery), both of Waterford. He was educated by…...
Mulready, William
Mulready, William (1786–1863), painter, was born 1 April 1786 in Ennis, Co. Clare, the only son and only surviving child of Michael Mulready, maker of leather breeches. His mother's name remains unknown. In 1788 the family moved to Dublin, leaving soon afterwards for London, where…...
Murphy, John
Murphy, John (c.1755–1832), engraver and educational publisher, was born in Cork city and reared in its northern suburbs, around Mallow Lane. At the age of seventeen he emigrated to London, led by his ‘predilection for the Fine Arts and a desire to cultivate an inclination for…...
Murphy, (John Francis) Desmond ('Jack')
Murphy, (John Francis) Desmond ('Jack') (1913–2005), military psychiatrist, was born 22 May 1913 in Kilrane, Rosslare Harbour, Co. Wexford, the son of Francis Murphy, a merchant, and his wife Annie (née Murphy). After attending Clongowes Wood College (1925–31), Murphy studied…...
Murphy, Seamus
Murphy, Seamus (1907–75), sculptor, was born 15 July 1907 at Greenhill, Burnfort, near Mallow, Co. Cork, one of five sons of James Murphy, engine driver, and Margaret Murphy (née Sheehan); four daughters died in infancy. While he was still a young child the family moved to Cork city…...
Murphy, William Richard English
Murphy, William Richard English (1890–1975), teacher, soldier, schools’ inspector, general and police commissioner, was born on 26 January 1890 at Danescastle, Carrig on Bannow, Co. Wexford, son of John Joseph Murphy and Sarah Agnes (née English), both of whom were teachers. He had one…...
Netterville, John
Netterville, John (d. 1659), 2nd Viscount Netterville of Dowth , army officer, and landowner, was eldest son of Nicholas Netterville (qv), Viscount Dowth, and his wife, Eleanor Bath of Athcarne, Co. Meath. John married (1623)…...
Niland, Nora
Niland, Nora (1912–88), Sligo county librarian and founder of the Sligo municipal art collection, was born 21 March 1912 in Galway, eighth child among six sons and three daughters of John Niland, of Ballinastack, Tuam, Co. Galway, railway worker and small farmer, and his wife Elizabeth…...
Nolan, John Philip
Nolan, John Philip (1838–1912), landowner, army officer, and politician, was born 3 August 1838 in Dublin, the eldest of six sons of John Nolan (b. 1810) of Ballinderry, near Tuam, Co. Galway, a catholic barrister, landowner, and magistrate, who, after relieving the poor during…...
Nugent, Christopher
Nugent, Christopher (d. 1731), Jacobite and army officer, was the eldest son of Francis Nugent of Dardistown, Co. Meath, and his wife, Bridget, sister of William Dongan (qv), created earl of Limerick in 1685. His grandfather was…...