McCoubrey (Morrison), Margaret
McCoubrey (Morrison), Margaret (1880–1956), suffragist and political activist, was born Margaret Mearns Morrison in Elderslie, Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, on 5 January 1880, one of two daughters and a son of William Morrison, labourer, and his wife Elizabeth. Her mother had three…...
McCracken, Mary Ann
McCracken, Mary Ann (1770–1866), radical and philanthropist, was born 8 July 1770 in Belfast, younger daughter and fifth of the six children of Capt. John McCracken (c.1719–1803), a prosperous merchant of Belfast, and his wife Ann (c.1730–1814), daughter of…...
McDonnell, Barbara Montgomery
McDonnell, Barbara Montgomery (1847?–1928), philanthropist, was the youngest daughter among four daughters and six sons of John MacDonnell (qv), a prominent surgeon in Dublin, and Charity MacDonnell (née Dobbs). Her father was a son of…...
McGuinness, Norah
McGuinness, Norah (1901–80), painter, was born 7 November 1901 in Derry city, eldest daughter of Joseph Allison McGuinness, coal merchant and shipowner, of Lawrence Hill, Derry, and Jessie McGuinness (maiden name unknown). She was educated at Victoria High School, known for its…...
McIvor, Berna
McIvor, Berna (1932–2010), political and community activist, was born Bernadette Spellman on 9 February 1932 in Coalisland, Co. Tyrone. She trained as a teacher at St Mary's College, Belfast, and taught in the Long Tower primary school (in the Bogside area of Derry city) and later in…...
McKee, Eva Kathleen
McKee, Eva Kathleen (1890–1955), craftswoman, was born 28 July 1890 at 32 Lothair Avenue, Belfast, daughter of James Henry McKee, builder, of that address, and Jane McKee (née Grogan). While working during the 1910s in the Irish Decorative Art Association (IDAA) – a Belfast-based…...
McKenna, Siobhán
McKenna, Siobhán (1922–86), actor and theatre director, was born 24 May 1922 at 28 St James's Park, off the Falls Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, the second daughter of Margaret (Gretta) O'Reilly from Loch Gamhna, Co. Longford, and her husband, Eoghan McKenna (b. Millstreet, Co. Cork, 1892)…...
McLaughlin, (Florence) Patricia (Alice)
McLaughlin, (Florence) Patricia (Alice) (1916–97), politician and community activist, was born 23 June 1916 at Downpatrick, Co. Down, the only daughter of Canon Frederick Basil Aldwell , rector of St George's Church, Belfast, and his wife (named on the birth certificate as E. N.…...
McMordie, Julia
McMordie, Julia (1860–1942), philanthropist and politician, was born 30 March 1860 in Hartlepool, Co. Durham, England, fifth daughter of Sir William Gray , shipbuilder and shipowner, and his wife Dorothy (d. 1906), daughter of Capt. John Hall. A presbyterian, she was educated at…...
McShain, Mary
McShain, Mary (1907–98), landowner and benefactor, was born Mary Horstmann on 27 March 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, fifth among six children of Ignatius J. Horstmann and his wife Pauline. She was educated at St Leonard's Academy, Philadelphia, and Rosemont College, Rosemont…...
Mills, Rosaleen Patricia Broughton
Mills, Rosaleen Patricia Broughton (1905–1993), activist and educator, was born on 16 July 1905 in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway, the fourth of five children of John Mills, medical director at the Connaught District Lunatic Asylum (later St Brigid's Hospital), Ballinasloe, and Rosetta Mills (…...
Mitchell, Flora Hippisley
Mitchell, Flora Hippisley (1890–1973), painter, was born 23 December 1890 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA, eldest child of Arthur J. C. Mitchell, manager director of the Anglo-American Cattle Co., originally from Devonshire, and his wife Margaret (m. March 1890; née Hippisley?). As a…...
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)…...
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…...
Mooney, Ria
Mooney, Ria (1904–73), actress, teacher, and producer, was born in Rathmines, Dublin, daughter of William Mooney, who had a confectionery and catering business in Baggot St. She started acting at age six, and was singing with the Rathmines and Rathgar Musical Society at sixteen,…...
Mulally, Teresa
Mulally, Teresa (1728–1803), educationist, businesswoman, and philanthropist, was born in October 1728, in Pill Lane, near Chancery Street, Dublin, the only child of Daniel and Elizabeth Mulally. While she was young, her father, a provisions dealer, retired from his business and…...
Mulcahy, Neillí
Mulcahy, Neillí (1925–2012), fashion designer, was born in Dublin on 27 February 1925, the second youngest of six chidren (three girls and three boys) of Gen. Richard Mulcahy (qv), IRA chief of staff and politician, and …...
Mullen, Madeleine ffrench-
Mullen, Madeleine ffrench- (1880–1944), nationalist and social advocate, was born 30 December 1880 in Malta, eldest child among two daughters and one son of St Laurence ffrench-Mullen, a Royal Navy surgeon. While she was a child, her father moved the family back to Ireland and they…...
Ní Chanainn (Ní Cheanainn) (Cannon), Áine
Ní Chanainn (Ní Cheanainn) (Cannon), Áine (1907–99), headmistress and co-founder of Cumann Scannán na nÓg, was born Annie Delia Cannon on 22 October 1907 in Derryvea, Kiltimagh, Co. Mayo, daughter of Michael Cannon, farmer and shopkeeper, and his wife Annie (née Kelly). She received…...
Nicholson, Asenath
Nicholson, Asenath (1792–1855), traveller and social reformer, was born 24 February 1792, youngest child and only daughter among three children of Michael Hatch (c.1747–1830), farmer, and his wife, Martha (maiden name unknown; 1745–1837), in Chelsea, Vermont, USA. Educated at…...
Nic Shiubhlaigh, Máire
Nic Shiubhlaigh, Máire (1883–1958), actress and republican, was born Mary Elizabeth Walker, 8 May 1883, at 39 Charlemont Street, Dublin, daughter of Matthew Walker, a printer and typesetter, and Mary Anne Walker (née Dogherty), a dressmaker. Her father, who had printed Fenian and other…...
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…...
O'Brien (Arnold-Forster), Florence Mary
O'Brien (Arnold-Forster), Florence Mary (1854–1936), diarist, philanthropist, and craftswoman, was born 3 July 1854 in Bayswater, London, the second of four children of William Delafield Arnold and Frances Anne Arnold (née Hodgson). Her father, a son of Dr Thomas Arnold of Rugby and…...
O'Brien, Catherine Amelia
O'Brien, Catherine Amelia (1881–1963), stained-glass artist, was born 19 June 1881 at Durra, Ennis, Co. Clare, one of five children of Pierce O'Brien, JP, a gentleman landowner, of Durra house, Ennis, Co. Clare, and Sophia Angel St John O'…...