McGough, Joseph Christopher (Joe)
McGough, Joseph Christopher (Joe) (1919–2003), army officer, barrister and businessman, was born 23 December 1919 at Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, the fourth child and first son of John McGough, originally of Co. Clare, and his wife Ann (née Brennan). His father, having served as a…...
McGrath, William
McGrath, William (1916–91), loyalist and paedophile, was born 11 December 1916 in Belfast, son of Abraham McGrath and Jane McGrath (née Warrington). McGrath came from a methodist background; in later years he worked with presbyterian and Free Presbyterian churches while operating as a…...
McKenna, Daniel
McKenna, Daniel (1892–1975), army officer and chief of staff, was born 1 December 1892 at Bracareilly, Draperstown, Co. Londonderry, son of Peter McKenna, farmer, and Mary Anne McKenna (née McKenna). He was educated at Lisnamuck national school at Maghera, Co. Londonderry, before…...
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…...
Moloney, William Joseph
Moloney, William Joseph (1885–1968), linguist and journalist, was born at South Hill Cottage in Limerick city on 28 May 1885, son of Patrick Moloney, a commercial traveller, and his wife Kate (née McCoy). He was educated in the Redemptorist College there, and in 1900 he attained first…...
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…...
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…...
Murphy, James Vincent
Murphy, James Vincent (1880–1946), journalist and translator, was born 7 July 1880 at Bandon, Co. Cork, the third of seven children of Timothy Murphy, farmer, and his wife Hannah (née Sullivan). He was educated locally, then at the diocesan minor seminary, and finally at St Patrick's…...
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, 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)…...
Nic Mhaicín, Maighréad
Nic Mhaicín, Maighréad (1899–1983), translator, was born 12 March 1899 in Dunglow, Co. Donegal, third eldest child of the nine children of John Macken , a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), and his wife, Margaret McNamee, commonly known as Daisy Macken. While still a young…...
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…...
Nugent, John
Nugent, John (1671–1754), 5th earl of Westmeath , Jacobite officer in the French service, was the third of three sons of Christopher Nugent (d. a.1680), Lord Delvin, and his wife Mary (d. 1737), niece of James Butler, 1st duke of …...
Nugent, Laval(l)
Nugent, Laval(l) (1777–1862), field-marshal and count in Austria, was born 3 November 1777 at Ballinacor, Co. Wicklow, eldest son of John Nugent, landowner, from Westmeath, and Jane Nugent (née McDonagh). His father died when he was four, and in 1789 he moved to Austria, where he…...
Nugent, Richard
Nugent, Richard (1623–84), 2nd earl of Westmeath , soldier, was the only child of Christopher Nugent, Lord Delvin, and Anne, eldest daughter of Randal MacDonnell (qv), 1st earl of Antrim. His father, heir to the earldom of…...