Lawson, John
Lawson, John (1708/9–1759), preacher, classical scholar and professor of oratory, was born in Magherafelt, Co. Londonderry, the son of the Rev. Alexander Lawson, curate of Omagh, Co. Tyrone. He was educated at the school of Mr MacMahon in Monaghan, before entering…...
Lecky, William Edward Hartpole
Lecky, William Edward Hartpole (1838–1903), historian, was born 26 March 1838 in Newtown Park, Dublin. Of Scottish origin, the Leckys had settled in the north of Ireland in the early seventeenth century, and became prominent in the public life of the city of Derry. Robert Lecky,…...
Ledwich, Edward
Ledwich, Edward (1737?–1823), clergyman and historian, was born in Dublin, son of John Ledwich, merchant and brewer, and his wife, possibly Elizabeth (née Davies); his father's brother was Edward Ledwich (1707–82), dean of Kildare. Edward Ledwich jun. was educated by a Mr Shiels and…...
Lees, William Nassau
This is a co-subject for the entry on Lees, Sir Harcourt. View the original entry....
Leland, Thomas
Leland, Thomas (1722–85), historian, was born in Dublin, son of John Leland (about whom nothing is known). Having been schooled by the Rev. Dr Thomas Sheridan (qv) (1687–1738), he entered TCD…...
Leslie, James Blennerhassett
Leslie, James Blennerhassett (1865–1952), clergyman and scholar, was born 28 May 1865, third son of James Leslie, farmer, and Mary Anne Leslie (née Blennerhassett) of Clouncannon, Killarney, Co. Kerry. He read history, political economy, and jurisprudence at…...
Lhuyd (Lhwyd, Lloyd), Edward
Lhuyd (Lhwyd, Lloyd), Edward (1660?–1709), Celtic philologist and naturalist, was born c.1660 in Cardiganshire, Wales, or near Oswestry, Shropshire, the illegitimate son of Edward Lloyd of Llanvorda and Bridget Pryse, both from landowning families. Lhuyd entered Jesus College,…...
Lodge, John
Lodge, John (1692–1774), archivist and genealogist, was born in Bolton-le-Sands, Lancashire, England, son of Edward Lodge, farmer, and was baptised there 22 January 1693. Nothing is known of his mother. After attending the Clapham School in Yorkshire he entered St John's College,…...
Longfield, Mountifort
Longfield, Mountifort (1802–84), economist and lawyer, was second son of the Rev. Mountifort Longfield (d. 1850), JP and vicar of Desert Serges, Co. Cork, of the Anglo-Irish Longfield family of Longueville, near Mallow, Co. Cork, and his…...
Luce, John Victor
Luce, John Victor (1920–2011), classicist, was born on 21 May 1920 in Dublin, the elder of two sons of Arthur Aston Luce (qv), then professor of moral philosophy in TCD, and his wife Lilian Mary (née Thompson), a philosophy graduate…...
Lyon, John
Lyon, John (1710–90), clergyman and antiquary, was baptised 5 October 1710, son of John Lyon, a blacksmith, and his wife, Sarah Lyon. He was a scholar (1727) at TCD, and graduated BA in 1729,…...
Lyons, John Charles
Lyons, John Charles (1792–1874), antiquary and horticulturist, was born 22 April 1792, the only child of Charles John Lyons (1766–96), a Westmeath landowner and soldier, of huguenot descent, and his wife, Mary Anne Lyons (née Levinge). His father died when he was four and in 1798…...
Macan, Turner
Macan, Turner (1792–1836), soldier, linguist and translator, was born on 30 September 1792 at Kilbrogan, Bandon, Co. Cork, the second son of seven children (three sons and four daughters) of Robert Macan (1750–1808), originally of Carrive, Co. Armagh, and his wife Hannah (née…...
MacKnight, Thomas
MacKnight, Thomas (1829–99), newspaper editor and political writer, was born 15 February 1829 at Gainsford, Co. Durham, son of Thomas MacKnight and his wife Elizabeth. He was initially educated at the Rev. Dr Bowman's school at Gainsford. After his parents moved to London he…...
MacLysaght, Edward Anthony Edgeworth
MacLysaght, Edward Anthony Edgeworth (1887–1986), farmer, horticulturist, poet, novelist, senator, historian, and genealogist, was born 6 November 1887 at Flax Bourton, Somerset, the elder of the two sons of Sidney Royse Lysaght, novelist, poet, and businessman, and his wife, Kathrine,…...
Madden (Maddyn), Daniel Owen
Madden (Maddyn), Daniel Owen (1815–59), writer, was born in Mallow, Co. Cork, the only son of Owen Madden, Cork merchant, and Margaret Madden (née Quain). He was educated in Cork and worked for a time as a merchant before enrolling in King's Inns in 1838. Over the next four…...
Mahaffy, Sir John Pentland
Mahaffy, Sir John Pentland (1839–1919), classical scholar and provost of TCD, was born at Chapponnaire, near Vevey, Switzerland, on 26 February 1839, youngest of six children of Nathaniel Brindley Mahaffy, Church of Ireland clergyman, and his wife, Elizabeth (née Pentland).…...
Martin, Richard
Martin, Richard (1754–1834), politician, animal rights campaigner, and duellist, was born 6 February 1754 at Ballinahinch castle, Dangan, Co. Galway, the eldest son of Robert Martin, a landowner, and his first wife, Bridget Martin (née Barnewall), daughter of the 11th Baron…...
Mason, Henry Joseph Monck
Mason, Henry Joseph Monck (1778–1858), miscellaneous bilingual writer, librarian, and evangelical reformer, was born 15 July 1778 at Powerscourt demesne, Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow, son of Lt-col. Henry Monck Mason and his second wife, Jane, only daughter of…...
Maxwell, William Hamilton
Maxwell, William Hamilton (1792–1850), novelist, historian, and clergyman, was born 30 June 1792 in Market St., Newry, Co. Down, son of James Maxwell, merchant, and his wife, a daughter of William Hamilton. He witnessed the hanging of two United Irishmen in the town in 1798.…...
McDowell, Robert Brendan (R. B.)
McDowell, Robert Brendan (R. B.) (1913–2011), historian, was born on 14 September 1913 at Carrig, Bawnmore Road, Belfast, elder son of Robert McDowell, employed at Musgrave, a Belfast tea firm, and his wife Violet (née Ferris), whose family were wine and spirit merchants in Derry…...
McGuckin (McGucken), James
McGuckin (McGucken), James (d. 1817), attorney, politician, and informer, of South Parade, Belfast, was a native probably of Antrim or Down. According to Bernard McAuley (1771–1863), a catholic priest who knew him well, his father was a catholic but he and his sisters belonged…...
Megaw, Arthur Hubert Stanley ('Peter')
Megaw, Arthur Hubert Stanley ('Peter') (1910–2006), archaeologist, was born in Portobello nursing home in South Richmond Street, Dublin, on 20 July 1910, the second of four sons of Arthur Stanley Megaw (1873–1961), solicitor and writer, and his wife (Helen Isabel) Bertha (née Smith…...
Megaw, Basil
Megaw, Basil (1913–2002), archaeologist and folklife scholar, was born in Belfast on 22 June 1913, the third of four sons of Arthur Stanley Megaw, solicitor and writer, and his wife (Helen Isabel) Bertha (née Smith). Arthur Stanley Megaw (1873–1961) was a younger son of Robert Megaw…...
Miller, George
Miller, George (1764–1848), historian and ecclesiologist, was born 22 October 1764 in Dublin, son of Stephen Miller, wine merchant, an Ulsterman of ‘sturdy independence’ (Read, 309); nothing is known of his mother. Receiving his primary education at the classical school of the Rev…...