McGroarty, Julia (Susan)
McGroarty, Julia (Susan) (1827–1901), nun and educator, was born 13 February 1827 in Inver, Co. Donegal, second daughter and third among ten children of Neil McGroarty, farmer, and his wife, Catherine (née Bonner). In spring 1831 her family emigrated to the USA and settled in…...
McKenna, Ellen (Sister Mary Augustine)
McKenna, Ellen (Sister Mary Augustine) (1819–83), Sister of Mercy, American civil war nurse and teacher, was born 24 December 1819 in Traugh, Willville, Co. Monaghan, eldest among three daughters and two sons of James and Mary Anne McKenna. Ellen was educated at home, then at Miss…...
Meade, L. T. (Elizabeth (‘Lillie’) Thomasina
Meade, L. T. (Elizabeth (‘Lillie’) Thomasina Toulmin Smith) (1844?–1914), novelist, was born in Bandon, Co. Cork, daughter of Richard Thomas Meade, clergyman, and Sarah Meade (née Lane). Reared in Nohaval, near Kinsale, Co. Cork, where her father was Church of Ireland rector, she was…...
Moclair (Horne), Delia
Moclair (Horne), Delia (1895–1971), obstetrician, was born Bridget Angela on 8 January 1895 at John Street, Cashel, Co. Tipperary, the home of her parents Patrick and Margaret (née Carew) Moclair. She was the youngest of seven children. Patrick Moclair had endured a farm eviction,…...
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…...
Monck (Monk, Molesworth), Mary
Monck (Monk, Molesworth), Mary (c.1678–1715), poet and translator, was one of the seventeen children, nine of whom survived to adulthood, born to Robert Molesworth (qv), landowner, writer, and politician, later 1st Viscount…...
Moore, Dorothy (née King; other married name Dury)
Moore, Dorothy (née King; other married name Dury) (1612/13–1664), woman of letters, was born into the New English ruling class in Ireland, one of nine children of…...
Moore, Georgina (Sister Mary Clare)
Moore, Georgina (Sister Mary Clare) (1814–74), Sister of Mercy, foundress, Crimean war nurse, and teacher, was born 20 March 1814 in the Church of Ireland parish of St Ann's, Dublin, youngest among three children (one son and two daughters) of George and Catherine Moore, both…...
Moore, Margaret Jane (‘Mrs Mason’)
Moore, Margaret Jane (‘Mrs Mason’) (1772–1835), Countess Mount Cashell and writer, was born 24 October 1772 in Dublin at the Henrietta St. residence of her parents; she was the eldest daughter of Robert King , Viscount Kingsborough (qv),…...
Moran, Frances Elizabeth
Moran, Frances Elizabeth (1893–1977), university teacher and lawyer, was born on 6 December 1893, younger daughter and fifth among seven children of James Moran and Elizabeth Moran (née Faulkner). Her father was a prominent catholic businessman, proprietor of Moran's Hotel, 71–3 Lr…...
Morris, Eileen Frances (Sr Mary Francis)
Morris, Eileen Frances (Sr Mary Francis) (1919–93), Medical Missionary of Mary, and her twin sister, Peggy, were born 25 September 1919 at Powerstown, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, to Thomas A. Morris, merchant, and Margaret Morris (née O'Neill). They had a brother and a sister. After primary…...
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…...
Mulvany, Isabella Marion Jane
Mulvany, Isabella Marion Jane (1854–1934), educator, was born on 4 September 1854 in 7 Clanbrassil Terrace, Dublin, the second daughter in a family of seven children of Christopher Mulvany (1818?–1895), an engineer, and his wife Isabella (née Fowler). An older sister and a younger…...
Nagle, Nano (Honora)
Nagle, Nano (Honora) (1718–84), nun, educator, and founder of the Presentation Order, was born 9 April 1718 at Ballygriffin near Mallow, Co. Cork, eldest among five daughters and two sons of Garret Nagle (d. 1746), landowner, and Ann Nagle (née Mathew), who was from Annfield, Thurles,…...
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…...
Ní Chonaill, Eibhlín Dhubh
Ní Chonaill, Eibhlín Dhubh (c.1743–c.1800), poet, was born in Derrynane (Doire Fhionáin), Co. Kerry, one of the twenty-two children of Máire Ní Dhuibh (qv) and her husband, Domhnall Mór Ó Conaill of Derrynane…...
Ní Dhonnchadha Dhuibh, Máire
Ní Dhonnchadha Dhuibh, Máire (d. 1795?), poet, was born c.1702 in Glenflesk, Co. Kerry, daughter of Domhnall Ó Donnchadha and his wife Alice (née Ferriter), both of Co. Kerry. She was a descendant of the Uí Dhonnchadha an Ghleanna (O'Donoghue of the Glen), ‘Dubh’ being…...
Ní Ghráda, Máiréad
Ní Ghráda, Máiréad (1896–1971), playwright, author, and broadcaster, was born 23 December 1896 in Knockadangan, Kilmaley, Co. Clare, younger of two daughters of James O'Grady (1856–1942), farmer and sometime county councillor, and Bridget O'Grady (née Greene; 1854–1934), native of…...
Ní Ghuairim, Máire
Ní Ghuairim, Máire (1896–1964), teacher, author and sean-nós singer, was born 6 July 1896 in Roisín na Manach, Carna, Co. Galway, eldest daughter of farmer Máirtín Gorham and his wife, Catherine Burke. She received her earliest education in the Convent of Mercy school in Roisín na…...
O'Brien, Charlotte Grace
O'Brien, Charlotte Grace (1845–1909), social reformer and writer, was born 23 November 1845 at Cahirmoyle, Co. Limerick, younger daughter of the Young Ireland leader, William Smith O’Brien (qv), and his wife Lucy Caroline, daughter of…...
O'Brien, Frances Marcella
O'Brien, Frances Marcella (‘Attie ’) (1840–83), poet and novelist, was born 24 June 1840 near Ennis, Co. Clare, second youngest among three sons and two daughters of William O'Brien, farmer, from Co. Clare, and Marcella O'Brien (née Burke-Browne) of Newgrove, Co. Clare. Her mother…...
O'Brien, Kate
O'Brien, Kate (1897–1974), novelist, was born Kathleen Mary Louise O'Brien on 3 December 1897 in Limerick city, seventh among ten children of Thomas O'Brien, horse breeder, and Katherine O'Brien (née Thornhill) of Kilfinane, Co. Limerick. Her grandfather was an evicted tenant who…...
O'Brien, Kathleen Cruise
O'Brien, Kathleen Cruise (née Sheehy ) (1886–1938), teacher, suffragist and Irish language enthusiast, was born 28 April 1886 in Loughmore, Co. Tipperary, the youngest in a family of two sons and five daughters (one of whom died in infancy) of …...
O'Brien, Mary Lucy
O'Brien, Mary Lucy (1923–2006), missionary sister and doctor in Africa, was born Nora Veronica O'Brien on 17 August 1923 in Ballinderry, in the parish of Cummer, near Tuam, Co. Galway, the second eldest in a family of four girls and four boys of Michael O'Brien and his wife Nora (née…...
O'Brien, Miriam Thérèse
O'Brien, Miriam Thérèse (1945–2006), religious sister, educator, and aid worker in west Africa, was born Colette O'Brien on 18 April 1945 in Antrim town, the eldest of three daughters of Matthew O'Brien and his wife Mary (née Nash); she also had a younger brother. She attended St…...