Loftus, Sean Daniel ('Dublin Bay')
Loftus, Sean Daniel ('Dublin Bay') (1927–2010), environmentalist and political activist, was born in Dublin on 26 November 1927, eldest of seven children (four sons and three daughters) of J. J. Loftus, medical doctor, and his wife Margaret, former captain of the Irish hockey team. The…...
Lucas, Charles Davis
Lucas, Charles Davis (1834–1914), Royal Navy officer, awarded the first Victoria Cross, was born 19 February 1834 at Drumargole, Co. Armagh, son of Davis Lucas, bank official, of Clontibert and Drumargole, a member of the Lucas-Scudamore family of Castleshane, Co. Monaghan. He…...
Lyster, Thomas William
Lyster, Thomas William (1855–1922), librarian and author, was born 17 December 1855 in Co. Kilkenny, son of Thomas Lyster of Rathdowney, Co. Laois, and Jane Lyster (née Smith) of Roscrea, Co. Tipperary. Of a quaker family, he was educated at Wesley College, Dublin, before…...
MacAdam, Robert Shipboy
MacAdam, Robert Shipboy (1808–95), folklorist and antiquary, was born in High St., Belfast, younger of two surviving sons of James MacAdam (1755–1821), who owned a hardware shop in the same street, and his wife Jane Shipboy (1774–1827), a native of Belfast. MacAdam was educated at…...
Mac Domhnaill, Aodh (McDonnell, Hugh)
Mac Domhnaill, Aodh (McDonnell, Hugh) (1802–67), writer and folklore collector, was born at Drumgill, near Drumcondra, Co. Meath. His father was named Séamas Mac Domhnaill but nothing else is known of his immediate family. In 1827 he married Bridget Roe of Ardee, Co. Louth, and they had…...
MacDonnell, Randell
MacDonnell, Randell (c.1633–1711), naval commander and Jacobite, was second son of Sir James MacDonnell, 2nd baronet of Moye, a cousin of Randal MacDonnell (qv), 2nd earl and later marquis of Antrim. His mother was Mary…...
Mackle, Henry
Mackle, Henry (1921–94), physical chemist and folklore writer, was born 12 May 1921 at Derrykeeran, Co. Armagh, the son of Patrick Mackle, farmer, and Sarah Mackle (née Byrne). He studied chemistry at QUB, graduating with first-…...
Mac Mathúna, Ciarán
Mac Mathúna, Ciarán (1925–2009), folk music collector and broadcaster, was born Kieran MacMahon on 26 November 1925 at 14 St John's Avenue, off Mulgrave Street, Limerick city, youngest among five sons and one daughter of James MacMahon (1875–1967), national school teacher, native…...
Mac Murchadha Caomhánach, Seán Óg
This is a co-subject for the entry on Kavanagh, Muiris (‘Kruger’). View the original entry....
MacNamara, Desmond Joseph
MacNamara, Desmond Joseph (1918–2008), artist, writer and bohemian, was born 10 May 1918 in a private hospital at 29 Upper Mount Street, Dublin, son of Patrick William MacNamara, secretary of Greenslade and Co., ladies' tailors and costumers of 32 Wicklow Street, Dublin (at which…...
Mac Thomáis, Éamonn
Mac Thomáis, Éamonn (1927–2002), author, local historian, and republican, was born Edward Patrick Thomas on 13 January 1927 in an apartment above Rathmines fire station, Dublin, son of James Heather Thomas, a chief fire brigade officer, and Alice Thomas (née Kavanagh). The family's…...
Magennis, James Joseph
Magennis, James Joseph (1919–86), Royal Navy submariner and frogman, was born 27 October 1919 at 4 Majorca St., west Belfast, third child of William Magennis (a packer in a local mill, who also worked as a musician) and Mary Magennis (née Murphy). His early years were ones of…...
Maguire, Conor Joseph O'Loughlin
Maguire, Conor Joseph O'Loughlin (1861–1944), physician and folklorist, was born in Carraroe, Co. Galway, the only son of the two children of Edward Maguire, also a physician, and his first wife, whose maiden name was O'Loughlin. His father later married a second time and had another…...
Marsden, William
Marsden, William (1754–1836), orientalist, numismatist, and secretary to the admiralty, was born 16 November 1754, probably in Verval, Co. Wicklow, youngest child among six sons and four daughters of John Marsden (d. 1801), a wealthy merchant in Dublin, who was one of the founders…...
Martin, William Gregory Wood-
Martin, William Gregory Wood- (1847–1917), historian, archaeologist, folklorist, landowner, and soldier, was born 16 July 1847 in Woodville, Co. Sligo, the only surviving son of James Wood, landowner of Woodville, and his second wife, Anne (née Martin), of Cleveragh, Co. Sligo. Anne…...
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…...
McCarthy, Mortimer
This is a co-subject for the entry on McCarthy, Timothy (‘Tim’). View the original entry....
McCarthy, Timothy (‘Tim’)
McCarthy, Timothy (‘Tim’) (1887–1917), sailor and Polar explorer, was born 15 July 1887 in Kinsale, Co. Cork, a younger son of John McCarthy, farmer and fisherman of Lower Cove, Kinsale, and Mary McCarthy (née Ford) who was originally from Garrylucas, near the Old Head of Kinsale.…...
McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold
McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold (1819–1907), Royal Naval officer and Arctic explorer, was born 8 July 1819 at 1 Seatown Place, Dundalk, Co. Louth, eldest surviving son of Henry McClintock, collector of customs in Dundalk and formerly an officer in the 3rd Dragoon Guards, and his…...
McClure, Sir Robert John Le Mesurier
McClure, Sir Robert John Le Mesurier (1807–73), Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer, was born 28 January 1807, at the Rectory, Main St., Wexford, son of Capt. Robert McClure of the 89th Foot and his wife Jane, daughter of Archdeacon Elgee, rector of Wexford. His father died…...
McCorley, Roddy (Roger)
McCorley, Roddy (Roger) (d. 1800), United Irishman, was born in the parish of Duneane, Co. Antrim. His family is said to have been prosperous, but to have been evicted from their farm when the father died, and to have been reduced to begging, and the young man became involved in the…...
McGuinness, Charles John
McGuinness, Charles John (1893–1947), sailor and adventurer, was born 6 March 1893 in Derry city, elder of two sons of John McGuinness, sea-captain and harbourmaster, and Margaret McGuinness (née Hernand). In 1908, at the age of 15, McGuinness left home, stowing away in a ship and…...
McHugh, Kevin
McHugh, Kevin (1946–2006), fisherman and businessman, was born in Bullsmouth, Achill Island, Co. Mayo, on 26 May 1946, the fourth of eight children of Michael McHugh, ESB maintenance engineer, and his wife Norah (née Lavelle). Educated…...
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…...
Millett, Benignus
Millett, Benignus (1922–2006), Franciscan priest and historian, was born 1 April 1922 in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, eldest of eight children (five sons and three daughters) of Matthew Millett, a tax consultant and auditor, and his wife Mary (née Keating); he was christened Austin Matthew…...