Keating, Geoffrey (Céitinn, Seathrún)
Keating, Geoffrey (Céitinn, Seathrún) (c.1580–1644), historian and catholic priest, was born in south Co. Tipperary, his approximate date of birth being surmised on the basis of his active working life. He may have been the third of seven sons of James fitz Edmund Keating of…...
Kelly, Deirdre
Kelly, Deirdre (1938–2000), environmental and community campaigner, was born 15 May 1938 at Holles St. maternity hospital, Dublin, eldest daughter among three daughters and a son of Thomas McMahon , bus driver, and Mary (‘Molly’) McMahon (née Kenna), of 5 Sussex Road, adjoining…...
Kelly, Matthew
Kelly, Matthew (1814–58), catholic priest and church historian, was born 24 September 1814 in Maudlin Street, Kilkenny, the eldest son of James Kelly and his wife, Margaret (née Sanphy). The Kellys were a clerical family: an uncle of Matthew, Patrick Kelly (1779–1829), was bishop of…...
Kenney, James Francis
Kenney, James Francis (1884–1946), archivist and historian, was born 6 December 1884 in a small farmhouse near the village of Marysville in the township of Tyendinaga, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada, the only child of Martin Kenney, farmer, and his wife Mary (née McCullough).…...
King, Jeremiah
King, Jeremiah (1868–1927), historian, printer, and publisher, was born 11 February 1868 in Groin, in the parish of Aghadoe, Co. Kerry, elder of two sons of Laurence King, carpenter, of Currow, and Ellen King (née Counihan), farmer, of Madam's Height, Groin. Early in King's life…...
Lanigan, John
Lanigan, John (1758–1828), priest and ecclesiastical historian, was born at Cashel, Co. Tipperary, the eldest of sixteen children of Thomas Lanigan, a teacher who had studied for the priesthood, and his wife, Mary Anne Lanigan (née Dorkan). Educated at his father's school, and at the…...
Lenihan, Maurice
Lenihan, Maurice (1811–95), journalist and author, was born 5 February 1811 in St Patrick's parish, Waterford city, eldest of fifteen children (ten sons and five daughters) of James Lenihan, woollen draper (in Broad St., then the leading business area in the city), and Margaret…...
Lydon, James Francis Michael
Lydon, James Francis Michael (1928–2013), historian, was born on 12 May 1928 in Galway city, the second youngest of eleven children, to Daniel Lydon, a baker and owner of Lydon's bakery on Mary Street, Galway, and Catherine (née Hogan), who came from an Irish-speaking family just…...
Lynch, John
Lynch, John (c.1599–1677), historian and priest, was born in Galway city, and went to study on the Continent at an early age, firstly at Douai in the Spanish Netherlands, where he followed the Ratio Studiorum of the Jesuits. Subsequent stays in the Oratorian college in Dieppe (…...
Lyons, John Benignus (J. B.)
Lyons, John Benignus (J. B.) (1922–2007), medical doctor, historian and author, was born 22 July 1922 in Highland Lodge, just outside the village of Kilkelly, Co. Mayo, third son of John Lyons and his wife May (née Higgins); there was also a sister. His father was dispensary…...
Mac an Bhaird, Aodh Buidhe (Ward, Hugh; Vardaeus, Hugo)
Mac an Bhaird, Aodh Buidhe (Ward, Hugh; Vardaeus, Hugo) (c.1593–1635), hagiographer, was born in the barony of Tirhugh, Co. Donegal, probably at Ballymacaward, a townland that was named after his family. The Mac an Bhaird family belonged to the hereditary learned caste of…...
Macardle, Dorothy Margaret
Macardle, Dorothy Margaret (1889–1958), writer and republican activist, was born 7 March 1889 in Dundalk, Co. Louth, the eldest child of Thomas Callan Macardle (later knighted), businessman, and his wife, Minnie Lucy (née Ross), who had three sons and another daughter. Her father'…...
MacCabe, William Bernard
MacCabe, William Bernard (1801–91), journalist, poet, historian, and author, was born 23 November 1801 in Dublin. Details of his early life are scarce but it is known that he began a career as a journalist in the 1820s, working for both Dublin and provincial newspapers. In 1823 he…...
MacCaffrey, James
MacCaffrey, James (1875–1935), priest, historian, and president of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, was born 25 October 1875 in Alderwood, Clogher, Co. Tyrone, son of Francis MacCaffrey, farmer, and Ann MacCaffrey (née McElroy). After early education at St Macartan's seminary,…...
MacCarthy Reagh, Florence (Finian, Finghín)
MacCarthy Reagh, Florence (Finian, Finghín) (c.1562–c.1640), Gaelic chieftain and scholar, was born probably at Kilbrittan castle, eldest son of Sir Donough MacCarthy Reagh (d. 1576). His mother was a Geraldine, being the sister of Maurice of Desmond and the aunt…...
MacDermot, Francis Charles (‘Frank’)
MacDermot, Francis Charles (‘Frank’) (1886–1975), politician and author was born 25 November 1886, tenth among thirteen children (and eighth and youngest son) of Hugh Hyacinth O'Rorke MacDermot (qv),…...
MacDonagh, Oliver Ormond Gerard
MacDonagh, Oliver Ormond Gerard (1924–2002), historian, was born 23 August 1924 in Carlow town, elder son of Michael MacDonagh (1892–1972), bank official from Limerick, and his wife Loretto Oliver (1897–1970). His childhood was spent in Roscommon town, where his father was posted…...
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…...
MacErlean, John Campbell (Mac Fhir Léinn, Eoin)
MacErlean, John Campbell (Mac Fhir Léinn, Eoin) (1870–1950), Irish-language scholar and church historian, was born 15 February 1870 in Belfast, son of Andrew MacErlean, legal clerk, and Eliza MacErlean (née Campbell). Having attended St Malachy's College, Belfast, he entered the…...
Mac Firbhisigh, Dubhaltach Óg
Mac Firbhisigh, Dubhaltach Óg (c.1600–71), antiquary, was a native of Lackan, parish of Kilglass, Co. Sligo. His father, Giolla Íosa Mór Mac Firbhisigh, was a member of a family that had provided the O'Dowds, lords of Tír Fhiachrach (the barony of Tireragh, Co. Sligo),…...
MacGeoghegan, James
MacGeoghegan, James (1702–63), historian and priest, was probably born near Uisneach, Co. Westmeath, son of a prosperous catholic farmer. Educated from an early age in France, he studied at Rheims, where he obtained distinction in his theological studies, and on his ordination 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,…...
MacNeill, Eoin (John)
MacNeill, Eoin (John) (1867–1945), Gaelic scholar and nationalist politician, was born 15 May 1867 in Glenarm, Co. Antrim, sixth of eight children of Archibald MacNeill, baker, sailor and merchant, and his wife Rosetta (née Macauley). Family background and education MacNeill was…...
MacNevin, Thomas
MacNevin, Thomas (1814–48), Young Irelander, journalist, and historian, was born 17 May 1814 in Dublin, eldest son of Daniel MacNevin, solicitor and native of Loughrea, Co. Galway, and his second wife, Amelia (née Foster), of Ashfield, Gort, Co Galway. Before moving to Dublin, his…...
MacSwiney, Patrick John
MacSwiney, Patrick John (1885–1940), catholic priest, Gaelic scholar, antiquarian, historian and teacher, was born on 16 March 1885 in 40 Nile Street (latterly Sheares Street), Cork city, the son of Terence McSweeney (b. 1847), a bootmaker, and his wife Hannah (née McCarthy; b. 1848…...