Mac an Bhaird, Fearghal Óg
Mac an Bhaird, Fearghal Óg (late 1540s–c.1618), bardic poet and retainer of the O'Donnells of Tyrconnell, was the son of the poet and guesthouse keeper, Fearghal (d. 1550) son of Domhnall Ruadh Mac an Bhaird. Both Fearghal Óg and his brother Eoghan Ruadh (d. 1572) followed…...
Mac An Lega, Uilliam (Iollann)
Mac An Lega, Uilliam (Iollann) (d. p.1475), scribe and author-translator of many texts, belonged, as his name suggests, to an hereditary medical family, but Uilliam himself seems to have composed or copied nothing of a medical nature. He has been accurately described as…...
Mac Aonghusa, Criostóir
Mac Aonghusa, Criostóir (1905–91), teacher, author, critic, and campaigner for the Irish language, was born 13 December 1905 in Gort an Ghabhainn, Banagher, King's Co. (Offaly), son of Francis McGuiness (surname thus on his birth certificate), farmer, and his wife, Rosanna (née Egan).…...
Mac Aonghusa, Proinsias
Mac Aonghusa, Proinsias (1933–2003), journalist and Irish language activist, was born in Salthill Nursing Home, Co. Galway, on 23 June 1933, eldest of four children (two sons and two daughters) of Criostóir Mac Aonghusa (qv), writer…...
MacArthur, Sir William Porter
MacArthur, Sir William Porter (1884–1964), army medical officer, Irish-language scholar, and historian, was born 11 March 1884 at Belmont, east Belfast, Co. Down, the only son of John Porter MacArthur (d. 1930), tea merchant, and his wife Margaret Rainey (d. 1936), daughter of William…...
Mac Brádaigh, Fiachra
Mac Brádaigh, Fiachra (c.1690–c.1760), poet, was a native of Co. Cavan. Nothing is known of his immediate family and his place of birth cannot be determined precisely, but he appears to have resided throughout his life in the parish of Drung – part of the MacBradys'…...
Mac Brádaigh, Philip
Mac Brádaigh, Philip (c.1650–c.1719), poet and clergyman, commonly known as ‘Philip Ministir’ or ‘Parson Brady’, was born in Co. Cavan about the middle of the seventeenth century, probably in the district to the west of Cootehill that had previously formed the Cúil…...
Mac Bruaideadha, Maoilín Óg
Mac Bruaideadha, Maoilín Óg (1550?–1602), poet, was a son of Maoilìn Mac Bruaideadha, ollamh le seanchas or chronicler to the O'Briens of Thomond and head of one of the learned families of Gaelic society. Maoilìn Òg received an education in keeping with his ancestors’ status,…...
Mac Bruaideadha, Tadhg mac Dáire
Mac Bruaideadha, Tadhg mac Dáire (1550?–1625?), poet, was one of a large family born to Dáire Mac Bruaideadha, proprietor of Knockanalban in the parish of Kilmurry Ibrickan, Co. Clare, and his wife, Fionnghuala Gray. The Mac Bruaideadhas were one of the learned families of Gaelic…...
MacCabe (Mac Cába), Cathaoir (Cahir)
MacCabe (Mac Cába), Cathaoir (Cahir) (c.1670–c.1740), poet and harpist, was born at Cloghballybeg, parish of Mullagh, Co. Cavan; details of his parents are unknown. He acquired in youth some knowledge of Greek and Latin, an erudite literacy in the Gaelic verse…...
Mac Cairteáin, Liam (an Dúna) (William MacCartain)
Mac Cairteáin, Liam (an Dúna) (William MacCartain) (c.1668–1724), scribe and poet, was born in Doon, Co. Cork. Nothing is known of his parents, but it is believed that he was of Ulster origin. A Jacobite, he was a major in Mac Cárthaigh Spáinneach's cavalry regiment that took…...
Mac Cana, Proinsias
Mac Cana, Proinsias (1926–2004), Celtic scholar, was born 6 July 1926 in Belfast, son of George McCann and his wife Mary Catherine (née Mallon). He grew up in a catholic district in east Belfast, where inter-community tensions were keenly felt. He attended St Malachy's College during…...
Mac Cárthaigh, Eoghan ‘an Mhéirín’
Mac Cárthaigh, Eoghan ‘an Mhéirín’ (‘of the little finger’) (c.1690–1756), poet, was born near Aherla, Co. Cork, son of Diarmaid Mac Cárthaigh, a great-grandson of Tadhg an Dúna Mac Cárthaigh, chief of the Dunmanway or Gleann an Chroim branch of the MacCarthys and a prominent…...
Mac Cathmhaoil (Mac Aingil), Aodh (MacCaghwell, Hugh; Cavellus, Hugo)
Mac Cathmhaoil (Mac Aingil), Aodh (MacCaghwell, Hugh; Cavellus, Hugo) (1571–1626), Franciscan scholar and catholic archbishop of Armagh, was born in Downpatrick, Co. Down, a member of a Gaelic learned family that was originally located in Clogher, Co. Tyrone. Given his proficiency as a…...
Mac Cluain, Seoirse
Mac Cluain, Seoirse (1894–1949), Irish-language scholar, was born 16 February 1894 in Capparoe, Scariff, Co. Clare, son of farmer John Clune and his wife, Ellen Rohan. He received his earliest education in Scariff national school and afterwards in the Sacred Heart College in Limerick…...
Mac Coitir, Uilliam (Liam) ‘Rua’
Mac Coitir, Uilliam (Liam) ‘Rua’ (c.1675–1738), poet, was born at Curraghdermot, near Castlelyons, Co. Cork. Nothing is known of his parents except that his mother was a Murphy, but he had at least two brothers, Éamonn and Séamas. The latter, known as Séamas Mór Mac Coitir, was…...
Mac Conmara, Donnchadh ‘Rua’
Mac Conmara, Donnchadh ‘Rua’ (c.1715–1810), poet, is believed to have been born in Cratloe, Co. Clare, but his early life is obscure and nothing is known of his family. According to tradition, he studied for the priesthood at the Irish college in Rome for five years, was…...
Mac Con Midhe (MacNamee), Giolla Brighde
Mac Con Midhe (MacNamee), Giolla Brighde (c.1210–p. 1272), bardic poet, belonged to the famous bardic family of Mac Con Midhe (MacNamee) who were settled around Ardstraw in Co. Tyrone, in the land between the rivers Finn and Mourne. They had a school of bardic…...
Mac Craith, Aindrias
Mac Craith, Aindrias (c.1710–c.1795), poet, was born probably at Fantstown, near Kilmallock, Co. Limerick. Nothing is known of his immediate family or their circumstances, but by the early 1730s Mac Craith was teaching in the village of Croom, where he may have…...
Mac Crimthainn, Áed
Mac Crimthainn, Áed (d. p.1201), is the only known scribe of the Book of Leinster. His genealogy (identified by F. J. Byrne) occurs in his own hand in the manuscript (p. 313). The relevant parts, back to the eponym of the surname, read: AEd m Gillai Ciarain . . ./…...
Mac Cruitín, Aindrias
Mac Cruitín, Aindrias (c.1670–1738), poet and scribe, was born at Moyglass, about 8 km south of Milltown Malbay, Co. Clare. The Mac Cruitíns were one of the hereditary learned families of Gaelic society and acted as seanchaithe (antiquaries or chroniclers) to the O'…...
Mac Cruitín, Aodh ‘Buí’ (MacCurtin, Hugh)
Mac Cruitín, Aodh ‘Buí’ (MacCurtin, Hugh) (c.1680–1755), poet and antiquary, was born in the parish of Kilmacrehy, Co. Clare, close to the modern village of Liscannor. The MacCurtins belonged to the hereditary learned caste of Gaelic society and members of the family served the…...
Mac Cuarta, Séamas ‘Dall’
Mac Cuarta, Séamas ‘Dall’ (c.1650–1732/3), poet, was probably born near Omeath, Co. Louth, although the Drumcondra area of Co. Meath is given as his birthplace in some sources. Little is known of his immediate family or their circumstances except that his father's name was…...
Mac Cumhaigh (MacCooey), Art
Mac Cumhaigh (MacCooey), Art (c.1738–1773), poet, was probably a native of the townland of Mounthill in the parish of Creggan, Co. Armagh, but local tradition also links him with Mahereagh in the parish of Barronstown, near Dundalk, Co. Louth, and he may have lived in the…...
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…...