Magennis, Arthur
Magennis, Arthur (1623–84), 3rd Viscount Magennis of Iveagh , was the son of Hugh Magennis and his wife Mary Bellew of Castletown, Co. Louth. Though a minor at the time of his father's death in 1639, he was not made a government ward, as he was too old to be a likely convert to…...
Maguire, Conor
Maguire, Conor (1616–45), 2nd baron of Enniskillen , was son of Sir Brian Maguire (qv); his mother was an O'Neill. His father ensured that the family was integrated socially within the new planter order. Conor married Mary, daughter of Thomas Fleming of…...
Maguire, Cúchonnacht Mór
Maguire, Cúchonnacht Mór (c.1650–91), Jacobite landowner and soldier, was the only son of Hugh Maguire of Tempo, Co. Fermanagh (an officer of the Irish confederate army who was killed at the battle of Glenswilly in the year of Cúchonnacht's birth) and his wife (née O'…...
Malone, Sylvester
Malone, Sylvester (1822–1906), priest, ecclesiastical historian, and Irish-language enthusiast, was born in the parish of Kilmally, Co. Clare, son of Jeremiah Malone and Mary Malone (neé Slattery). A fluent Irish-speaker since his youth, he was educated at Maynooth and ordained in 1853…...
Mathew, Francis
Mathew, Francis (1738–1806), politician and 1st earl of Llandaff , was born September 1738 at Thomastown, Co. Tipperary, the only son and heir of Thomas Mathew (1710–77), MP for Co. Tipperary (1761–2) and landowner, and his wife Mary, daughter of Richard Mathew of Dublin. Raised…...
McKenna, Lambert (Mac Cionnaith, Láimhbheartach)
McKenna, Lambert (Mac Cionnaith, Láimhbheartach) (1870–1956), Irish-language scholar and catholic social thinker, was born 16 July 1870 in Clontarf, Co. Dublin, son of Andrew McKenna, accountant, and Mary McKenna (née Lambert). Having attended Belvedere College, Dublin, he entered the…...
McKiernan, Eoin
McKiernan, Eoin (1915–2004), cultural entrepreneur and promoter of Irish studies, was born in Manhattan, New York city, on 10 May 1915, eldest of four children of Henry McKiernan (born in America of Cavan–Leitrim parents), foreman engineer, and his wife Delia (née Nagle), who had…...
McKinney, Thomas Joseph
McKinney, Thomas Joseph (1887–1973), army surgeon and Irish scholar, was born 30 October 1887 at Greencastle, Co. Antrim, son of Thomas McKinney, sergeant in the RIC, and Mary McKinney (née McKillop). His family later moved to…...
McShain, Mary
McShain, Mary (1907–98), landowner and benefactor, was born Mary Horstmann on 27 March 1907 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, fifth among six children of Ignatius J. Horstmann and his wife Pauline. She was educated at St Leonard's Academy, Philadelphia, and Rosemont College, Rosemont…...
Monsell, William
Monsell, William (1812–94), 1st Baron Emly of Tervoe and politician, was born 21 September 1812 in Mount St., Dublin, only child of William Monsell (1778–1824) of Tervoe House, Clarina, Co. Limerick, and his wife Olivia (d. 1859), second daughter of Sir John Allen Johnson-Walsh…...
Mooney, Canice
Mooney, Canice (1911–63) Franciscan priest, historian, and Irish language scholar, was born 13 February 1911 in Drumshambo, Co. Leitrim, one of eight children of publican, auctioneer and public representative Andrew Mooney and his wife Josephine Gaffney. He was christened Albert…...
Moore, George Henry
Moore, George Henry (1810–70), politician, landowner, and horse-trainer, was born 1 March 1810 in Moore Hall, Ballyglass, Co. Mayo, eldest among three sons of George Moore (1770–1840), landlord and historian, and Louisa Moore (née Browne), granddaughter of the 1st earl of Altamont…...
Moran, David Patrick (‘D. P.’)
Moran, David Patrick (‘D. P.’) (1869–1936), nationalist journalist, was born 22 March 1869 in Manor, Co. Waterford, youngest among twenty children of James Moran, building contractor, who constructed several large ecclesiastical and civic buildings in late nineteenth-century Waterford (…...
Morris, Sir Michael
Morris, Sir Michael (1826–1901), 1st Baron Morris and Killanin , lawyer and chief justice, was born 14 November 1826 at Spiddal, Co. Galway, eldest son of Martin Morris (1784–1862), a Roman catholic merchant who was a JP and later high…...
Mulchrone, Kathleen (‘Kate’) (Ó Maolchroín, Ní Maolchroín, Caitlín)
Mulchrone, Kathleen (‘Kate’) (Ó Maolchroín, Ní Maolchroín, Caitlín) (1895–1973), Celticist, was born 22 November 1895 in Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath, youngest among four daughters of Patrick Mulchrone, RIC sergeant, originally from Co.…...
Murphy, (Henry) Gerard
Murphy, (Henry) Gerard (1901–59), Celticist, was born 2 May 1901 in Clontivern, Clones, Co. Monaghan, second son of Henry Murphy, solicitor, and his wife Mary Travers (née Donnelly). Although baptised as ‘Henry’, he was known as ‘Gerard’ to his family, friends, and students. He…...
Murray, Laurence Patrick, ('Larry'), (Ó Muireadhaigh, Lorcán)
Murray, Laurence Patrick, ('Larry'), (Ó Muireadhaigh, Lorcán) (1883–1941), priest, historian and Irish-language activist, was born 8 June 1883 in Newry Street, Carlingford, Co. Louth, the eldest of seven surviving children (four sons and three daughters) of James Murray, a member of the…...
Musa, Jennifer ('Mummy'; Jennifer Jehanzeba Qazi Musa)
Musa, Jennifer ('Mummy'; Jennifer Jehanzeba Qazi Musa) (1917–2008), politician, tribal elder and nurse, was born Bridget Wren on 11 November 1917 in Tarmons, Tarbert, Co. Kerry, one of five daughters and two sons of John Wren, a small-holding farmer, and his wife Johanna (née…...
Netterville, John
Netterville, John (d. 1659), 2nd Viscount Netterville of Dowth , army officer, and landowner, was eldest son of Nicholas Netterville (qv), Viscount Dowth, and his wife, Eleanor Bath of Athcarne, Co. Meath. John married (1623)…...
Netterville, Nicholas
Netterville, Nicholas (1581–1654), 1st Viscount Netterville , politician, was the only son and heir of John Netterville of Dowth, Co. Meath, and Eleanor, daughter of Sir James Gernon (frequently called Garland) of Kilmacoole, Co. Louth. Nicholas inherited the family estates in…...
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…...
Nic Niocaill, Eibhlín
Nic Niocaill, Eibhlín (1884–1909), Gaelic League activist, was born 22 October 1884 in Dublin as Eveleen Constance Nicholls , only daughter and second among four children of Archibald J. Nicholls (1845–1924), barrister and secretary of the Loan Fund Board of Ireland, and his wife, Mary…...
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…...