Maguire, Sir Alexander Herbert
Maguire, Sir Alexander Herbert (1876–1947), match manufacturer and philanthropist, was born 18 May 1876 in Liverpool, son of John Thomas Maguire of Liverpool, match manufacturer, and his wife (name unknown). He was educated at Waterloo College, Liverpool, but left at an early age…...
Martin, Richard
Martin, Richard (c.1604–c.1659), lawyer and politician, belonged to one of the élite families of Galway who had controlled the city since medieval times. The eldest son of Oliver Martin, who was deprived of the mayoralty in 1632 for refusing to take the oath of…...
Mathew, Sir James Charles
Mathew, Sir James Charles (1830–1908), barrister and judge, was born 10 July 1830 in Bordeaux, France, eldest son of Charles Mathew, gentleman, of Lehanagh House, Co. Cork, and Castlelake, Co. Tipperary, and his wife Mary, daughter of James Hackett of Cork. He was of a Roman…...
McCarthy, Niall St John
McCarthy, Niall St John (1925–92), lawyer and judge, was born in Cork on 25 May 1925, the sixth of seven children of Joseph A. McCarthy, an engineer who was later called to the bar and became a circuit court judge, and his wife, Rose A. O'Neill. The family shortly afterwards moved…...
McClean, (John) Raymond
McClean, (John) Raymond (1933–2011), medical doctor, civil-rights activist and humanitarian, was born on 18 January 1933 in Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, third in a family of three sons and one daughter of Charles McClean and his wife Kathleen (née King). Charles McClean, a trophy-winning…...
McConnell, James Robert
McConnell, James Robert (1915–99), mathematical physicist and priest, was born 25 February 1915 at 3 Duke Row, Dublin, second child of Robert McConnell, pharmacist, and Frances McConnell (née Lennon). His grandfather was a presbyterian from Ballymena, Co. Antrim. He was educated at…...
McDonnel, Sir Edward
McDonnel, Sir Edward (1806–60), merchant and paper manufacturer, was born in Dublin, son of Christopher McDonnel, also a merchant and paper manufacturer, and his wife Ann, daughter of Edward Brennan, all from Dublin. Although one of the most eminent and successful merchants in the…...
McDonogh, Martin (Mac Donnchada, Máirtin)
McDonogh, Martin (Mac Donnchada, Máirtin) (1858–1934), merchant, industrialist, and TD, was born in Lettermullen, Galway, eldest son among three sons and two daughters of Thomas Redmond McDonogh (d. 1902), merchant, originally of Lettermullen and later Galway, and his wife Honoria…...
McEnery, John
McEnery, John (1796–1841), palaeontologist and catholic priest, was born 17 November 1796 in Limerick city. Educated at St Munchin's seminary, Park House, near Limerick city, he was ordained in 1819 for the diocese of Limerick. Soon thereafter, pursuant to his participation in a…...
McGauley, James William
McGauley, James William (d. 1867), priest, scientist, and inventor, was apparently born into a Roman catholic family in Dublin, and is said to have been the son of a carpenter; it is possible he was in some way related to the family of the Venerable…...
McGilligan, Patrick
McGilligan, Patrick (1889–1979), politician, academic, and lawyer, was born 12 April 1889. His family home was at Hanover Place, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, and he was the second child and second son among the eight sons and four daughters of Patrick McGilligan, businessman and MP (…...
McGonigal, Richard
McGonigal, Richard (1902–64), barrister and senior counsel, was born at 8 Mount Street Crescent, Dublin, on 14 February 1902, the eldest son of John McGonigal KC, county court judge for Co. Tyrone (1939–43), and his wife Margaret Davoren,…...
McGonigal, Sir Ambrose Joseph
McGonigal, Sir Ambrose Joseph (1917–79), judge, was born 22 November 1917 at 18 Herbert Street, Dublin, the second son of the three sons and four daughters of John McGonigal KC, county court judge for Co. Tyrone (1939–43), and Margaret Davoren,…...
McGough, Joseph Christopher (Joe)
McGough, Joseph Christopher (Joe) (1919–2003), army officer, barrister and businessman, was born 23 December 1919 at Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, the fourth child and first son of John McGough, originally of Co. Clare, and his wife Ann (née Brennan). His father, having served as a…...
McGrory, Patrick John Mary (‘Paddy’)
McGrory, Patrick John Mary (‘Paddy’) (1923–94), solicitor, was born 11 October 1923 in the St James area of the Falls Road, Belfast, one of four children of Patrick Joseph McGrory, insurance manager, of 1 St James's Parade, Belfast, and his wife Mary (née Skeffington). His father…...
McKenna, Theobald
McKenna, Theobald (1765–1808), catholic activist and lawyer, was born 6 December 1765 in Dublin, the fourth son of Edmond McKenna, a catholic merchant originally from Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary. He trained as a physician and in the 1780s was active in the campaign for the…...
McLaughlin, Patrick John (‘Paddy’)
McLaughlin, Patrick John (‘Paddy’) (1899–1973), priest and physicist, was reputedly born in Scotland. The early part of his life was spent in Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, where his father was a publican. He entered Maynooth College, where he studied science (…...
McNulty, Kathleen Rita ('Kay')
McNulty, Kathleen Rita ('Kay') (1921–2006), pioneering computer programmer, was born on 12 February 1921 in the townland of Feymore, Creeslough, Co. Donegal, the third of six children (three boys and three girls) of James McNulty (1890–1977) and his wife Anne or Annie (née Nelis).…...
McSparran, James
McSparran, James (1892–1970), lawyer and politician, was born 1 May 1892 in Glasgow, Scotland, third among five sons of James McSparran, farmer and merchant of Cushendun, Co. Antrim, and Albert Road, Glasgow, and Ann (Annie) McSparran (née McDonnell), farmer's daughter from north…...
McWilliams, Brendan Eugene
McWilliams, Brendan Eugene (1944–2007), meteorologist, writer and broadcaster, was born in south Dublin on 7 August 1944, the only son of John (Sean) McWilliams and his wife Nora (née Smyth). Sean McWilliams (1911–84), originally from Maghera, Co. Londonderry, was one of the first…...
Meenan, James Francis
Meenan, James Francis (1910–87), barrister-at-law, political economist, and writer, was born 18 October 1910 in Dublin, eldest of three sons and one daughter of Dr James Nahor Meenan (qv), professor of medicine at…...
Meenan, Patrick Nahor
Meenan, Patrick Nahor (1917–2008), microbiologist and physician, the second of three sons of James Nahor Meenan (qv), professor of systemic medicine at UCD, and Mary Elizabeth Meenan (née…...
Methuen, John
Methuen, John (c.1649–1706), lord chancellor of Ireland, was the eldest son of Paul Methuen, clothier, of Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, and his wife Grace, daughter of John Ashe of Freshford, Somerset. He matriculated at St Edmund Hall, Oxford (1665), aged 15, and entered…...
Molloy, Gerald
Molloy, Gerald (1834–1906), priest and scientist, was born 10 September 1834 in Mount Tallant House, Terenure, Co. Dublin, second son of Thomas Molloy, tanner, and Catherine Molloy (née Whelan). He was educated first at a private school and then at Castleknock College. He entered…...
Molony, Sir Thomas Francis
Molony, Sir Thomas Francis (1865–1949), 1st baronet, last lord chief justice of Ireland, was born 31 January 1865 in Dublin, youngest son of James Molony, Dublin hotel proprietor, and his wife Jane, daughter of Nicholas Sweetman of Newbawn, Co. Wexford. Thomas was educated by the…...