Logan, Michael J. (Ó Lócháin, Micheál)
Logan, Michael J. (Ó Lócháin, Micheál) (1836–99), editor, publisher, and ‘father of the Gaelic language movement’ in America (Ford, 1899), was born 29 September 1836 at Currach Doire (Curraghderry), Baile an Mhuilinn (Milltown), near Tuam, Co. Galway, son of Patrick Logan, a small…...
Lord, Cyril
Lord, Cyril (1911–84), textile and carpet manufacturer, was born 12 July 1911 in Manchester, England, son of Richard Lund Lord, of Manchester, Co-operative Society stores clerk and later retail manager, and Kate Lord (née Hackney). Educated at the Central School Manchester and the…...
MacAdam, James
MacAdam, James (1801–61), manufacturer and geologist, was born in High Street, Belfast, the first child and the elder of two surviving sons of James MacAdam (1775–1821), merchant, and Jane MacAdam (née Shipboy) (1774–1827), a Belfast native. Two siblings died in infancy while a…...
Macha
Macha , tutelary goddess, gave her name to one of the most important of all Irish royal sites, Emain Macha (‘the twins of Macha’) in Co. Armagh, now known as Navan Fort. While Emain Macha was a prehistoric site of great religious significance, it was remembered by the early medieval…...
Magee, William
Magee, William (1750?–1827), printer, was probably born in Belfast, where his father, James Magee, printer and bookseller, had been involved with Francis Joy (qv) in papermaking near Ballymena in 1740, and had published the early Belfast news…...
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…...
Malone, James
Malone, James (d. 1721), printer and bookseller, was of obscure origin. A catholic, he was admitted free of the city of Dublin in 1672, and of the guild of stationers in 1676. He came to prominence under James II (qv); when the…...
Mason, Roy
Mason, Roy (1924–2015), secretary of state for Northern Ireland, was born on 18 April 1924 in Royston, a mining village near Barnsley, Yorkshire, the only son (he had one sister, Edna) of Joseph Mason, coalminer, and his wife Mary Ann (née MacDonald) from a Yorkshire mining family. The…...
McAllister, Randal
McAllister, Randal (c.1760?–p. 1794?), printer and United Irishman, was made a freeman of the city of Dublin in October 1786 and was then a stationer; nothing else is known of his background. The following year, on 23 October 1787, he was indicted for forging a…...
McBirney, David
McBirney, David (1806?–1882), department store owner and founder of Belleek pottery, was probably born in 1806; no other details of his background and early life are known. By 1838 he had formed the partnership of McBirney, Collis & Co., and was trading as the Hibernian Woollen…...
McCabe, Thomas
McCabe, Thomas (1740?–1820), watchmaker, businessman, and United Irishman, was born probably at Lurgan, Co. Armagh, the eldest of four sons of Patrick McCabe (1708?–85), a clock- and watchmaker, and his wife, Mary (née Maziere) (1717?–1801). Taking up their father's trade, he and…...
McCormack, Percy (Percival Davis)
McCormack, Percy (Percival Davis) (1929–2015), nuclear scientist, rocket engineer, pilot and physician, was born 23 October 1929 at the family home at 5 Garville Road, Rathgar, Dublin, the eldest of three children (he had a sister, Marion, and a brother, John) born to Thomas Henry…...
McCreery, John
McCreery, John (c.1768–1832), printer and radical, was born in Burndunnet, near Strabane, Co. Tyrone, son of James McCreery (1745–1811), a Strabane printer. In the late 1780s John McCreery left Strabane for Liverpool, where he was apprenticed to George Wood, a leading local…...
McDonnell, Thomas
McDonnell, Thomas (d. 1809), printer and bookseller, was known as a young Dublin printer in 1763; nothing else is known of his early life. He was one of the master printers contracted to produce the Hibernian Journal in 1771, the year of its inception, and took part (August…...
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…...
McLaughlin, Hugh
McLaughlin, Hugh (1918–2006), publisher and inventor, was born 11 October 1918 in the family residence at Cavan Lower in Killygordon, Co. Donegal, the youngest of five sons and two daughters of James McLaughlin, stationmaster, and his wife Dorothy (née Rogers). He attended Dromore…...
Medb Chruachna
Medb Chruachna (‘of Cruacha’), queen of Connacht and traditionally believed to have flourished around the time of the birth of Christ, is one of the most prominent figures in the Ulster Cycle of heroic tales. Whether she is in any sense to be considered historical depends on the extent…...
Miller, Liam
Miller, Liam (1924–87), publisher, was born William Miller 24 April 1924 in Mountrath, Co. Laois, son of James Miller, victualler, and Elizabeth Miller (née Carbery). He studied architecture at UCD and travelled to London after 1945 to…...
Monteith, Charles Montgomery
Monteith, Charles Montgomery (1921–95), publisher, was born 9 February 1921 in Lisburn, Co. Antrim, son of James Monteith, draper, and Marian Monteith (née Montgomery). The family were devoutly presbyterian. Charles was educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institute – he later…...
Mooney, John Joseph
Mooney, John Joseph (1920–2000), farmer and publisher, was born 8 March 1920 in a nursing home at 4 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin, elder of two children of Patrick Mooney, farmer and cattle dealer, a native of Athy, Co. Kildare, who had inherited an uncle's farm at Kilmurry, Co.…...
Moore, Theophilus
Moore, Theophilus (c.1730–c.1809), almanack compiler, may have been born in King's Co. (Offaly), but details of his life are scant and conflicting. John McCall (qv) in his comprehensive ‘History of Irish almanacks’ (written 1878; unpublished…...
Mulcahy, John Augustine (‘Jack’)
Mulcahy, John Augustine (‘Jack’) (1906–94), industrialist, businessman, and philanthropist, was born 26 August 1906 at Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, fifth among twelve children of Patrick Mulcahy, town clerk of Waterford , and Mary Mulcahy (née O'Shea). He was educated locally in the…...
Mulholland, Andrew
Mulholland, Andrew (1792–1866), textile manufacturer, was born 15 March 1792, probably in Belfast. His father, Thomas Mulholland, is believed to have been of humble origins and probably illiterate; he started as a dealer, and then invested in property. In 1784 he married Anne Doe…...
Murphy, James Jeremiah
Murphy, James Jeremiah (1825–97), brewer, banker, and businessman, was born 10 November 1825 in Cork, eldest among six sons and nine daughters of Jeremiah James Murphy (1795–1851), merchant and distiller, of Lota Park, Glanmire, Cork, and his wife Catherine (d. 17 July 1872),…...