Maher, Margaret
Maher, Margaret (c.1845–1924), servant, was born in Killusty, Co. Tipperary, the third of four children, to Michael and Mary Maher. About 1865 she emigrated to America with her older sister Mary, her brother Michael and possibly their youngest sibling, Thomas. Soon…...
Mahon, Bríd (Bridget)
Mahon, Bríd (Bridget) (1918–2008), folklorist, was born on 14 July 1918 at 16 Elizabeth Street, Belfast, to Stephen Mahon and Mary Catherine Mahon (née Wall). Her father was an electrician, and she was one of five siblings. When communal and sectarian violence erupted in Belfast in 1922…...
Malleson (Annesley), Lady Constance Mary (‘Colette O'Niel’)
Malleson (Annesley), Lady Constance Mary (‘Colette O'Niel’) (1895–1975), actress and writer, was born 24 October 1895 at Castlewellan, Co. Down, the second daughter of the marriage of Hugh, fifth earl of Annesley (qv) and Priscilla…...
Manning, Mary
Manning, Mary (1905–99), playwright, novelist, and critic, was born on 30 June 1905 in Dublin, the eldest of three children, to Fitzmaurice Manning, a civil servant in the colonial service, and his wife Susan (née Bennett), sister of the suffragist and peace activist…...
Martin, Mary Letitia (Mrs Martin Bell)
Martin, Mary Letitia (Mrs Martin Bell) (1815–50), novelist, was born 28 August 1815 at Ballinahinch Castle, Co. Galway, the only child of Thomas Barnewall Martin (1786–1847), landowner and MP for Galway (1832–47), and his wife Julia (née Kirwan) (d. 1858) of Dalgan Park, Co. Mayo.…...
Martin, Violet Florence
This is a co-subject for the entry on Somerville, Edith Anna Œnone.…...
Maude, (Maighréad) Caitlín
Maude, (Maighréad) Caitlín (1941–82), poet, writer, singer, actress, dramatist and Irish-language activist, was born 22 May 1941 in Casla, Co. Galway, second child of John Joseph Maude (Seán Ó Máidhbh) and his wife Mai Ridge (Máire Nic an Iomaire), a teacher. Caitlín received her…...
Mayne, Ethel (Ethelind) Frances Colburn
Mayne, Ethel (Ethelind) Frances Colburn (1865–1941), novelist, short story writer, biographer and translator, was born on 7 January 1865 in Johnstown, Co. Kilkenny, the second of eight children of Charles Edward Bolton Mayne and Charlotte Emily Henrietta Sweetman. Her father’s family…...
McCaffrey, Anne Inez
McCaffrey, Anne Inez (1926–2011), science fiction and fantasy writer, was born on 1 April 1926 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, the second child and only daughter of George Herbert McCaffrey (1890–1954), soldier and administrator, and his wife Anne Dorothy (née McElroy), who worked…...
McDougall, Margaret Moran
McDougall, Margaret Moran (1826–99), author and journalist, was born 25 December 1826, according to family records (though her obituary said 25 December 1828), probably in Co. Antrim. Her father, J. Moran (or William Henry) Dixon , tailor, died in Galgorm, Co. Antrim, when…...
McTier, Martha
McTier, Martha (1742–1837), writer of letters, was eldest of the three surviving children of the Rev. Thomas Drennan (qv), non-subscribing presbyterian minister of Belfast, and his wife Ann Lennox (c.1719–1806), daughter of a wealthy Belfast merchant…...
McWeeney, Veronica Mary Elizabeth (Vera)
This is a co-subject for the entry on McWeeney, Paul Denis. View the original entry....
Meade, L. T. (Elizabeth (‘Lillie’) Thomasina
Meade, L. T. (Elizabeth (‘Lillie’) Thomasina Toulmin Smith) (1844?–1914), novelist, was born in Bandon, Co. Cork, daughter of Richard Thomas Meade, clergyman, and Sarah Meade (née Lane). Reared in Nohaval, near Kinsale, Co. Cork, where her father was Church of Ireland rector, she was…...
Milligan, Alice Leticia
Milligan, Alice Leticia (1866–1953), novelist, playwright, and political activist, was one of eleven children born to Charlotte (née Burns) and Seaton Milligan (1836–1916). From 1877 to 1887 she attended Methodist College, Belfast, where she wrote short stories for the school magazine…...
Mitchel, Henrietta
This is a co-subject for the entry on Martin, John. View the original entry....
Mitchell, Susan Langstaff
Mitchell, Susan Langstaff (1866–1926), essayist and poet, was born 5 December 1866 at the Provincial Bank House, Main St., Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim, fifth among seven children of Michael Thomas Mitchell, bank manager, and Kate Mitchell (née Cullen). The death of her father (1873…...
Molloy, Dorothy (Mary)
Molloy, Dorothy (Mary) (1942–2004), poet, painter and journalist, was born 10 June 1942 in Ballina, Co. Mayo, third child of Patrick Molloy, who was in the building trade, and his wife Kathleen, known as Doris (née Murphy). The family of two daughters and three sons moved to Dublin…...
Monck (Monk, Molesworth), Mary
Monck (Monk, Molesworth), Mary (c.1678–1715), poet and translator, was one of the seventeen children, nine of whom survived to adulthood, born to Robert Molesworth (qv), landowner, writer, and politician, later 1st Viscount…...
Moore, Dorothy (née King; other married name Dury)
Moore, Dorothy (née King; other married name Dury) (1612/13–1664), woman of letters, was born into the New English ruling class in Ireland, one of nine children of…...
Moore, Margaret Jane (‘Mrs Mason’)
Moore, Margaret Jane (‘Mrs Mason’) (1772–1835), Countess Mount Cashell and writer, was born 24 October 1772 in Dublin at the Henrietta St. residence of her parents; she was the eldest daughter of Robert King , Viscount Kingsborough (qv),…...
Morgan, Maria
Morgan, Maria (1828–92), journalist, was elder of at least two daughters of James Morgan of Prospect, Carrigrobane, Co. Cork; nothing is known of her mother. In 1865, accompanied by her younger sister, Jane, she went to Rome, where Jane studied art and Maria obtained a commission…...
Mould, Daphne Desiree Charlotte Pochin
Mould, Daphne Desiree Charlotte Pochin (1920–2014), geologist, author, photographer and flight instructor, was born on 15 November 1920 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, the only child of Walter Mould, a teacher, and his wife Marguerite (née Steer). Growing up in the heart of what she called the…...
Mulholland, Rosa (Lady Gilbert)
Mulholland, Rosa (Lady Gilbert) (1841–1921), novelist, was born in Belfast, daughter of Dr Joseph Stevenson Mulholland. She was educated privately and spent some time travelling in the west of Ireland, being subsequently credited in higher social circles with having an authentic…...
Murdoch, (Jean) Iris
Murdoch, (Jean) Iris (1919–99), novelist and philosopher, was born 15 July 1919 at 59 Blessington St., Dublin, only child of Wills John Hughes Murdoch (1890–1958) (only son of Wills John Murdoch of Hillhall, Co. Down), second lieutenant, 1st King Edward's Horse (1915–19), and a second-…...
Ní Bhrolcháin, Muireann
Ní Bhrolcháin, Muireann (1955–2015), academic and activist, was born on 15 May 1955 at Calvary Hospital (Bon Secours) in Galway, the eldest of three daughters of Cilian Ó Brolcháin, professor of physics at University College Galway (UCG, now the University of Galway) from Dublin, and…...