MacMahon, Heber (Ever, Emer)
MacMahon, Heber (Ever, Emer) (1600–50), catholic bishop of Clogher, confederate politician, and military commander, was born in the barony of Farney in Co. Monaghan. His parents were probably Turlough MacMahon and Eva O'Neill. It seems that Heber's family fell on hard times and…...
MacMahon, Hugh Óg
MacMahon, Hugh Óg (d. 1644), soldier and conspirator, was the eldest legitimate son of Sir Brian MacHugh Óg MacMahon of Dartree (Dartry), Co. Monaghan, by a daughter of Hugh O'Neill (qv), 2nd earl of Tyrone. Fostered until the age of 16…...
MacMahon, Peadar
MacMahon, Peadar (1893–1975), soldier and senior civil servant, was born 10 January 1893 in Coose townland, near Ballybay, Co. Monaghan, son of James MacMahon, farmer and mill-owner, and Sarah MacMahon (née Smith). He was a contemporary of …...
MacSheehy, Bernard (Brian)
MacSheehy, Bernard (Brian) (1774–1807), officer in the French army, was born in Ireland on 2 December 1774, son of Bernard MacSheehy, also a French officer, and his wife, Honora (née Fagan). He was the fourth generation of his family (which had roots in Co. Kerry) to serve in the…...
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'…...
Maguire, Hugh
Maguire, Hugh (c.1710–66), soldier, was third (or third surviving) son of Brian Maguire (d. 1712) of Tempo, Co. Fermanagh, and his wife Bridget, daughter and co-heiress of James Nugent of Coolamber, Co. Longford. As a younger son, Maguire had to make his way in the…...
Maguire, Rory (Roger)
Maguire, Rory (Roger) (1619–48), Irish rebel, was the second son of Brian Roe, Lord Maguire of Enniskillen, and Rose, daughter of Art mac Baron O'Neill. The Maguires had supported the government during the Nine Years War (1594–1603) and had been rewarded with land in the Ulster…...
Mahon, Sir Bryan Thomas
Mahon, Sir Bryan Thomas (1862–1930), general, was born 2 April 1862 in Belleville, Co. Galway, son of Henry Blake Mahon, landowner, and his wife Matilda, daughter of Col. Thomas Seymour, of Ballymore Castle, Co. Galway. Educated locally, he joined the 4th (Militia) Battalion of…...
Mallin, Michael Thomas
Mallin, Michael Thomas (1874–1916), trade unionist and revolutionary, was born on 1 December 1874 at Ward's Hill in the Liberties in Dublin, the eldest of six surviving children (four boys and two girls) of John Mallin, a boatwright and carpenter, and his wife Sarah (née Dowling), a…...
McCann, Joseph (Joe)
McCann, Joseph (Joe) (1947–72) republican socialist, was born 2 November 1947 at 13 Baker Street, Belfast, to Joseph McCann, bricklayer, and Jane (née McGuire). Both parents were from the area known colloquially as the 'Pound Loney', the oldest part of the Falls Road. Joseph was the…...
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…...
McKenna, Daniel
McKenna, Daniel (1892–1975), army officer and chief of staff, was born 1 December 1892 at Bracareilly, Draperstown, Co. Londonderry, son of Peter McKenna, farmer, and Mary Anne McKenna (née McKenna). He was educated at Lisnamuck national school at Maghera, Co. Londonderry, before…...
McKeown, Sean
McKeown, Sean (1910–98), army chief of staff, was born 3 June 1910 at Castletown, Cooley, Co. Louth, son of Thomas McKeown and his wife Catherine (née McGinn). He attended Mullaghbuoy national school in Co. Louth and CBS Dundalk…...
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…...
McMillen, William ('Billy', 'Liam')
McMillen, William ('Billy', 'Liam') (1928–75) republican, was born 13 April 1928 in Belfast, the sixth of nine children (five girls and four boys) of Robert McMillen and his wife Sarah (née O'Neill) of 40 Ton Street. William's grandfather (also Robert) was a Scottish presbyterian.…...
Meagher, Thomas Francis
Meagher, Thomas Francis (1823–67), Young Ireland nationalist and soldier, was born 3 August 1823 in Waterford city, the eldest child of Thomas Meagher and his wife Alicia Quan. Both parents came from well-to-do catholic merchant families. His father was a shipowner, specialising in the…...
Mellows, Herbert Charles ('Barney')
Mellows, Herbert Charles ('Barney') (1896–1942), republican, was born on 24 March 1896 at 10 Annadale Avenue, Fairview, Dublin, the last of five children (four sons, one of whom, John, died in infancy, and one daughter) of William Joseph Mellows, a soldier, born in Gondah, India, with…...
Minch, Sydney Basil
Minch, Sydney Basil (1893–1970), soldier, politician and businessman, was born 14 June 1893 in Rockfield, Athy, Co. Kildare, one of five sons of Matthew Joseph Minch (1854–1921), nationalist and anti-Parnellite MP for Kildare South (1892–1903), and Agnes Minch (née Hayden). He had…...
Moore, Garret
Moore, Garret (d. 1706?), soldier and politician, is said to have been born in 1600, but a later date is probable. He was the eldest son of Garret Moore, of Cloghan, King's Co., while his mother's name is unknown. His grandfather John Moore (d. 1631) was a landowner in Galway…...
Moore, Maurice George
Moore, Maurice George (1854–1939), soldier and politician, was born 10 August 1854 at Moore Hall, Ballyglass, Co. Mayo, second child among four sons and one daughter of George Henry Moore (qv), MP for Mayo and leader of the tenant…...
Moylan, Stephen
Moylan, Stephen (1734?–1811), soldier in the US army, was born in Co. Cork, son of John Moylan, a prominent catholic merchant. His father, socially restricted by the penal laws, was obliged to send his four sons to Paris for a catholic education. While Stephen's brother…...
Mulcahy, Patrick Anthony
Mulcahy, Patrick Anthony (1897–1987), soldier, was born 4 November 1897 at 70 Manor St., Waterford city, third youngest child among two sons and five daughters of Patrick Mulcahy, post office official, and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Patrick and Maria Slattery, also of…...
Mulcahy, Richard
Mulcahy, Richard (1886–1971), revolutionary and politician, was born 10 May 1886 at 70 Manor Street, Waterford, eldest son and second eldest among eight children of Patrick Mulcahy, post office clerk (d. 1923), and Elizabeth Mulcahy (née Slattery), both of Waterford. He was educated by…...
Murphy, (John Francis) Desmond ('Jack')
Murphy, (John Francis) Desmond ('Jack') (1913–2005), military psychiatrist, was born 22 May 1913 in Kilrane, Rosslare Harbour, Co. Wexford, the son of Francis Murphy, a merchant, and his wife Annie (née Murphy). After attending Clongowes Wood College (1925–31), Murphy studied…...
Murphy, William Richard English
Murphy, William Richard English (1890–1975), teacher, soldier, schools’ inspector, general and police commissioner, was born on 26 January 1890 at Danescastle, Carrig on Bannow, Co. Wexford, son of John Joseph Murphy and Sarah Agnes (née English), both of whom were teachers. He had one…...