Martin, Richard
Martin, Richard (1754–1834), politician, animal rights campaigner, and duellist, was born 6 February 1754 at Ballinahinch castle, Dangan, Co. Galway, the eldest son of Robert Martin, a landowner, and his first wife, Bridget Martin (née Barnewall), daughter of the 11th Baron…...
Mathew, Mary
Mathew, Mary (1724–77), diarist, was daughter of the landowner Theobald Mathew (d. 1699) of Thurles Castle, Co. Tipperary, and his third wife, Catherine Nevill (d. 1742) of Leicestershire, England. Theobald Mathew had five children from his first marriage, one from his second, and four…...
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…...
McCole, Brigid (Bridget) Ellen
McCole, Brigid (Bridget) Ellen (1942–96), hepatitis C campaigner, was born 21 June 1942 at her family home in Bunawack, Glenties, Co. Donegal, daughter of John Sharkey , labourer, and Ellen Sharkey (née McCole). She was raised and educated locally and lived within Co. Donegal…...
McConville, Jean
McConville, Jean (1935–72), murder victim, was born at Avoniel, east Belfast, in 1935, the daughter of Thomas Murray, shipyard worker, and his wife, May. After a basic education she entered domestic service. In 1952 she married Arthur McConville, a catholic soldier from west Belfast and…...
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…...
McGinty, Thom (‘The Diceman’)
McGinty, Thom (‘The Diceman’) (1952–95), street performer, was born in Strathclyde, Scotland, one of two sons and two daughters of Thomas McGinty and Mary McGinty (maiden name unknown), a native of Co. Dublin. After training in Glasgow in theatre and as an artists’ model, he moved to…...
McGuckin (McGucken), James
McGuckin (McGucken), James (d. 1817), attorney, politician, and informer, of South Parade, Belfast, was a native probably of Antrim or Down. According to Bernard McAuley (1771–1863), a catholic priest who knew him well, his father was a catholic but he and his sisters belonged…...
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…...
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…...
Morgan, Lady Catherine Louisa
Morgan, Lady Catherine Louisa (c.1838–1886), divorcée, was born in Moore Park, Co. Cork, youngest daughter among seven children of Stephen Moore (1792–1883), 3rd earl of Mountcashell, and his wife Anna Maria, daughter of Samuel Wyss of Berne, Switzerland. She married (10…...
Morrissey, John
Morrissey, John (1831–78), boxer, gang-leader and US congressman, was born 12 February 1831 at Templemore, Co. Tipperary, the only son among eight children of Timothy Morrissey, factory worker, and Julia (or Mary) Morrissey. In 1834 the family emigrated to Canada and then the United…...
Murphy, Edmund
Murphy, Edmund (d. p.1682), priest and informer, was a native of Co. Armagh. Nothing is known of his early life. In 1670, when Oliver Plunkett (qv) took up his duties as archbishop of Armagh, Murphy was parish priest of…...
Murphy, Edmund Terence (‘Terry’)
Murphy, Edmund Terence (‘Terry’) (1917–95), zookeeper, was born 28 July 1917 in Dublin, son of Edmund Murphy, civil servant, and Lizzie Murphy (née Shaw). Expelled from school for truancy at 15, he worked as a draughtsman for an engineering firm before employment in public relations…...
Murphy, John
Murphy, John (c.1755–1832), engraver and educational publisher, was born in Cork city and reared in its northern suburbs, around Mallow Lane. At the age of seventeen he emigrated to London, led by his ‘predilection for the Fine Arts and a desire to cultivate an inclination for…...
Murphy, Patrick
Murphy, Patrick (1834–62), ‘world's tallest man’ and fairground performer, was born 15 June 1834 in Killowen, Co. Down, son of James Murphy (d. c.1850), smallholder, and Peggy Murphy (née Cunningham). There was nothing exceptional about his physique as a child. An…...
Neal (Neale), John
Neal (Neale), John (fl.1701–40), publisher of music, manufacturer of musical instruments, and musician, worked in Dublin throughout his adult life and may have been born in the city. He appears, c.1701, running a recorder-making shop in Christ Church Lane, Dublin. From…...
Nedley, Thomas
Nedley, Thomas (1819–99), surgeon and wit, was born in Dublin; nothing is known of his family background. Educated at Castleknock College, he then went to Scotland to study medicine and was made a licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh (1851). In August 1856 he…...
Neill (Neil), Patrick
Neill (Neil), Patrick (1665?–1705?), printer, was born in Glasgow, and was probably the same as the Patrick Neill, bookbinder, who in 1691 was admitted a burgess of that city and guild brother in right of his father. His parents were most likely David Neill and Mary Hamilton, whose…...
Nelson, Oliver
Nelson, Oliver (c.1715–1775), printer, was apprenticed to George Grierson (d. 1753), in Essex St., Dublin, for 1736/7. Prior to this he probably worked for William Bowyer in London intermittently during 1732–6, but nothing is known of his early life. He was sworn free of…...
Newell, Edward John
Newell, Edward John (1771–98), United Irishman and informer, was born at Downpatrick, Co. Down, on 29 June 1771. His family were of Scottish descent. After going briefly to sea he was apprenticed to a painter and glazier. He tried the trade of glass-stainer in Dublin and Limerick…...