Massey, William Ferguson
Massey, William Ferguson (1856–1925), prime minister of New Zealand, was born 26 March 1856 at Keenaught near Limavady, Co. Londonderry, elder son of John Massey and Mary Anne (née Ferguson). His father was a tenant farmer from a long-established planter family; his mother's…...
McCleery, Sir William Victor
McCleery, Sir William Victor (1887–1957), businessman and politician, was born 17 July 1887, son of the Rev. John Richard McCleery, of First Killyleigh presbyterian church, and Henrietta McCleery (née Hodgins). After being educated privately, he went into business, and quickly…...
McCracken, Henry Joy
McCracken, Henry Joy (1767–98), United Irishman, was born 31 August 1767 at 39 High St., Belfast, fifth among six surviving children (four sons and two daughters) of John McCracken and his second wife, Ann (née Joy). Both parents were devout presbyterians, and belonged to two of…...
McCullough, John Edward
McCullough, John Edward (1832–1885), actor, was born on 14 November 1832 in the family home in the townland of Blakes in Dunboe, Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, the second of four children (one boy, three girls) to James McCullough, a presbyterian small farmer, and his wife Mary. Mary died…...
McElroy, Albert Horatio
McElroy, Albert Horatio (1915–75), politician and clergyman, was born 14 February 1915 in Glasgow, Scotland, second of three sons of Ulster-born parents; the family regularly holidayed with relatives in Banbridge, Co. Down. McElroy retained a lifelong love of things Scottish. The…...
McGrath, William
McGrath, William (1916–91), loyalist and paedophile, was born 11 December 1916 in Belfast, son of Abraham McGrath and Jane McGrath (née Warrington). McGrath came from a methodist background; in later years he worked with presbyterian and Free Presbyterian churches while operating as a…...
McKeague, John Dunlop
McKeague, John Dunlop (1930–82), loyalist activist, was born at Messines Cottage, Bushmills, Co. Antrim, one of six children of Thomas McKeague and his wife, Isabella. The family operated a guesthouse in Portrush before moving to Belfast, where they opened a stationer's shop on…...
McMahon (McMechan), Arthur
McMahon (McMechan), Arthur (1755?–1816?), presbyterian minister, United Irishman, and officer in the French army, was born, probably in 1755, at Donanelly in the parish of Inch, Co. Down; he was the younger son of Alexander McMechan (d. c.1793), a prosperous farmer there…...
McMullen, William
McMullen, William (1888–1982), trade unionist and politician, was born in Lilliput Street, Belfast, son of Joseph McMullen, shop owner, of County Monaghan; his mother was a native of County Cavan. When he was two years old, his family moved to a bigger shop on Shore Road, Belfast…...
Midgley, Henry Cassidy (‘Harry’)
Midgley, Henry Cassidy (‘Harry’) (1892–1957), trade unionist and politician, was born 8 September 1892 at 59 Seaview St., Belfast, third child and eldest son among two daughters and three sons of Alexander Midgley (1860–99), shipyard labourer, originally of Lurgan, Co. Armagh,…...
Mitchel, John
Mitchel, John (1815–75), nationalist and journalist, was born on 3 November 1815 at Camnish, near Dungiven, Co. Londonderry, eldest surviving child among two sons and four daughters of John Mitchel (1781–1840), presbyterian minister of the Dungiven congregation, and his wife Mary…...
Monro (Munro), Sir George
Monro (Munro), Sir George (d. 1694), army officer, was third son of Col. John Monro of Obsdale, Ross-shire, northern Scotland, and his wife Catherine (née Gordon). He entered Swedish military service in 1637, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel, but in 1640 joined other…...
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…...
Moore, Robert
Moore, Robert (1886–1960), farmer, politician, and presbyterian minister, was born 26 September 1886 at Ballymacannon, Ringsend, near Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, son of Kennedy Moore, whose family had farmed in the area for generations, and Mary Elizabeth Moore (née McFetridge).…...
Morgan, William James (‘Billy’)
Morgan, William James (‘Billy’) (1914–99), politician, was born 17 July 1914 in Belfast, third son of William James Morgan and Susan Jane Morgan (née Sharpe). At the age of 14 he left Finniston primary school to enter the family transport business, John Morgan & Sons, and retired…...
Morrow, Addie (Adam James)
Morrow, Addie (Adam James) (1928–2012), community activist and politician, was born on 17 July 1928 at the family farm, Hill House, Ballyhanwood, Gilnahirk, Dundonald, Co. Down, eldest of five children (three sons and two daughters) of a dairy farmer; his mother's maiden name was Watson…...
Morrow, Henry Cooke (‘Harry’)
Morrow, Henry Cooke (‘Harry’) (‘MacNamara, Gerald’) (1865–1938), playwright, writer and artist, was born in Co. Down on 27 August 1865, the second eldest of eight sons of George Morrow, a painter, decorator and founder of Morrow & Sons Ltd, and his wife Catherine (née MacNamara).…...
Neilson, Samuel
Neilson, Samuel (1761–1803), United Irishman, was born in September 1761 at Ballyroney, Co. Down, one of at least three sons of Alexander Neilson, a presbyterian minister. Educated at home and in a local school, in 1777 he was sent to Belfast to take up an apprenticeship with his…...
Nelson, Isaac
Nelson, Isaac (1809–88), presbyterian minister and politician, was born in Belfast, son of Francis Nelson, greengrocer, of Barrack St., Belfast, who was said to have been a United Irishman in 1798. Little else is known of Isaac's early life, but in the late 1820s he was in the…...
Orr, James
Orr, James (1770–1816), weaver, radical, and poet, was son of James Orr, who farmed a few acres and was a linen weaver. His mother's name is unknown. They lived in the small village of Ballycarry, in the parish of Broadisland, Co. Antrim. James was an only child, born when his…...
Paisley, Ian
Paisley, Ian Richard Kyle (1926–2014), Lord Bannside, protestant revivalist and politician, was born in Armagh city on 6 April 1926, younger of two sons of James Kyle Paisley (known as Kyle Paisley), baptist preacher, and his wife Isabella (née Turnbull), a former governess from Kilsyth…...
Parker, Henry
Parker, Henry (1604–52), parliamentarian pamphleteer, was born in 1604, the fifth son of Sir Nicholas Parker (d. 1619) and his third wife, Katherine Temple. His family, important Sussex gentry, was based at Ratton. Little is known of his early life until he attended Oxford, where…...
Payne, Davy (Hugh David)
Payne, Davy (Hugh David) (1948?–2003), loyalist paramilitary, was born in Belfast, where he was brought up in the Woodvale area of the Shankill Road. He was involved in loyalist activism from his teens (although he later falsely claimed to have been radicalised by IRA bombings in the…...
Pinkerton, John
Pinkerton, John (1845–1908), tenant farmer, magistrate, and MP, was the son of John Pinkerton of Seacon, near Ballymoney, north Antrim, and his wife Nancy (née Pinkerton). John Pinkerton senior was a unitarian tenant farmer and linen merchant who died young after falling from his…...
Porter, Alexander
Porter, Alexander (1785–1844), US senator, was born 24 June 1785, one of seven children of James Porter (qv), presbyterian minister, and his wife Anna Knox of Dromore (d. 1823). Though not a United Irishman, James Porter was implicated…...