Mac Anna, Tomás
Mac Anna, Tomás (1925–2011), theatrical producer and playwright, was born Thomas Francis McCann in Dundalk, Co. Louth, on 5 March 1925, one of four children of Patrick McCann, stationmaster at Dundalk, and his wife Kathleen (née Byrne). He was educated at St Malachy's national school…...
MacDonagh, John
This is a co-subject for the entry on MacDonagh, Thomas. View the original entry....
MacGinnis, (Patrick) Niall
MacGinnis, (Patrick) Niall (1913–77), actor and medical doctor, was born 29 March 1913 at 25 Oakley Road, Ranelagh, Dublin, the eldest of two sons of Patrick F. MacGinnis (1873–1933), medical doctor and bacteriologist, and his wife Mary Josephine (née Kelly). After attending…...
MacGowran, Jack
MacGowran, Jack (1918–73), actor, was born 13 October 1918 in Ranelagh, Dublin, the only son among three children of Matthew MacGowran, a sporadically employed travelling salesman, and Gertrude MacGowran (née Shanahan). ‘Jackie’, as he was always known, was educated at the…...
Macken, Walter
Macken, Walter (1915–67), writer, actor, and theatre director, was born in Galway city on 3 May 1915, youngest son of Walter Macken, a carpenter and actor who was killed in the trenches at St Eloi, Flanders, in March 1916, and Agnes Macken (née Brady). Walter was educated at St Mary's…...
Mackey, Rex
Mackey, Rex (1911–99), barrister, actor, and writer, was born Arthur Joseph Connel Mackey on 7 December 1911, the eldest of three sons and two daughters of Joseph Arthur Mackey of Liosnamara, Bray, Co. Wicklow, and his wife Gertrude (née Gallagher). Educated at Castleknock College…...
Macklin, Charles
Macklin, Charles (d. 1797), actor and playwright, was probably born at Culdaff, Co. Donegal, one of two children of Terence Meleghin (or McLaughlin) and his wife, Agnes (née Flanagan; c.1660–1759). After his father's death in 1704, he was educated at a boarding school in…...
MacLiammóir, Micheál
MacLiammóir, Micheál (Alfred Lee Willmore) (1899–1978), actor, stage and costume designer, and author, was born 25 October 1899 at 150 Purves Road, Willesden, London NW10, only son and youngest of five children of Alfred Willmore, a forage buyer for the firm of Whitney's of Bayswater,…...
MacQuitty, William Baird
MacQuitty, William Baird (1905–2004), traveller, film producer, photographer and polymath, was born in Belfast on 15 May 1905, elder of two sons of James Baird MacQuitty, managing director of the Belfast Telegraph (a cousin of the principal proprietors), and his wife Henrietta…...
Magee, Patrick
Magee, Patrick (1924–82), actor, was born on 31 March 1924 in Edward Street, Armagh town, eldest of five children of Patrick McGee, schoolteacher and eventually principal of St Patrick's primary school. When he joined Actors' Equity he changed his surname to 'Magee' to avoid confusion…...
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…...
Manahan, Anna (Maria)
Manahan, Anna (Maria) (1924–2009), actress, was born on 18 October 1924 in Waterford city, third child in a family of three sons and three daughters of Patrick Manahan (d. 1967) and Mary Manahan (née Barry). Her father was a clerk in the margarine manufacturing business of W. and C.…...
Martin, Robert Jasper
Martin, Robert Jasper (1846–1905), stage-Irish humorist and unionist political activist, was born 16 June 1846 at Ross House, near Killanin, Co. Galway, eldest son of James Martin and his second wife, Anna Selina (née Fox). Violet Martin (qv) (‘Martin Ross’) (…...
Martyn, Edward
Martyn, Edward (1859–1923), dramatist, patron of the arts and nationalist, was born 31 January 1859 at his mother's family home at Masonbrook, Loughrea, Co. Galway, elder of two sons of Anne Martyn (neé Smith; d. 1898) and John Martyn (d. 1860), a philanderer by repute, of Tulira Castle…...
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…...
McAnally, Ray
McAnally, Ray (1926–89), actor, was born 30 March 1926 in Buncrana, Co. Donegal, son of James William McAnally, bank manager, and Winifred McAnally (née Ward). He was educated at the national school in Moville, Co. Donegal, and St Eunan's College, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. From the age…...
McAvin, Josie (Josephine)
McAvin, Josie (Josephine) (1919–2005) theatrical stage manager, and set decorator in cinema and theatre, was born 23 April 1919 in Dublin, one of three daughters and three sons of John McAvin (d. 1938), cattle exporter, and his wife Mollie. Her father was the last serving high…...
McCann, Donal Francis
McCann, Donal Francis (1943–99), actor, was born 7 May 1943 in the Stella Maris private nursing home, 17 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin, one of two sons (his brother died young) and one daughter of John McCann (qv), journalist, politician, and…...
McClelland, Richard Leeper ('Dick') ('Richard Leech')
McClelland, Richard Leeper ('Dick') ('Richard Leech') (1922–2004), medical doctor and actor, was born 24 November 1922 in Dublin, son of Herbert Saunderson McClelland, a solicitor, from Banbridge, Co. Down, and his wife Isabella Frances (née Leeper), from Dublin. Isabella's relatives…...
McClory, Kevin O'Donovan
McClory, Kevin O'Donovan (1926–2006), film maker, was born in Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, on 8 June 1926, son of Thomas John O'Donovan McClory (stage name Desmond O'Donovan), from Banbridge, Co. Down, and his wife Winifred (née Doran) from Wexford. Both parents were actors in…...
McClory, Sean
McClory, Sean (1924–2003), actor, was born 8 March 1924 in a nursing home at 18 Goldsmith Street, Dublin, son of Hugh Patrick McClory, farmer, of Kilmore, Ballygar, Co. Roscommon, and his wife, Mary Anne Margaret (née Ball), a former model. Reared in Galway city, where his father…...
McCormick, F. J.
McCormick, F. J. (1890–1947), actor, was born Peter Christopher Judge on 16 June 1890 in Skerries, Co. Dublin, son of Michael Judge of Skerries, a maltster and later a brewery manager, and his wife Mary (née Power). Educated locally, he worked briefly as a post office clerk in London,…...
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…...
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…...
McKenna, Siobhán
McKenna, Siobhán (1922–86), actor and theatre director, was born 24 May 1922 at 28 St James's Park, off the Falls Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim, the second daughter of Margaret (Gretta) O'Reilly from Loch Gamhna, Co. Longford, and her husband, Eoghan McKenna (b. Millstreet, Co. Cork, 1892)…...