Co. Tyrone

McCoan, James Carlile (1829–1904), barrister, journalist, author, and MP, was born 14 July 1829 at Dunlow, Co. Tyrone, the only son of Clement McCoan of Charlemont, Co. Armagh, and his wife Sarah, daughter of James Carlile of Culreavogh, Co. Tyrone. Educated at Dungannon school and…

McCormick, Liam (1916–96), architect, was born William Henry Dunleavy McCormick on 24 October 1916 at 25 Clarendon St., Derry city, son of Hugh McCormick, a prosperous dentist, and Mary Christina McCormick (née Breslin). His parents came from prominent, prosperous catholic…

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…

McCullagh, Francis (1874–1956), journalist, was born 1 May 1874 at Omagh, Co. Tyrone, one of five children of James McCullagh, publican, from Gortin, Co. Tyrone, and his wife Mary. Omagh was a garrison town and Francis grew up amid tales of Nana Sahib and the Indian mutiny. He was…

McGarrity, Joseph (1874–1940), businessman, poet, and republican, was born 28 March 1874 on a thirty-acre (12 ha) farm at Creggandeveskey, Carrickmore, Co. Tyrone, second youngest among eight children of John McGarrity and Catherine McGarrity (née Bigley). While not well-to-do, John…

McGill, Patrick (‘Paddy’) (1913–77), journalist and politician, was born 4 October 1913 in Great James Street, Derry city, the son of Patrick McGill, a publican of Great James Street, and his second wife Mary (née Duffy). He earned a scholarship to St Columb's College, Derry, but left…

McGinn, Michael (‘Mick’) (1850/51–1916), Fenian, was born in Omagh, Co. Tyrone, the third eldest of nine children of Michael McGinn, a baker at High Street, Omagh, and his wife Jane McGinn (née Conway). His father was active in nationalist and agrarian politics and promoted, among other…

McHugh, Charles (1855/6–1926), catholic bishop of Derry, was born in the townland of Dreenan near Castlederg, Co. Tyrone, in the parish of Termonamongan, second youngest among two sons and seven daughters of Francis McHugh, farmer, and Catherine McHugh (née Browne), both of…

McHugh, Edward (1853–1915), political activist and trade unionist, was born on 21 August 1853 in Co. Tyrone (probably in the parish of Termonamongan in the far west of the county), the son of Matthew McHugh, smallholder and labourer, and his wife Margaret (née McCrory); he had one…

McIvor, Berna (1932–2010), political and community activist, was born Bernadette Spellman on 9 February 1932 in Coalisland, Co. Tyrone. She trained as a teacher at St Mary's College, Belfast, and taught in the Long Tower primary school (in the Bogside area of Derry city) and later in…

McKelvey, Joseph (1898–1922), revolutionary, was born in Stewartstown, Co. Tyrone, on 17 June 1898, the only child of Patrick McKelvey, originally from Co. Donegal, and his wife Rose (née O'Neill), who was from Stewartstown. Patrick McKelvey was then a member of the Royal Irish…

McMaster, William (1811–87), merchant, Canadian senator, and philanthropist, was born 24 December 1811 in Co. Tyrone, the son of William McMaster, linen merchant. Privately educated by local teachers, he began work in a mercantile house before moving to New York and then York (…

Meenan, James Nahor (1879–1950), doctor and academic, was born 24 October 1879 in Corbally House, Fintona, Co. Tyrone, sixth among eleven children of Patrick Meenan, farmer and JP, and Mary Meenan (née Donnelly). Educated at St Macartan's…

Mellon, Thomas (1813–1908), judge, investor, and banker, was born 3 February 1813 at Camp Hill Cottage, Castletown, near Omagh, Co. Tyrone, eldest of two sons and three daughters of Andrew Mellon (1785–1856), farmer, and his wife Rebecca (1789–1868), daughter of Samuel Wauchob,…

Millen, Francis Frederick (1831–89), soldier, Fenian, and spy, was born in Co. Tyrone into a fairly prosperous catholic family. Little is known of his background except that he received a good education, considered himself a member of the gentlemanly classes and, aged 19, enlisted…

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…

Montgomery, Hugh de Fellenberg (1844–1924), landowner and Northern Ireland senator, was born 14 August 1844 in Blessingbourne, Fivemiletown, Co. Tyrone, the only child of Hugh Ralph Severin Montgomery (1821–44), landowner, and his wife Maria Philipina, daughter of Philip Emmanuel de…

Montgomery, Hugh Edmund Langton (1895–1971), diplomat and priest, was born 30 October 1895 at Blessingbourne, near Fivemiletown, Co. Tyrone, eldest among three sons and three daughters of Maj.-gen. Hugh Maude de…

Montgomery, Hugh Maude de Fellenberg (1870–1954), British Army general and politician, was born 5 December 1870, eldest son of the Rt. Hon. Hugh de Fellenberg Montgomery, PC and DL for Co. Tyrone, of…

Montgomery, (William) Eric (Wolfe) (1916—2003), civil servant and pioneer of the study of Scotch-Irish folk history, was born 19 April 1916 in Moy, Co. Tyrone, son of John Montgomery, a methodist minister, who was president of the Methodist Church in Ireland in 1952, and of his…

Monypenny, William Flavelle (1866–1912), journalist and biographer, was born 7 August 1866 in Dungannon, Co. Tyrone, second son of William Monypeny , landowner, of Ballyworken, Co. Armagh, and Mary Anne Monypeny (née Flavelle). His methodist father was descended from Scottish…

Moorhead, Thomas Gillman (1878–1960), physician, was born 15 October 1878 in Benburb, Co. Tyrone, second son of Dr William Robert Moorhead and Amelia Davis Moorhead (née Gillman) of Oakmount, Co. Cork, and grew up in Bray, Co. Wicklow, where his father practised. From Aravon School…

Morgan, James (1799–1873), presbyterian minister, was born 15 June 1799 in Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, second of three surviving sons of Thomas Morgan and Maria Morgan (née Collins); another brother died in infancy, and his mother died when James was 11. Thomas Morgan owned a linen…

Morris, Henry (Ó Muirgheasa, Énrí; ‘Fearghas Mac Roígh’) (1874–1945), writer and Irish scholar, was born 14 January 1874 in Lisdoonan, Donaghmoyne, Co. Monaghan, son of Luke Morris, farmer and local scholar, and Mary (‘Moya’) Morris (née Ward). He was educated by his great-uncle…

Muldoon, John (1865–1938), lawyer and politician, was born in Dromore, Co. Tyrone, third son of James Muldoon, a prosperous catholic landowner; nothing is known of his mother. Educated locally, during the mid 1880s he worked as a journalist with the Galway Vindicator before…