Italy

Lombard, Peter (c.1554–1625), professor at the university of Louvain, theologian, and catholic archbishop of Armagh, was born in Waterford, probably in 1554 (although in 1623 he estimated his own age to be about 65). He came from an important mercantile family, deeply…

Lynch, Nicholas (c.1590–1634), Dominican priest and prior of Galway, was born into one of the dominant and most influential families of Galway; he was the son of Nicholas Lynch FitzStephen and brother of both Sir Henry Lynch bt., recorder of Galway (1625–9), and Thomas…

Macaulay, William (‘Bill’) J. Babbington (1892–1964), diplomat, was born 15 December 1892 in Dublin, the only son of Capt. Patrick Macaulay and Elizabeth Macaulay (née Murphy) of Waterside, Co. Antrim. He was educated privately and served with a commission in the British naval volunteer…

MacCarthy, Blessed Thaddeus (Mac Carthaigh, Tadhg, Thady) (c.1446–1492), bishop of Ross and of Cork and Cloyne, is thought to have been a kinsman of the MacCarthy lord of Muskerry, while his mother is believed to have been a daughter of Edmund Fitzmaurice, baron of Lixnaw…

Mac Cathmhaoil (Mac Aingil), Aodh (MacCaghwell, Hugh; Cavellus, Hugo) (1571–1626), Franciscan scholar and catholic archbishop of Armagh, was born in Downpatrick, Co. Down, a member of a Gaelic learned family that was originally located in Clogher, Co. Tyrone. Given his proficiency as a…

Mac Gilla Uidir, Echdonn (Eugenius) (d. c.1216), archbishop of Armagh, was elected in circumstances that underline the growing tensions in the lordship of Ireland in the early thirteenth century. On the death (1201) of Archbishop…

This is a co-subject for the entry on Mág Uidhir (Maguire), Cú Chonnacht Óg (‘an Comharba’). View the original entry.

Marconi, Guglielmo (1874–1937), pioneer of wireless telegraphy, was born 25 April 1874 of mixed Irish–Italian parentage: his mother, Annie, from Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, was the only child of Andrew Jameson, of the Jameson family of distillery fame, which had settled in Ireland…

Matthews (MacMahon), Eugene (Eoin) (c.1575–1623), catholic archbishop of Dublin, was the son of Brian MacMahon (Ever Mac Con Uladh MacMahon) of Farney, Co. Monaghan, and his wife Nora Nyne Caalan. He was sent at a young age to be educated at Pont-à-Mousson in the Spanish…

McKenna, Kathleen Napoli (1897–1988), republican and administrator, was born Kathleen Maria Kenna in Oldcastle, Co. Meath, on 9 September 1897, eldest of seven children (four daughters and three sons) of William Kenna (1862–1939), draper and hardware merchant, and his wife Mary (née…

Moore, Margaret Jane (‘Mrs Mason’) (1772–1835), Countess Mount Cashell and writer, was born 24 October 1772 in Dublin at the Henrietta St. residence of her parents; she was the eldest daughter of Robert King , Viscount Kingsborough (qv),…

Mullooly, Joseph (1812–80), Dominican priest and archaeologist, was born 19 March 1812 at Lanesborough, Co. Longford, the son of Gilbert Mullooly, farmer, and his wife Brigid (née Dowd). He went to Italy 1840, took the Dominican habit at La Quercia as a member of the Irish…

O'Brien, Anne Monica (1956–2016), soccer player, was born 25 January 1956 at Holles Street hospital, Dublin, one of five daughters and five sons of John O’Brien, a distillery labourer, and Rosanna O’Brien (née Giles) from 13 Oblate Drive, Inchicore, Dublin. Her father died when she was…

Ó Cianáin, Tadhg (d. 1610), chronicler of the flight of the earls, was from a learned Fermanagh family who were ollamhs in history to the Maguires of Fermanagh. Traditionally, the Ó Cianáins had their own chieftain and were based at Lisgoole on the shores of Lough Erne. One of the most…

O'Connell, Daniel (1775–1847), barrister, politician and nationalist leader, was born in Carhen, near Caherciveen, in the Iveragh peninsula of south-west Kerry, on 6 August 1775, the eldest of ten children of Morgan O'Connell (1739–1809) and his wife, Catherine O'Mullane (1752–1817).…

O'Connor, John (John of St Dominic ) (d. 1678), Dominican priest and scholar, was a filius of Galway and was educated in Spain. From the early 1630s, while stationed at Segovia, he organised the collection of theological books (and alms for their purchase) in Spain for…

O'Donnell, Caffar (d. 1608), prominent member of O'Donnell family, was the son of Aodh mac Maghnusa O'Donnell (qv) (d. 1600), lord of Tír Chonaill from 1566 to 1592, and his wife,…

O'Donnell (Ó Domhnall), Ruaidhrí (1575–1608), 1st earl of Tyrconnell , was second son of Sir Aodh O'Donnell (qv), lord of Tír Conaill, and his wife…

O'Driscoll, Denis (1600–50), Franciscan, archbishop of Brindisi, was the son of Tadhg O'Driscoll, who belonged to a minor branch of the O'Driscoll clan of Corca Laoidhe, Cork, and his wife Maighread, daughter of John, 8th knight of Kerry, and widow of Connor O'Mahony. O'Driscoll's…

O'Ferrall, Richard (d. 1663), Capuchin friar and author of Commentarius Rinuccinianus, was born Barnabas O'Ferrall in Annaly, Co. Longford. In 1630 he went to Flanders in the company of Father Francis Nugent (qv) of Co.…

O'Finan (Finan), Francis Joseph (1772–1847), Dominican priest and bishop of Killala, was the son of Thady Finan or Finnan of Corimla in that part of the parish of Kilmoremoy lying in Co. Sligo. He entered the Dominican order as Francis Finan at San Clemente, the Irish Dominican…

O'Neill, Hugh (c. 1550–1616), 2nd earl of Tyrone , the ‘Great O'Neill’, was second son of Joan Maguire and Matthew Feardorcha O'Neill (qv), who had been designated baron of Dungannon when…

O'Riordan, Michael (1857–1919), rector of the Irish College, Rome, was born in Kilmurray, Co. Limerick, son of John O'Riordan, a wealthy local farmer. Educated at the local national school and at the diocesan seminary in Limerick, he proved intellectually gifted and subsequently…

Palatio, Octavian de (c.1420–1513), archbishop of Armagh, was born in Florence, the son of a Florentine father and a Spanish mother. The de Palatio (or del Palagio) family was one of the largest and most noble families of the republic, with branches inside and outside the…

Paparo, Iohannes (d. 1154/6), a member of the Papareschi, an aristocratic ecclesiastical Roman family, was a cardinal and papal legate. He is listed as a sub-deacon in a papal document dated 22 April 1138; raised to the diaconate by Pope Celestine II in about December 1143, he was…