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McAllister, George, was born in Dublin in 1786. Having begun life as a jeweller, he turned his attention to painting on glass, and after some years succeeded in bringing the art to greater perfection than it had yet attained in Ireland. He finished a fine window for Lismore Cathedral, and was engaged upon one for Tuam, when his bodily powers failed through excessive anxiety and close application. He died 14th June 1812, aged only 25, leaving three sisters, who, we are told, completed his unfinished work.

MacArdell, James, said to have been "the most skilful mezzotinto portrait engraver of his day," was born in Dublin about 1710. Early in life he removed to London. The number of his engravings (mostly portraits of distinguished persons from the principal painters of the time) is considerable. He executed plates from paintings by Vandyck, Murillo, and Rembrandt, some of which are declared by Ryan to have been extremely fine. He died in London, 2nd June 1765.

Macartney, Sir George, Earl Macartney, was born at Lissanoure, in the northern part of the County of Antrim, 14th May 1737. Having passed through Trinity College, he entered the Middle Temple, made an extended tour of Europe (becoming acquainted with Rousseau and other persons of eminence), and shortly after his return home in 1764, was, through an intimacy with Lord Holland, appointed a special envoy to negotiate a commercial treaty with Russia. His biographer says: "His knowledge of European politics alone fitted him for the undertaking; but a graceful person, with great suavity of manners, a conciliating disposition, and winning address, were considered as no slight recommendations at a female court, where such accomplishments, it was fair to conclude, might work their way, when great and unaccommodating talents alone would prove ineffectual." After long and arduous negotiations, during which he was thwarted not alone by opposing interests at the Russian court, but by the short-sighted policy of ministers at home, he brought the matter to a satisfactory conclusion, and returned to England in June 1767. He was enabled more than once, by his position at St. Petersburgh, to serve King Stanislaus of Poland, and was by him decorated with the order of the white eagle. In February 1768 he married a daughter of the Earl of Bute. In April he entered the British Parliament as member for Cockermouth; and in July changed this seat for one in the Irish Parliament for Armagh. In 1769 he was appointed Chief-Secretary for Ireland, on the nomination of Lord Townshend, Lord-Lieutenant. The position he took in Irish affairs is illustrated as follows by his biographer: "In the early part of the government of Lord Townshend, Sir George had occasion to fight many hard battles for his principal in the Irish House of Commons; and he was among the few members in that house who, by his manly and spirited retorts, could temper the impetuous eloquence of Mr. Flood, or silence the wild and democratic effusions of Dr. Lucas." He held the secretaryship until June 1772, when he was made a K.B. and appointed to the sinecure office of Governor of Toome Castle, with a salary of £1,000. In October 1774 he re-entered the British Parliament; and in December 1775 was sent out as Governor of the island of Granada. In 17 76 he was created Baron Macartney. He remained at Granada until July 1779, when, after a gallant defence against overwhelming numbers, he was obliged to surrender the island to the French Admiral d'Estaing, and was sent prisoner to France. After a short detention at Limoges, his exchange was facilitated by Louis XVI. On 22nd June 1781 he landed at Madras as Governor of that presidency, a post which he occupied for more than four years. The British power in India was at that time insecure. Owing to the war with France, Holland, and the American colonies, reinforcements could with difficulty be spared from home, while Hyder Ali, Sultan of Mysore, attacked the British settlements in the Carnatic. Macartney found the resources of the Presidency almost exhausted; he borrowed money, raised recruits, established confidence, and aided by Sir Eyre Coote and Lord Hastings, repulsed the natives, drove the Dutch from the Coromandel coast, and concluded advantageous treaties with many of the Nabobs. The arrival of the French Admiral Suffren in the Indian seas terminated his successes. Aided by the French, Tippoo Sahib, son of Hyder Ali, retook Gondalour, while Madras itself was blockaded. Although encouraged by temporary successes elsewhere, Macartney must have succumbed, had not the peace of Versailles (1783) put an end to hostilities. Delivered from these dangers, the Governor of Madras had to contend against the jealousy of Hastings, Governor of Bengal. Both were recalled in 1785. On his arrival in England, Lord Macartney found he had been appointed Governor-General of India. This high post he declined, disgusted with the treatment he had been subjected to. A duel (in which he was severely wounded) with Major-General Stuart, whom he had removed from the service in India, terminated his Indian career. The Company, in consideration of his services, settled upon him a pension of £1,500. He resided principally at home until 1792, attending to his estates, and taking part in the deliberations of the Irish House of Lords. From September 1792 to September 1794, he spent abroad as ambassador to China. The country was then little known, and Lord Macartney's published account of his embassy long continued the standard book of information on Chinese matters. Commenting on his mission, a writer says: "The amount of the benefit gained by this first diplomatic communication on the part of England with the Court of Pekin has been matter of dispute; but it is generally agreed that no other person could have accomplished more than was done by Lord Macartney, whose conduct at least was well calculated to impress the subjects of the Celestial Empire with a respect for the country which he represented." In 1795 he was sent on a confidential mission to Italy; and from November 1796 to November 1798 he was Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, then newly captured from the Dutch. "There is no praise," says Lord Melville, "to which he is not entitled on the score of his government of the Cape." All his nerve and tact were called forth in 1797 by an attempted mutiny of the British fleet in Simon's Bay, following the news of the mutiny at the Nore. Impaired health obliged him to give up this, his last official post, and return home. The Union gave him unbounded satisfaction: writing during the negotiations, he said: "I bow with admiration and respect to those by whose wisdom this great and important object has been brought so near to its completion. Considering many things that have happened in my time, painful to recollect and invidious to mention, I little imagined to see this happy day. Thank God! I have seen it. I thank the Father of all mercies that he has been graciously pleased to prolong my days to this auspicious period. The measure before us has my dying voice. It will annihilate the vain hopes of a vain insidious foe from without, and, I trust, will contribute to defeat the projects of a dark and treacherous enemy within." His last years were passed in retirement at Chiswick; his enjoyment of the society of a large circle of eminent men being lessened by severe sufferings from gout. He died, childless, 31st March 1806, aged 68, and was buried at Chiswick. In 1792 he had been created a Viscount; in 1794 an Earl; and in 1796 a British peer. His features were regular and well proportioned, his countenance open, placid, and agreeable. He possessed all the dignity of the " old school," without its stiffness, and retained it in his dress, which he did not materially alter for the last forty years of his life.

MacBride, David, M.D., one of the most eminent Dublin physicians of his day, was born at Ballymoney, County of Antrim, 26th April 1726. He served for many years as surgeon in the navy, and made those observations which resulted in his valuable treatise on scurvy, published in 1767. After the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle he left the service, and studied anatomy under Hunter, and midwifery under Smellie. He settled at Ballymoney in 1749, and removed to Dublin in 1751, where his bashfulness kept him in the background for many years. In 1764 he published his Experimental Essays on the Fermentation of Alimentary Mixtures, a work which, translated almost immediately into French and German, gained for him a European reputation. The value of his improvements in the art of tanning were recognized by the presentation of medals from more than one learned society. The results of his medical experience were given to the world in 1772 in his valuable Methodical Introduction to Medicine, afterwards translated into Latin, German, French, and Dutch. Dr. MacBride died from the effects of a neglected cold, at his house in Cavendish-row, Dublin, 28th December 1778, aged 52. His portrait is given in the interesting memoir from which this notice is compiled.

McCabe, William Putnam, a United Irishman, was born near Belfast, about 1775. [His father, Thomas, a watchmaker and part owner of a cotton-mill, died about 1827. He was a man of liberal principles, and it was on account of his indignant remonstrances that, in 1786, the project of fitting out slavers by Belfast merchants was abandoned.] Young William was somewhat wild in youth. His connexion with the United Irishmen dated from Tone's visit to Belfast in 1791; and he soon became one of the most active organizers and propagators of the principles of the society, and was noted for his ability in eluding the law by his powers of disguise and mimicry. For some time he attracted large gatherings for the propagation of his principles under notifications that "a converted Papist would preach the Word in-, on -, and explain how he became convinced of the true doctrines of Presbyterianism." His field of operations was chiefly in Leitrim and Roscommon. He also helped to rouse the County of Wexford. A Wexford gentleman afterwards assured his biographer that he had met him on twenty different occasions, and had not recognized him once until he revealed himself. In May 1798, he was arrested in Dublin while acting as one of a body-guard to Lord Edward FitzGerald. He managed, however, to persuade his guard of Scotch soldiers that he was a countryman of theirs wrongfully arrested, whereupon they signed a memorial in his behalf, and he was at once liberated. We next find him in Cork, and then in company with the French during Humbert's campaign. After Ballinamuck he escaped to Wales, where he lay concealed for some time. About 1801 he made his way to France, where he married. He made frequent visits to England and Ireland on political errands, and being specially named in the Banishment Act, ran great risk of arrest and execution. His establishment of a cotton factory at Rouen gained Napoleon's special favour. In 1807 he was able to lend Arthur O'Connor £4,792 - a transaction that led to much litigation between them even in the Irish courts, at a time when their personal appearance would have rendered them both liable to a sentence of death. In 1814, having ventured to Ireland, he was arrested and imprisoned, but was ultimately deported to Portugal. He came again in 1817, in company with his daughter, a beautiful girl of about sixteen years of age. Again arrested, he was imprisoned in Kilmainham for a year and a half. Two years afterwards he visited Scotland, and was again imprisoned. There was, perhaps, some excuse for the Home Secretary's rejoinder to the plea of his friends, that he only travelled on his own business: "It might be true that Mr. McCabe never went to any part of England or Ireland except upon business of his own; but it was very extraordinary that, in whatever part of the King's dominions his own business brought him, some public disturbance was sure to take place." He died in Paris, 6th January 1821, aged about 46, and was buried in Vaugirard cemetery.

MacCaghwell, Hugh, Archbishop of Armagh, was born about 1572, in the County of Down. He studied at Salamanca, became a Franciscan friar, and for many years governed the college of his order at Louvain, in the foundation of which he had been instrumental. Having occupied several other important positions in the Church, he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh (7th June 1626), upon the death of Peter Lombard. While making preparations to come to Ireland, he took ill, and died in the convent of Ara Coeli, at Rome, 22nd September 1626, aged 54, and was buried in the church of St. Isidore. Harris notes seven of his works, chiefly upon the life and writings of Duns Scotus, and says: "He was reckoned a man of great learning, of singular piety and humility, as well as one of the greatest among the schoolmen of his time."

MacCarthy Reagh, Fineen (Florence), Tanist of Carbery, MacCarthy Mor, the eldest son of Sir Donough MacCarthy Reagh, was born about 1563. [He was descended from the elder branch of the MacCarthys, one of the oldest Irish families, lords of Desmond before the Anglo- Norman invasion. From the younger branch were descended the Lords of Muskerry.] Though brought up in the wild life of an Irish chieftain on his father's estates in Carbery, County of Cork, his education was not neglected. In after life his letters proved him a perfect master of English; he had a competent knowledge of Latin and Spanish; while a treatise on the antiquity and history of the mythic ages of Ireland displayed knowledge both of modern and ancient Irish, and intimate acquaintance with the traditionary history of his country. He must have acquired experience both in the Brehon and English law. From the outbreak of the Desmond war he served with the royal forces; and at its close, at the age of twenty, he repaired to the English court, where he was warmly received by the Queen "who most graciously and bountifully rewarded him, presenting him at once with a gift of a thousand marks, and settling on him an annuity of two hundred marks." In 1588 he quietly left London, returned to Munster, and espoused his young cousin, daughter of the Earl of Clancar. This was a high offence in the eyes of Elizabeth, and a source of mortification to the Irish Council. The Earl had delivered up his estates to the Crown, and received them back on English tenure. They would revert to his daughter; and it was the desire of the Government that she should be married to some English undertaker or nobleman in whom they could have confidence. This marriage to the Tanist of Carbery would ultimately lead to the union of large estates in the possession of an Irish prince - a catastrophe that it was the main policy of Elizabeth and her advisers to prevent. Accordingly his arrest, and that of his wife and all who had any share in the alliance, was immediately ordered. Sir Thomas Norreys even thought it might be well if he was "cut off by lawe." A correspondent advised the Government that the main offender was at "Corcke, where he remaynethe with the resorte of his frends and the Earle's daughter, with small restraynte, he rather reioyceth with banquettinge, then that he seemethe sorie for his contempte." He was immediately conveyed to Dublin, and on 10th February 1589 was committed to the Tower of London. At the end of nearly two years, on 19th January 1591, he was liberated, on the Earl of Ormond giving bail that he would not depart farther than three miles from London, or repair to the court, without leave. His wife had, meanwhile, eluded the vigilance of her custodians in Cork, and joined him in London. Early in November 1593 he was permitted to return to Ireland, having persuaded the Queen that his presence would tend to allay discontent, and bring some of his relatives over to the government side. The reversion of a fine of £500, due by Lord Barry, was bestowed upon him. To escape the payment of this sum, Lord Barry brought a series of charges against Florence, impugning his loyalty and good faith towards Elizabeth. An interminable correspondence and end­ less enquiries ensued, and Florence visited London more than once. Meanwhile O'Neill and O'Donnell broke out into open war, the old Earl of Clancar died, and Florence became the most important chief in Munster. In the "hope of Florence, his loyal tie and service, being best hable to recover those lands out of the rebells hands,” all his vast estates were confirmed to him, and in April 1599 he was declared free from any charge, and at liberty to betake himself home, "to recover Desmond for the Queen out of the hands of Donal [MacCarthy], to rid the province of O'Neill's mercenaries, and to withdraw every member of his own numerous and powerful sept from the action into which their usurping chieftain had forced them." It is all but impossible to arrive at the truth as to his subsequent conduct and his motives. There is no doubt that he entered into communication with O'Neill and O'Donnell, and that the title of MacCarthy Mor was conferred upon him by the former. He explained away these undeniable facts by the necessities of his position, the wisdom of temporizing, and the certain destruction that awaited him if he showed an open resistance to the Irish party. The conclusion suggested by the perusal of his Life and Letters is that he was anxious to be on friendly terms with both parties, so that whatever way the course of events turned, he might be safe. It appears that latterly his wife acted as a spy upon his proceedings, and was in constant communication with the Government. On his side it may be pleaded that the mere restraining of the armed forces at his disposal, about 2,600 men, from joining the confederates, was in itself no small benefit to the Government. His arrest being decided upon, he was enticed to Cork in June 1601, under the solemn promise of a safe-conduct, was seized, and almost immediately sent prisoner to London. When the war was over, and O'Neill and O'Donnell had fled to Spain, there appeared no valid grounds for detaining him. But he was still the most powerful chief in the country, and was "infinitely beloved in Ireland;" so that state reasons, as well as the influence of the undertakers battening on his estates, induced the Government to detain him until his death, about 1640, aged some 77 years. He wrote to Cecil in 1602, offering to serve against his compatriots and to employ bards to break down the spirit of the Irish people, if Government would but grant him liberty. His forty years of detention were not all spent in the Tower; he was often consigned to the Fleet and other prisons; occasionally he was let out on recognizances; at times he was permitted to have his children with him, and again he was kept in the most rigid confinement. His time was much spent in conducting law-suits relative to such portions of his estates as were left to him, in writing petitions for release, and in compiling his ancient annals of Ireland. Little is said of the personal appearance of this remarkable man, beyond his u being of extraordinary stature, and as great policy; he had competent courage, and as much zeal as any one for what he imagined to be true religion and the liberty of his country." His last lineal representative, Charles MacCarthy Mor, an officer in the Guards, died without issue in 1770, when his estates on the shores of the Lakes of Killarney passed to the Herbert family, by whom they are now held.

MacCarthy, Cormac, Lord of Muskerry, who flourished early in the 16th century, descended from a younger branch of the family of preceding. His father, Cormac Ladir, built the castles of Blarney, Kilcrea, and Carrignamuck, with several ecclesiastical edifices. The subject of our notice carried on hostilities against James, 11th Earl of Desmond, inflicting disastrous defeats upon him in 1522. Surrey thus writes concerning his giving in his adhesion to Henry VIII.: "Surely he is substantial of his promise, and without any safe-conduct hath come to me, tendering his service, and is very willing to conform himself to the English order." He was the friend and ally of Ormond. The 13th Earl of Desmond married his daughter. He died in 1536.

MacCarthy, Sir Cormac, was third in descent from preceding. An adherent of the English power, he served under Sir George Carew at the siege of Kinsale, and took an active part against the Spaniards and their allies, O'Neill and O'Donnell. Afterwards Carew learned that he was carrying on a secret correspondence with the enemy, and was about to give up his stronghold of Blarney Castle to the Spanish commander for 800 ducats. He was therefore immediately imprisoned and an ineffectual attack made upon Blarney Castle. He eventually agreed to surrender Blarney and Kilcrea to the Queen until his innocence was proved. His castle of Macroom was taken by Sir Charles Wilmot - the defenders having accidently set it on fire. Mistrusting the promises of the Government, MacCarthy effected his escape from prison in his shirt. His dependents immediately gathered round him, and O'Sullivan Beare rallied to his standard. In view of the trouble he might give if driven to extremities, and of the heavy losses he had sustained in the war, a padon was accorded, upon his giving solvent securities for his good behaviour to the amount of £3,000, and a portion of his estates secured to him. "As the war subsided," says Mr. Wills, "and the country settled into a temporary repose, MacCarthy exchanged the troubled life, which entitled his name to appear in the records of the day, for the peaceful possession of his castles and lands." He died 23rd February 1616. [His son Cormac was in 1628 created Viscount Muskerry and Baron of Blarney, and died in London, 20th February 1640.]

MacCarthy, Donough, Viscount Muskerry, Earl of Clancarty, grandson of preceding, devoted himself to the defence and assertion of the religion of his ancestors. He married a sister of the Duke of Ormond. He was one of the generals in Munster in the War of 1641-'52, and was among the last to lay down his arms in the final conflict - being defeated by Ludlow in Kerry, in June 1652, and upon the 27th of that month obliged to surrender his last stronghold, Ross Castle, Killarney, and his army of 5,000 men. He then passed into Spain. Charles II. created him Earl of Clancarty, and his estates were restored to him by Act of Parliament. He died in London, August 1665.

MacCarthy, Charles, eldest son of preceding, took service in France, and distinguished himself in the Low Countries. He afterwards entered the English service, and lost his life in the naval engagement under the Duke of York with the Dutch, 3rd June 1665; and was buried with great pomp in Westminster Abbey.

MacCarthy, Justin, Viscount Mountcashel, younger brother of preceding, entered the English army at an early age, and married Lady Arabella Wentworth, second daughter of the Earl of Strafford. Described as a man of honour and liberality, he attained the rank of Lieutenant-General; but his military powers were marred by defective sight. In 1688, or early in 1689, he was appointed by Tirconnell Muster-Master General and Lord Lieutenant of the County of Cork. He took Castlemartyr and Bandon from the Protestant party, met James II. on his landing at Kinsale, and received commands to raise seven regiments of foot. Early in May 1689 he was created Viscount Mountcashel and Baron of Castleinchy. In July, with 3,600 men and eight field pieces, he was sent north to act against the Enniskilleners, then numbering some 3,300 men, with six field pieces, under the command of Hamilton, Berry, and Wolseley. After some desultory engagements, Viscount Mountcashel was miserably defeated at Newtownbutler on 31st July. The force under his command was almost annihilated, 1,500 being slain, 500 drowned in Lough Erne, and 500 taken prisoners. He was amongst the latter, and was brought to Enniskillen, and allowed out on parole. He escaped by boat on Lough Erne, in December following, and reached Dublin, where he was received by his party with all imaginable demonstrations of joy. He justified this breach of his parole by a quibble; and although afterwards acquitted on his own evidence by a French court of honour, the infamy of the act disgraced his name and nation. "I took Lieutenant- General MacCarthy to be a man of honour," remarked Schomberg on hearing of his escape, "but would not expect that in an Irishman any more." For the 6,000 veterans under Lauzun whom Louis XIV. sent to aid James II., he received a corresponding number of Irish troops early in 1690. Mountcashel commanded this force, and therefore left Ireland before the campaign of 1690. AsLieutenant-General of France, he was ordered to Savoy, where his brigade, acting in conjunction with French troops under St. Ruth, greatly distinguished itself. He afterwards commanded in Catalonia and on the Rhine; and died at Barege (whither he had retired on account of wounds) 21 st July 1694.

MacCarthy, Donogh, 4th Earl of Clancarty, grandson of the 1st Earl, was born about 1670. His father died in 1676, leaving him estates equivalent to £200,000 in present value. He was educated a Protestant at Oxford. When but sixteen he was privately married to Lady Elizabeth Spencer, daughter of the Earl of Sunderland. On James II.'s accession, MacCarthy became a Catholic, and afterwards warmly espoused his cause in Ireland. He joined his uncle Mountcashel in the operations against Bandon, received James II. on his landing, and was appointed to many important offices. Being under age, he sat by royal dispensation in the Irish Parliament of May 1689. Assisting in the defence of Cork in 1690, he was, on its capture by Marlborough, sent prisoner to the Tower of London, where he was held until the autumn of 1694, when he escaped to France (leaving his periwig block dressed up in his bed, with the inscription, "The block must answer for me"). He commanded a troop of King James's Guards until the Peace of Ryswick in 1697. Next year he ventured to cross to England to visit his wife, whom he not seen since their marriage. He had not been in her company more than two hours when, on the information of his brother-in-law, Lord Spencer, he was arrested and again committed to the Tower, his wife insisting upon accompanying him. He was eventually pardoned and a pension of £300 a year granted him on condition of his leaving the country. He retired to Hamburg, and purchasing an island in the Elbe, near Altona, made it his residence until his death. His Countess died in June 1704. The attainder was reversed and his honours restored in 1721, but he never returned to England, and died at Hamburg, 19th September 1734, aged 64. His son and heir, Robert, the 4th Earl, after serving, for a time in the British navy, resided many years at Boulogne on a pension of £1,000 from the French government, and died in 1770, aged 84. His two sons died without issue, and the Muskerry family became extinct in the male line. The greater part of the MacCarthy estates were bestowed upon Lord Woodstock, the eldest son of the Duke of Portland.

MacCarthy, Sir Charles, an Irishman, was an officer in the Irish Brigade in France at the time of the Revolution. In 1800 he entered the British service, and was stationed in New Brunswick, where a local regiment was raised and trained by him. In 1811 he was appointed to command Cape Coast Castle, and under his rule the colony is stated to have advanced in a few years to "a state of prosperity and happiness which had far out-stripped the expectations of the most sanguine." He lost his life 21st January 1824, in an expedition against the Ashantees.

MacCarthy, Nicholas, Abbe, was born in Dublin, 19th May 1769. He was educated at the University of Paris, and especially distinguished himself in philosophy and Hebrew. When but fourteen he received the tonsure. The Revolution obliged him to take refuge with his relatives at Toulouse, where his foreign birth enabled him to escape proscription, and he occupied his time in incessant study. The loss of a sister decided him to seek ordination as a priest, at Chambery, 19th June 1814. This step he had put off for twenty years, principally from ill-health, and a fear that he was not competent for the office. His mind was so richly stored with well-arranged materials, that he acquired the power of speaking on almost any subject upon short preparation; it is said that he was able to arrange a sermon in his passage from the sacristy to the pulpit. His oratorical powers were something remarkable, and he would have been made Bishop of Montauban in 1818, but for his sudden determination to enter the Society of Jesus. His appeals for charitable institutions were as effective as those of his fellow-countryman, Dean Kirwan - persons who had neglected to bring money, laid watches, jewellery, or notes of hand for large amounts on the collection plate. After the Revolution of July 1830, Abbe MacCarthy retired to Italy, where most of his latter days were spent. He died of fever, at Annecy, 3rd May 1833, aged 63. In consequence of his insuperable aversion to writing, few of his sermons have been preserved.

McClure, Sir Robert John Le Mesurier, Rear Admiral, K.C.B., was born in Wexford, 28th January 1807. His father having been killed in the naval service, Robert was brought up by his guardian, General Le Mesurier. At twelve he was sent to Sandhurst, but not fancying a military life, he ran away to France with three of his comrades. His guardian, respecting his preferences, induced him to return, and entered him in the navy as a midshipman. He sailed first in Nelson's Victory, After several years' service in American and Indian waters, he in 1836 volunteered to join the Arctic exploring expedition under Captain Back. On his return he was made Lieutenant of the Hastings, was employed as Superintendent of Quebec Dockyard, and saw some service during the Canadian rebellion. From 1842 to 1846 he commanded the Romney at the Havannah, and in 1847 served in the coast guard. When it was determined to send an expedition under Sir James Ross in search of Sir John Franklin in 1848, McClure volunteered, and was appointed First Lieutenant of the Enterprise. On the return of this expedition in the following year, it was decided to send out another-not only with the hope of relieving Sir John Franklin, but of discovering the North-west passage. Accordingly the Enterprise, under Captain Collinson, and the Investigator, under Commander McClure, were equipped. These clumsy little vessels of about 400 tons register sailed for Behring's Straits, by Cape Horn, on 20th January 1850. They were parted almost immediately, and only once met again, in the Straits of Magellan, in April. In July the Investigator reached Honolulu, and stopped for a few days to refresh the crew. Entering Behring's Straits, McClure rounded the north-west point of America, and steering between the ice and the land, discovered Prince of Wales Strait. There the vessel was frozen up on 12th September 1850. Exploring parties were pushed forward, and on 26th October, McClure ascertained that Prince of Wales Strait opened into Melville Sound, and that no land intervened between them and Melville Island, thereby proving the existence of the North-west passage. In spring, sledge parties were sent in different direc­ tions in search of the missing voyagers. On 17th July 1851 the Investigator, clear of ice, sailed southwards, and rounded Banks Land to the north. On 24th September she was again frozen up in the Bay of Mercy, in 74o north latitude and 118° west longitude. During the winter the crew were fortunately able to supplement their provisions, rapidly running short, with numbers of deer and hares. The summer of 1852 did not release them, and the third winter (1852-'3) found them in the same position, on short rations, and with scurvy making rapid progress among the ship's company. On the 6th April 1853 every preparation had been made for sending off the sick in sledges, in the almost forlorn hope of reaching white settlements, while McClure and the rest remained by the ship, when they were unexpectedly relieved by a sledge party from the Resolute and Intrepid, under Captain Kellett, which had wintered at Melville Island. McClure and his companions had been nearly three years without seeing white faces, except those of their own party. Captain McClure was still anxious to stop by his vessel and save her if possible; but a medical inquiry into the state of the crew, held by the surgeons of Kellett's expedition, placed it out of the question, and the Investigator was abandoned, 3rd June 1853, her crew being received into the Resolute and Intrepid. The summer enabled them to reach only as far as 1010 west longitude in Melville Sound, where they were obliged to spend the winter of 1853-4. On 26th August 1854 these vessels were in turn abandoned, by order of Sir Edward Belcher, who had arrived in those seas, senior in command, and the crews returned home by Davis Strait, reaching England on the 28th of September. Captain McClure and his companions had been absent nearly five years, and had passed by water from west to east round the northern coast of America. Efforts were afterwards made to dim the glory of his achievement by drawing attention to the probability that Sir John Franklin or some of his party had made an earlier discovery of the North-west passage. [See CROZIER, CAPTAIN.] "However," in the words of the Athenaeum, "the discoverer of the North-west passage must be one who has made it by sailing, or walking over the ice, from ocean to ocean. This was done by McClure and his Investigators, and by them alone. The discoverer's commission as Post-Captain was dated back to the day of his discovery, and he received the honour of knighthood. It never was more worthily bestowed. A select committee of the House of Commons reported that Sir Robert McClure and his companions ' performed deeds of heroism which, though not accompanied by the excitement and the glory of the battle-field, yet rival in bravery and devotion to duty the highest and most successful achievements of war.' Accordingly, a reward of £10,000 was granted to the officers and crew of H.M.S. Investigator, as a token of national approbation... In this generation, there are very few men who have achieved more lasting fame than Robert McClure." Sir Robert, in command of the Esk, afterwards served during the China war. This was the last time he was actively employed. He died, somewhat suddenly, 18th October 1873, aged 66, having attained the rank of Vice- Admiral, and received a Companionship of the Bath for his services in China. He was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, London.

McCoise, Errard, chief poet of the court of Malachy Mor, King of Ireland, in the 11th century. O'Curry gives a particular account of his writings, and thus speaks of his Tale of the Plunder of the Castle of Maelmilscothach: "This tale is remarkable for the vigour and purity of the language in which it is told; but it is especially useful.. for the important corroboration which it contains of the authenticity of other ancient tracts and pieces, which go more or less into minute descriptions of the state of civilization and the social economy of the Gaedhil at the period spoken of; that is so far back at least as a thousand years ago."

MacConmara, Donough, author of the "Fair Hills of Ireland," and other poetical pieces, was born at Cratloe, County of Clare, early in the 18th century. His intemperate and irregular habits, which adhered to him through life, prevented his reaping any happiness for himself by his genius. Most of his days were passed as a hedge schoolmaster; yet he managed to visit the Continent more than once, and also Canada. He died at a very advanced age in 1814, and was buried at Newtown, near Kilmacthomas. He wrote poems in Irish, English, and Latin.

McCormick, Charles, was born in Ireland in 1742. He entered the Middle Temple, turned from law to literature, and supported himself principally by writing for the press. His writings were not, according to Dr. Johnson, "composed under the shade of academic bowers." One of his principal books, a Life of Edmund Burke, is characterized by Lowndes as "a disgraceful piece of party virulence." He died in London, 29th July 1807, aged about 65, leaving his wife and family unprovided for. He had collected materials for a history of Ireland, concerning which the Gentleman's Magazine says: "The great and laudable end which he had in view in the execution of this arduous undertaking, was to induce the natives to sacrifice their political and religious prejudices on the altar of public affection."

McCracken, Henry Joy, a distinguished United Irishman, was born in Belfast, 31st August 1767. His ancestors on both sides, Calvinist and Huguenot, sought refuge in Ireland from religious persecution. Brought up to the linen business, when but twenty-two he was entrusted with the management of a cotton factory. In 1791 he co-operated with Thomas Russell in the formation of the first society of United Irishmen in Belfast, and soon gave himself up entirely to politics. When the society in 1795 assumed its secret and military organization, he became one of the most trusted members of the council in the north. He was arrested with his brother William, in October 1796, and sent to Dublin under military escort. There they endured an incarceration of thirteen months, being ultimately liberated on the recognizances of their cousin, Counsellor Joy, afterwards Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and another gentleman. Henry returned immediately to Belfast, and entered with increased ardour into the plans for insurrection. In the spring of 1798 he had frequent interviews with the leaders in Dublin, and was appointed to the supreme command in Antrim. On 6th June he issued a short proclamation, calling the United Irishmen to arms, and of 21,000 on the rolls in his district, some 9,000 responded to the summons. Having made arrangements for simultaneous risings in different parts of the country, on 7th June he led one of the columns that attacked the town of Antrim. In the first onset they were successful, putting to flight a body of the 22nd Dragoons, with a loss of 5 officers, 47 men, and 40 horses. The troops were, however, reorganized, and, supported by a brigade of light infantry, re-entered the town, and drove out the insurgents. Maxwell says: "That the rebels fought with great determination at Antrim is not to be denied; and that they were not successful, from their overwhelming numbers and very superior material to the insurgents of the south, is in a great degree attributable to the imbecility or cowardice of their leaders. Some there were, undoubtedly, whose personal intrepidity was unquestionable; but while many betrayed want of judgment and a total absence of military talent, others, when called into action, evinced weakness and indecision bordering on fatuity. If one leader led his followers with spirit and determination, another paralyzed the effort by leaving him unsupported. At Antrim this was fatally experienced, and the bravery McCracken displayed was neutralized by the pusillanimous conduct of his second in command." The defeat of the insurgents was decisive - besides 150 killed and wounded in the town, it was computed that 200 fell in the rout that followed. For some weeks McCracken and his gradually diminishing force were fugitives in the neighbourhood of Slemish mountain. A well bearing their leader's name, dug by them on the southern brow of the mountain, was shown for many years. They were treated with great kindness by the country people, who made every effort to conceal them. His sister, Miss McCracken, who at times visited the little party, afterwards told how one young man was concealed by a respectable family, disguised as their daughter, in a bed in the family room, with two of their younger children. On the eve of making his escape to America, McCracken was recognized and arrested. His trial and conviction by court-martial followed. The authorities offered to spare his life on condition of his giving information concerning other leaders. His aged father encouraged him to spurn the proposition, and he was hanged in Belfast on the evening of the day of his trial, 17th July 1798, in the 31st year of his age. His sister accompanied him almost to the last, and wrote: "At five p.m. he was ordered to the place of execution - the old market-house, the ground of which had been given to the town by his great-great- grandfather. I took his arm, and we walked together to the place of execution, where I was told it was the general's orders I should leave him, which I peremptorily refused. Harry begged I would go. Clasping my hands round him (I did not weep till then) I said I could bear anything but leaving him. Three times he kissed me, and entreated I would go... I suffered myself to be led away... I was told afterwards that poor Harry stood where I left him at the place of execution, and watched me until I was out of sight; that he then attempted to speak to the people, but that the noise of the trampling of the horses was so great that it was impossible he should be heard; that he then resigned himself to his fate, and the multitude who were present at that moment uttered cries which seemed more like one loud and long-continued shriek than the expression of grief or terror on similar occasions. He was buried in the old churchyard where St. George's church now stands, and close to the corner of the school-house, where the door is. More than forty years afterwards she wrote: "Notwithstanding the grief that overcame every feeling for a time, and still lingers in my breast, connecting every passing event with the remembrance of former circumstances which recall some act or thought of his, I never once wished that my beloved brother had taken any other part than that which he did take." She took home his illegitimate girl. "Good indeed came to us out of evil. That child became to us a treasure. My brother Frank and I would now be a desolate old couple without her. She is to us as an only and affectionate daughter." Much of Miss McCracken's life was devoted to acts of charity and unselfish devotion to others. She never married, and lived until after 1852, greatly esteemed, in Belfast.

McCullagh, James, one of the most eminent mathematicians of his day, the son of a blacksmith, was born at Landahussy, in the County of Tyrone, in 1809. He entered Trinity College as a sizar in 1824; in 1827 was elected a scholar, and in 1832 obtained a fellowship. He early became a member of the Royal Irish Academy and an important contributor to its proceedings: from 1844 to 1846 he was its Secretary, and he did much to raise its status: he presented the Cross of Cong and other antiquities to the museum. He was the author of valuable papers on light and refraction. In 1838 he gained the Academy's medal for an essay on "Laws of Crystalline Reflection and Refraction," in which "he linked together, by a single and simple mathematical hypothesis, the peculiar unique laws which govern the motion of light in its propagation through quartz." In 1846 the Royal Society awarded him the Copley medal for like researches. His lectures as Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Dublin are said to have given an impetus to the study of the more abstruse sciences. "It was in the delivery of them that Professor McCullagh used to display the extensive information, the elaborate research, and the vast acquired treasures of his highly cultivated mind... Nothing could exceed the depth, or surpass the exquisite taste and elegance of all his original conceptions, both in analysis and in the ancient geometry in which he delighted... In his investigations on the dynamical theory of light - the unaided creation of his own surpassing genius - he has reared the noblest fabric which has ever adorned the domains of physical science, Newton's System of the Universe alone excepted." This is doubtless an over estimate of the value of his researches. In private life he was retiring, modest, and unselfish. To his public spirit was in a measure due the break-up of the practice of choosing the parliamentary representatives of the University from men educated outside its precincts. Towards the end of 1847 the confinement and intense application consequent on researches connected with a paper on A Theory of the Total Reflection of Light, brought on dyspepsia and melancholia; his mind was overturned, and he died by his own hand in his college chambers, 24th October, aged about 38. His remains were interred near Strabane.

MacCurtin, Hugh and Andrew, natives of Clare, distinguished as poets in the 18th century. Hugh wrote an Irish Grammar, an English-Irish Dictionary, and an essay in vindication of the antiquity of Ireland. MSS. in the Library of Trinity College, copied by Andrew between 1716 and 1720, are referred to by Eugene O'Curry, who styles him "one of the best Gaedhlic scholars then living."

MacDermot, Brian, Chief of Magh Luirg, between 1585 and 1592, had his principal residence on an island in Loch Ce, near Boyle, and died in November 1592. He is worthy of remembrance as the owner, restorer, and continuer of the Annals of Lough Ce, the only copy of which known to exist is in the Library of Trinity College. They originally commenced with the year 1014 and ended with 1590, but are now imperfect. They have been edited in the historic series of the Master of the Rolls, with translation, notes, and a valuable introduction by William M. Hennessy.

MacDonnell, Sorley Boy, was descended from Fergus, son of Donnell, an Ulster chieftain, who, with his brothers Loarn and Angus, about the year 506, permanently laid the foundation of the Dalriadic kingdom in Scotland. He was born in Ulster about 1505, probably at Dunanney Castle, near Ballycastle, and was early trained as a soldier. We find little mention made of him until 1552, when he assisted in driving the English from Carrickfergus, declaring "playnly that Inglische men had no ryght to Yrland." Six years later his release from Dublin Castle, after a year's imprisonment, is noticed in the state papers. He had been appointed by his elder brother, James, to the lordship of the Route, a portion of the territory conquered from the Macquillans. A determined effort was made in 1559 by the latter to repossess themselves of their ancient inheritance. Sorley was sustained by a number of MacDonnells he brought from Scotland, and one of the principal battles that ensued was at Bonamargy. The English favoured the MacDonnells, deeming it wise to secure as many alliances as possible in the north. On war breaking out between Shane O'Neill and the Anglo- Irish in 1560, Sorley and his brother James kept aloof from the conflict. After Shane had made his submission to the Queen, and was received into favour, he turned his arms against the MacDonnells. On 2nd of May 1565, he inflicted a crushing defeat upon Sorley and his brother James at Ballycastle. O'Neill's account of the transaction, in a Latin letter to the Lords- Justices, is still preserved amongst the state papers. James and Sorley were taken prisoners; the former soon succumbed to the cruel treatment he received; the latter endured a galling incarceration of upwards of two years, and after his release was somewhat instrumental in securing Shane's assassination. The Government now prepared to possess themselves, not only of the territory of O'Neill, but also of that of the MacDonnells. Sorley collected large bands of adherents in Scotland, opposed the encroachments of the Government, and by the commencement of 1568 had repossessed himself of all the castles and strong places in the territories claimed by him, except Dunluce. A few months later he was the acknowledged leader in the Ulster league against the Government - a league strengthened and consolidated by alliances with O'Neill and O'Donnell. In 1572 Sorley made peace, and was granted "letters of denization" for the quiet possession of his lands; but not permitting himself to be made an instrument in Essex's hands for the spoliation of his Irish allies, he was before many months again in opposition to the Government. On the invasion of his territory by the Earl of Essex in 1575, he sent part of his own family, and the women and children of many of his followers, with plate and other valuables, to the island of Rathlin for safety. Essex heard of their retreat, and on the 22nd of July sent a considerable force to the island under the command of John (afterwards Sir John) Norris. The castle soon submitted, and all, upwards of 200, were put to the sword, except the constable's wife and child, besides 300 or 400 more "that they have found hidden in caves and in cliffs of the sea." The Queen was delighted at the news of this slaughter, and wrote to Essex: "Give the young gentleman, John Norrice, the executioner of your well-devised enterprise, to understand that we will not be unmindful of his good services." Essex says in his account of the transaction: "Sorley then also stood upon the mainland of the Glynnes, and saw the taking of the island, and was likely to run mad for sorrow, tearing and tormenting himself, as the spy sayeth, and saying that he then lost all he ever had." For eight years after Essex's death in 1576, Sorley MacDonnell seems to have reigned without a rival on the northern coast, he and his followers being left in almost undisputed possession of their lands. The increase in numbers of the Scottish settlers under his rule, and their prosperity, gave Sir John Perrot an excuse for an expedition against them in 1584. His troops numbered about 2,000 men, besides such "risings out of the Irishry " as he was able to command on his route. He was accompanied by the Earls of Thomond, Ormond, Clanrickard, Sir John .Norris. Hugh O'Neill, besides the chiefs of the O'Conors and O'Mores. Sorley retreated behind the Bann; Dunluce was taken after a brave defence; and Perrot was able to boast that whereas Sorley had been "lord over 50,000 cows.. he now has scarce 1,500 to give him milk." MacDonnell retired to Scotland, and soon returned with large reinforcements; and the war dragged on for many months with varying success, and with little honour or profit to Perrot. The losses inflicted on the Anglo-Irish allies were considerable; Dunluce was ultimately retaken, and Government, sick of a contest in which it was possible to effect so little, was glad to leave Sorley Boy in possession of his estates on condition of his coming to Dublin, prostrating himself before a portrait of the Queen at the Castle, and expressing very great "contrition for his own reckless and ungrateful career." He performed this ceremony, 11th February 1585-'6, and was presented by Perrot with "a velvet mantle adorned with gold lace." He engaged to hold his lands of the Queen by the service of homage, fealty, and two knights' fees. According to the Four Masters, Sorley's wife, Mary O'Neill, daughter of Con, first Earl of Tyrone, died in 1582, and he himself in 1590. He was buried in Bonamargy, in the County of Antrim. " The Irish caoine and the Highland coronach mingled in one wild wail" over his grave. He was succeeded by his third son, Sir James MacDonnell, who made himself peculiarly obnoxious to the Government by his active co-operation with Hugh O'Neill, and who died at Dunluce, 13th April 1601.

MacDonnell, Sir Randal, 1st Earl of Antrim, son of Sorley Boy, succeeded to the family estates and name on the death of his brother James in 1601. He was known as "Arranach," from having been fostered in the island of Aran. In the autumn of 1602 he abandoned the cause of Hugh O'Neill, and passed over to Sir A. Chichester, offering to serve against his former ally with 500 foot and 40 horse, maintained at his own expense. He was subsequently knighted by Mountjoy. In 1603 James I. granted him 333,907 acres between Larne and Coleraine. About 1604 he married Alice, daughter of O'Neill, then in her twenty-first year. His position after the flight of O'Neill and O'Donnell was perilous in the extreme; but by devoting himself entirely to the consolidation and improvement of his estates, his movements, as O'Neill's son-in-law, ceased to excite the suspicion of the authorities; and when he had occasion to visit London in 1608, he was cordially received at court. He did not participate in the abortive insurrectionary plots in which so many of the northern chieftains, stung to desperation by the spoliation of their lands and the plantation of Ulster, engaged, and lost their lives. In 1618 he was created Viscount Dunluce, a member of the Privy Council, and Lieutenant of the County of Antrim, and two years afterwards the title of Earl of Antrim was conferred upon him. Besides estates in Ulster, he owned lands on the Scottish coast - the sustainment of his rights to which at times gave him no little trouble. The Earl died at Dunluce, ioth December 1636, and was buried at Bonamargy.

MacDonnell, Randal, 2nd Earl and Marquis of Antrim, son of preceding, is stated to have been born 9th June 1609. "Being bred in the Highland way, he wore neither hat, cap, nor shoe, nor stocking, till seven or eight years old." He travelled on the Continent, was well received at court, and in 1635 married the beautiful and accomplished widow of the Duke of Buckingham, who thereupon returned to Catholicism, which she had renounced on her first marriage. On the breaking out of the war in Scotland he was appointed by Charles I. one of his lieutenants and commissioners in the Highlands and Islands. In June 1640 he took his seat in the Irish House of Lords, and continued to reside in Dublin until the War of 1641- '52 broke out. For a time he avoided engaging in the war, and endeavoured to prevent or alleviate the sufferings to which others were exposed thereby. At the siege of Coleraine he induced his kinsman, Alaster MacColl, to permit the inhabitants to graze their cattle within three miles of the town. In 1642, on the plea that some of his tenants had been engaged in the war, Monro seized his person and plundered Dunluce. The Earl was incarcerated in Carrickfergus Castle from June to December. He escaped by a simple but ingenious stratagem: "Having obtained the General's pass for a sick man, two of his servants carried him in a bed, as sick, to the shore, and got him boated to Carlisle, whence he went to York." Next summer he returned to Ireland on a mission from Charles, was again taken by Monro, and again escaped. In January 1643 he entered into an arrangement with Montrose to recruit troops in Ulster and the Highlands for the King's service, and in July sent over Alaster MacColl with 1,500 men, principally his own tenantry. This force contributed to the victories of Montrose, and Antrim was rewarded for his zeal by a marquisate, dated from Oxford, 26th January 1644. Until the end of 1646 he laboured strenuously to sustain his little Irish army in Scotland. From 1646 to 1649 he was in almost constant opposition to Ormond's Irish policy; for which he is severely criticised by Carte. His wife shared his unsettled and distressing life, and died at Waterford in November 1649. The Cromwellian settlement deprived him of his estates for a time. In 1653 he married his second wife, Rose, daughter of Sir Henry O'Neill of Shane's Castle. From 1660 to 1665 was a most anxious period. After the Restoration every influence was exercised by Sir Charles Coote, Sir John Clotworthy, and their friends, to prevent his estates being returned to him. False reports were circulated concerning his action towards Charles I., and it was not until after the most protracted proceedings that, in July 1666, he was restored to the possession of 87,086 acres in Dunluce and Glenarm. His latter days passed in peace. Time and the chances of war had rendered the Castle of Dunluce unsuited for a residence (although, indeed, Archbishop Plunket speaks of spending a few days with him there in February 1671), and the Marquis built a new mansion hard by, named Ballymagarry House; this he used as a summer residence, while Shane's Castle was a more suitable abode in winter. He died at Ballymagarry, 3rd February 1682, aged 72, and was buried in state in the family vault at Bonamargy. The leaden coffin in which his remains were enclosed has been long since stripped of its oaken covering; it bears inscriptions in Irish, English, and Latin. An interesting note regarding the present condition of the burying place of Bonamargy, where rest the remains of Sorley Boy and several of his descendants, will be found in Notes and Queries, 1st Series. The title is still extant in the person of the 11th Earl, "the representative of that Irish prince Colla Uais, whose name is so distinctly and inseparably associated with the history of ancient Ulster." Glenarm Castle, the principal residence of the family, was re-edified and put in its present condition in 1825.

MacDonnell, Alaster MacColl, Major-General, created knight of the field by Montrose after the battle of Kilsyth in 1645, a Scottish chieftain, collaterally related to preceding. In the summer of 1639, having refused to accept the Covenant, he, with 300 other persons, took refuge in Ulster. There he was hospitably received by his kinsfolk, and his Highlanders became an effective aid to the northern Irish in the War of 1641-'52. Early in the war he overthrew an Anglo-Irish force of about 900 men near Ballymoney. Afterwards, in June 1642, he was, with Sir Felim O'Neill, defeated at Glenmaquin, in Raphoe. Next year he was appointed by the Earl of Antrim to command the force sent into Scotland to assist Montrose, and took a prominent part in the war in that country. Burton, however, makes little of the aid afforded by him and his Irish troops. In 1647 he returned to Ireland, and was, by the Supreme Council of the Confederates appointed Lieutenant-Gene- ral of Munster, under Lord Taaffe. He was killed in an engagement with Lord Inchiquin, at Knocknanuss, between Mallow and Kanturk, 13th November 1647, and was buried in the tomb of the Callaghans, in Clonmeen churchyard, Kanturk. He is described as of gigantic stature and powerful frame. Milton, in one of his sonnets, writes of "Colkitto, or Macdonnel, or Galasp." The appellation of "Colkitto," Coll Ciotog, or "Left-handed Coll," often applied to this chieftain, properly belongs to his father. See Hill's MacDonnells, p. 83.

MacDonnell, Sir Alexander, Bart., was born in Belfast in 1794, being the seventh in descent from the preceding. He was educated at Westminster and Oxford, where he displayed the most brilliant abilities (gaining four prizes but once before carried off by one and the same person), and was called to the English Bar at the age of thirty. Of an exceedingly sensitive temperament, he broke down in pleading a case before a committee of the House of Lords, and, mortified beyond expression, renounced the Bar, returned to Ireland, and accepted the position of Chief Clerk in the Chief Secretary's office, under Mr. Drummond. In 1839 he was appointed Resident Commissioner of the Board of Education, of which he became the presiding and animating genius. A zealous Protestant, he uniformly sustained the principle that the faith of the children of his poorer fellow-countrymen should be protected in the spirit as well as in the letter. He was made a Privy-Councillor in 1846. He resigned the commissionership in 1871, at the age of 77, and was created a baronet early the following year. The Spectator thus speaks of him: "On attaining his leisure he turned anew with the avidity of one-and-twenty to history and the classics... Those who have enjoyed his conversation must despair of expressing its charm. Frank, enthusiastic with the enthusiasm of a boy, full of recollections of the men he had known, and of the statesmanship of fifty years, yet happiest and most winning in the region of pure literature, and above all. of poetry. He loved Ireland dearly, but all his hopes for her had as their rooted basis the desire to see her won over to England by persistent fairness of treatment... Individually, he was characterized by a noble diffidence of nature and an utter superiority to the vulgar passions. Thus he had the happiness during his long life of eluding notoriety... He was in his daily life and amongst his friends an example of how high a creature the Celt may become under the fairest influences of culture. For he was a Celt of the Celts, if an ancestry of a thousand years could make him so." He died 21st January 1875, aged 80, and was interred at Kilsharvan, near Drogheda. Arrangements are being made by his numerous friends and admirers to erect a statue to his memory in Dublin.

MacDonnell, Francis, Major, a distinguished Irish officer in the Austrian service, was born in Connaught in 1656. At the surprise of Cremona (1st February 1702) he particularly signalized himself. On that occasion he took Marshal Villeroy prisoner, and refused brilliant offers of rank and money to connive at his escape. On the other hand, he did not scruple to endeavour by bribes to bring over the Irish regiments serving with the enemy. He fell at the battle of Luzzara, the following August (1702).

MacDowell, Patrick, R.A., was born in Belfast, 12th August 1799. His father dying early, the family moved to London, and although Patrick showed a decided taste for art, and desired to follow it, he was apprenticed to a coachmaker. When he had served about four years, his master became bankrupt, and the lad, sixteen years of age, was thrown on his own resources. Accident brought him to lodge in the house of a French sculptor, M. Chenu. He indulged once more in his old tastes, copied from his landlord's models, and soon delighted him with a "Venus " for which he obtained eight guineas. He was now fairly started in the career of an art student; his progress was rapid; he soon received several commissions; and through the kindness of Mr. Beaumont, M.P., he was enabled to spend eight months in Rome. The work that first brought him prominently before the public, was his beautiful statue of "The Girl Reading." After its exhibition he was elected an associate (1841), and in 1846 lie was elected a member of the Royal Academy. He soon attained the highest eminence in his art. Among his works may be mentioned the group of " Virginius and his daughter," a statue of Lord Exmouth in Greenwich Hospital, his "Eve," and "Psyche," according to some critics, his masterpiece. The statues of the Earl of Belfast in Belfast, and of Viscount FitzGibbon in Limerick, are from his studio. His last great work was the group typical of Europe in the Albert Memorial, Hyde Park. Mr. MacDowell died in London, 9th December 1870, aged 71. A sketch of his life will be found in the University Magazine. Most of his works are widely known through engravings in the pages of the Art Journal.

MacFirbis, Duald, the last of a long line of historians and chroniclers of the name, was born in Lecan, County of Sligo, in the latter part of the 16th century. He was sent at an early age into Munster to the school of law and history then kept by the MacEgans, and studied also at Burren in Clare, about 1595, under Donnell O'Davoren. In 1650, in the College of St. Nicholas in Galway, he completed a volume of pedigrees. The autograph copy of this great compilation (known as the Book of MacFirbis) is in the Earl of Roden's library, and a transcript by Professor O'Curry is in the Royal Irish Academy. After the loss of his family property in the War of 1641-'52, he entered Sir James Ware's service, and gave him invaluable assistance in his works on Ireland. We find the following note in one of Sir James Ware's Irish MSS.: "This translation beginned was by Dudley Firbisse in the house of Sir James Ware, in Castle-street, Dublin, 6th of November 1666." He compiled a glossary of the Brehon laws, a fragment of which is in the Library of Trinity College, and a biographical dictionary of Irish writers, of which no traces have been found. Altogether there are five copies of ancient glossaries in his handwriting in Trinity College. This eminent scribe died in 1670, at an advanced age, from wounds received in protecting a young woman from insult, in a small inn at Dunflin, County of Sligo.

McGee, Thomas D'Arcy, statesman, was born at Carlingford, 13th April 1825. His mother was the daughter of a Dublin bookseller (Mr. Morgan) who participated in the Insurrection of 1798; and all the men both of his father's and his mother's families were United Irishmen, except his father, who was in the coast guard service. When eight years of age his parents removed to Wexford, and there he lost his mother. She had specially stimulated his young mind to a love of Ireland - her poetry, her traditions, her history. At seventeen he had read all that had come within his reach, and seeing little prospect of advancement at home, he emigrated to America. At that period the Irish population in the States were eager in the Repeal movement; and on the 4th July 1842, he made his debut as an orator at a gathering of his countrymen. He obtained an engagement on the Boston Pilot, and two years later became chief editor of that paper - a position of great responsibility for a youth of nineteen. The fame of his speeches at Repeal meetings crossed the Atlantic, and O'Connell referred to them as "the inspired utterances of a young exiled Irish boy in America." He now accepted an invitation to return to Ireland and assume the editorship of the Freeman; but the Freeman proved too moderate in its tone-too cautious, as it were - and finding that he was not at liberty to change its character and its course, he accepted the offer of his friend, Charles Gavan Duffy, to assist him in editing the Nation in conjunction with Davis, Mitchel, Reilly, and their friends. In such hands the paper became the exponent of the advanced ideas that ultimately led to the separation of the Young Ireland from the O'Connell party. As secretary to the committee of the Confederation, he was one of those deputed to rouse the people to action. For a stirring address at Roundwood, County of Wicklow, he was imprisoned, but soon after succeeded in obtaining his release. In the summer of 1848 he was in Scotland on a mission to his fellow-countrymen, when the abortive rising took place in Ireland. At imminent risk of arrest, he crossed to Belfast, was concealed by Dr. Magran, Bishop of Deny, had an interview with the young wife to whom he had been married but a few months, and, disguised as a priest, escaped to America, landing in Philadelphia the 10th of October. He immediately started the New York Nation, devoted to the interests of his country. In its columns he openly threw the blame of failure in Ireland on the Catholic priesthood and hierarchy, thereby involving himself in a controversy with Archbishop Hughes. Having abandoned the Nation, in 1850 he commenced in Boston the American Celt. But a change soon came over his mind, and he threw himself unreservedly into the cause of Catholicism, apart from any nationality, believing, as he expressed himself in a letter to his friend Meagher, "that it is the highest duty of a Catholic man to go over cheerfully, heartily, and at once, to the side of Christendom - to the Catholic side - and to resist, with all his might, the conspirators who, under the stolen name of liberty, make war upon all Christian institutions." He continued to edit the Celt in various parts of the States as the exponent of these principles, and to lecture on various questions connected with Ireland and Catholicism. About 1858 he removed to Montreal, and was returned to the Canadian Parliament, in which he soon took a prominent part. In 1862 he accepted the post of President of the Executive Council; yet found time to write his History of Ireland whilst performing the onerous duties of that office. In 1865 he visited home, and while sojourning with his father in Wexford, gave much offence to his countrymen in America by descanting upon the generally degraded condition of the Irish population in the United States. In 1867 he was sent to Paris as a Canadian Commissioner to the Great Exhibition, and took the opportunity of making a general tour of the Continent. The same year he met his colleagues of the Canadian cabinet in London, to lay before the Imperial Government their plan of federation. Indeed the grand project which united into the Dominion of Canada the scattered provinces of British North America was largely his own, both in conception and the carrying out of its details. His persistent opposition to the Fenian organization, and his bitter denunciations of the invasions of Canada, led to his assassination at Ottawa on the morning of the 7th April 1868, aged 42, when returning alone from the Legislature. But three weeks before, on St. Patrick's-day, he had been entertained at a public banquet at Ottawa. The assassin was captured, tried, and executed. Mr. McGee will be best remembered in Ireland for his Poems (published in a collected form soon after his death), many of which are very beautiful - his early pieces being almost purely national, his later, purely religious. Besides a Popular History of Ireland (1862), already noticed, he was the author of Lives of Irish Writers (1846), History of the Irish Settlers in North America (18 51), Catholic History of North America (1854), and many other works. In the latter part of his life he evinced the most unswerving loyalty to the British Government, and entirely abandoned the revolutionary ideas and projects of his earlier years.

MacGeoghegan, James, Abbe, an historian, was born in Ireland about 1701, and was sent at an early age to France, where he entered the Church. For the latter part of his life he was attached to the church of St. Mery, Paris. He died 30th March 1764, aged 63. He is worthy of remembrance as the author of a standard history of Ireland - Histoire de Irlande Ancienne et Moderne - the first two volumes published in Paris in 1758 and 1762, and the third at Amsterdam in 1763. An English translation by P. O'Kelly appeared in Dublin in 1831, and was republished in 1844. MacGeoghegan's history extends from the earliest period to the Treaty of Limerick. It has been continued to our own times by John Mitchel. The work, despite its diffuseness of style, is highly spoken of in the Biographic Generale. This author spells his name Ma-Geoghegan on the title-page of his first volume, and MacGeoghegan on that of the second.

MacGrady, Augustin, born about 1349, was a writer who continued the Annals of Tighernach, from that annalist's time to the year of his own death, nearly 300 years, thereby contributing valuable materials for Irish history. An unknown hand continued the Annals two years further, to 1407, and gives the following note concerning MacGrady's death: "Augustin MaGradaigh, a canon of the canons of the Island of the Saints [in Lough Ree, in the Shannon], a saoi [doctor] during his life, in divine and worldly wisdom, in literature, in history, and in various other sciences in like manner, and the doctor of good oratory of western Europe - the man who compiled this book, and many other books, both of the lives of the saints and of historical events - died on the Wednesday before the 1st day of November [1405], in the 56th year of his age."

MacGregor, John James, author of a voluminous History of the French Revolution, History of the County and City of Limerick, and true Stories from the History of Ireland, was born in Limerick, 24th February 1775. He resided at Limerick, Waterford, and during the latter part of his life in Dublin, where he was literary assistant to the Kildare-place Education Society. An ardent Methodist, he edited the Munster Telegraph for some years, and for a longer period the Primitive Wesley an Methodist Magazine. His death took place in Dublin, 24th August 1834, in his 60th year; his remains were interred in the burial ground attached to St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Mackay, James Townsend, was a distinguished Scotch botanist, who resided most of his life in Ireland. He was Curator of the College Botanic Gardens, Dublin, which he laid out in 1808 and he made a valuable contribution to the study of Irish botany in his Flora Hibernica (Dublin, 1836). Mr. Mackay died, probably in Dublin, 25th July 1862.

Macken, John, a poet, who wrote under the pseudonym of "Ismael FitzAdam," was born at Brookeborough, County of Fermanagh, probably about the close of the 18th century. We have few particulars concerning his life, except that he passed some years as a sailor in the navy, and was present at the bombardment of Algiers. In 1818 a volume of poems by him was published in England - The Harp of the Desert, and in 1821 his Lays on Land. Despite the earnest commendations of his friend, the editor of the Literary Gazette, they met little acceptance, and he returned disheartened to his native country. He started and edited the Erne Packet, or Enniskillen Chronicle, to "which he contributed many elegant compositions in prose and poetry." He died 7th June 1823. Several communications respecting him and his works will be found in Notes and Queries, 3rd Series. In one of these Dr. Gatty writes: "It appears to me that this neglected writer had much of that condensed power which is so remarkable in Campbell's war lyrics; and his tenderness and delicacy are exquisitely shown in the five love sonnets." The Literary Gazette, June 1823, which notices his death, contains some stanzas to his memory by "L. E. L." The same are also given in the Gentleman}s Magazine a few months later.

Macklin, Charles, a distinguished actor, was born in the County of Westmeath, probably in 1700. His real name was MacLoughlin, which he changed to Macklin after his arrival in London. His father was a Presbyterian, his mother a Catholic. It is said that at the siege of Deny he had three uncles on the Williamite side, and three on that of the besiegers. He was apprenticed to a saddler, but at fourteen ran away to Dublin, and after some time obtained occupation in Trinity College as a "badgeman." About 1725 he went to London, acted for a time at Lincoln's Inn Theatre, and then joined a strolling company in Wales. He settled in London as an actor in September 1730. In 1735 he was tried at the Old Bailey for having when in a passion unintentionally killed a fellow actor, and he was found guilty of manslaughter. In 1741 he established his reputation in the character of "Shylock," the only one in which he ever excelled. It was largely owing to Macklin's encouragement that the difficulties of Garrick's first years on the stage were smoothed over. He warmly seconded Garrick's efforts to introduce a more natural style of acting in place of the formal strut and stilted tones theretofore considered essential. It is to be regretted that the good understanding between them did not continue in after life. After a dispute with the manager, and his consequent exclusion from Drury Lane, in 1744, Macklin opened the little theatre of the Haymarket. He afterwards acted in Ireland as one of Thomas Sheridan's company, and was for a time the head of a strolling troop at Chester. In 1753 he took formal leave of the stage, and opened a tavern, coffee-house, and "school of oratory," in the Piazza of Covent Garden, with the expectation of making a rapid fortune. This scheme failed miserably, and he became bankrupt. We next find him present at the laying of the foundation-stone of Crow-street Theatre, Dublin, in 1757. He remained in Dublin for several years, and there brought out his play of The Man of the World, and other pieces. He continued to act both in England and Ireland until January 1789, when his powers, as might have been expected at his advanced age, began decidedly to fail. During his latter years he lived on a small annuity purchased by his friends. His greatest pleasure continued to be attending the theatre, although his memory was almost entirely gone, and he continually asked: "What is the play; who are the performers?" He died 11th July 1797, aged 97, and was buried in St. Paul's, Covent Garden. Percy Fitzgerald speaks of him as "a strange character, an Irishman of rough humour and ability, a good fives player, and a very promising actor. His appearance was very remarkable; a coarse face, marked not with 'lines,' but what a brother actor with rude wit had called 'cordage.' He was struggling hard to get free of a very pronounced brogue, and having come to the stage with what was to English ears an uncouth name, and to English mouths an almost unpronounceable one, had changed it from McLoughlin to Meeklin, and later Macklin... He was a most striking and remarkable character, and one that stands out very distinctly during the whole course of his long career, which stretched over nearly ninety years. He was quarrelsome, overbearing, even savage; always either in revolt or conflict, full of genius and a spirit that carried him through a hundred misfortunes." The question of his age, long considered to have extended to 106 years, is pretty well settled by a communication in Notes and Queries, 3rd Series.

MacLiag, chief poet to Brian Borumha, flourished at the beginning of the 11th century. He was a native of south Connaught. On Brian's accession to the throne of Ireland in 1002, MacLiag became his attendant, and resided at Kincora. O'Curry gives a list and particulars of the works written by him; the best known being, perhaps, the Wars of the Danes. He died about 1015.

Maclise, Daniel, R.A., a distinguished artist, was born at Cork, 25th January 1811. He exhibited artistic abilities of no common order at an early age; and after passing some time in a mercantile office, his parents yielded to his wishes to be allowed to study at the Cork Academy. There he benefited by the splendid series of casts from the antique, modelled under the superintendence of Canova, which form the great art treasure of Cork, and have had no little influence in fostering artistic taste in that city. His progress was rapid, and his first commission, illustrations to Crofton Croker's Fairy Legends, attracted considerable attention. The success of a surreptitious likeness taken of Scott during his visit to Cork in 1825, induced Maclise to open a portrait studio, where his skill and rapidity of execution brought him ready customers at thirty shillings a portrait. Occasional holiday rambles in search of the picturesque in different parts of Ireland, afforded scope for the exercise of his talents in landscape drawing. In July 1827 he left Cork, and prosecuted his studies at the Royal Academy in London, where one by one he gained every honour the schools of the Academy had to bestow. Before long the sale of his portraits and sketches enabled him to set up a comfortable establishment, and his success gained for him the entree of the best literary and artistic society of the metropolis. In 1830 some of his pictures were shown at the Royal Academy. His "All Hallow Eve" was exhibited in 1833. A friendship formed about this period with Dickens and Forster continued firm all through life. In 1837 he was elected an associate, and in 1840 a Royal Academician. Thenceforward his career was one of unbroken prosperity. Several of the historical frescoes in the new Houses of Parliament were executed by him. For that of the "Meeting of Wellington and Blucher after Waterloo" he received £3,500. Maclise was never married. The death of his favourite sister Isabella, in April 1865, was a severe blow to his sensitive nature. His last great work was "The Earls of Desmond and Ormond," which appeared in the Academy exhibition of 1870. After a lengthened illness, Maclise died 25th April 1870, aged 59, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery, in the vault with his father, mother, brother, and sister. Mr. Maclise was more than six feet in height; his face was eminently prepossessing; his eyes large and expressive of intelligence. He was generous and amiable, unobtrusive and tolerant, appreciative of the talents of others, and especially of younger artists. The Biographie Generale says of him: "He has succeeded in every branch of art, from caricature to fresco. He generally selects familiar or semi-historical subjects, which modern taste prefers to more ambitious art. All his productions exhibit the false and exaggerated mannerism characteristic of the English school; but they possess an indescribable finish and touch, a harmonious treatment, expressive heads, and pieces of true and well-rendered art." The New York Nation, criticising his work, says: "The complete, deep-seated unreality of these and all other Maclises gives one a pitying feeling for the nation whose historical painting he long represented almost alone... Nothing can strike a falser note than Maclise's elaborate machines, with their strained drama, their unpronounceable horrors in colour, their contented opacity and obtuseness of shadow." There is every fear that the mannerism here spoken of, and which was a striking characteristic, especially in his later works, will prevent their being lastingly held in esteem. In his portraits of celebrities in Frazer's Magazine, and in his designs for Moore's Melodies and other illustrated works, he has been, perhaps, more happy than in his paintings.

MacLonain, Flann, chief poet of Ireland, a native of south Connaught, flourished in the 10th century. Some of his pieces, many of which are still extant, were written for Lorcan, grandfather of Brian Borumha. O'Curry gives a minute account of the poems attributed to him.

MacMahon, Heber, Bishop of Clogher, and General of the Ulster Irish, was a Catholic prelate who took a prominent part in the War of 1641-'52 in Charles I.'s interest. Clarendon speaks of him as "much superior in parts to any man of that party," and says that during Stratford's government "he gave frequent advertizements of some agitations by obscure and unknown persons of that nation at Rome, and in France and Spain... From the beginning of the rebellion his power was very great with those who had been (and he was with least dissimulation) violently opposite to any reconciliation;.. and so he continued firm to that party which followed Owen O'Neal, or rather governed Owen O'Neal, who commanded that party." He was created Bishop of Clogher in June 1643. 0n the death of Owen Roe O'Neill, in November he was appointed, at Belturbet, Commander of the Ulster Irish, and received his commission from the Earl of Ormond. He immediately put himself at the head of 5,000 foot and 600 horse, and marched to Charlemont, where he issued a manifesto inviting the Scots serving under Coote and Venables to make common cause with the Irish; but only a small number of them joined his standard. Hoping to crush Coote and Venables in succession, he marched northwards and crossed the Foyle near Lifford, but was too late to prevent the junction of their troops. Against the advice of his officers, he attacked the united forces at Scarriffhollis, two miles from Letterkenny, on 21st June 1650. In the early part of the engagement his troops carried all before them, but they were afterwards defeated, and almost annihilated. Major-General O'Cahan, many principal officers, and 1,500 soldiers were killed on the spot; and Carte states that Colonels Henry Eoe and Felim O'Neill, Hugh Maguire, Hugh MacMahon, and many more, were slain after quarter given. The Bishop quitted thefield with a small party of horse. His fate is thus related by Clarendon: "Next day, in his flight, he had the misfortune, near Enniskilling, to meet with the governor of that town, in the head of a party too strong for him, against which, however, the Bishop defended himself with notable courage; and after he had received many wounds, he was forced to become a prisoner, upon promise, first, that he should have fair quarter; contrary to which, Sir Charles Coote, as soon as he knew he was a prisoner, caused him to be hanged, with all the circumstances of contumely, reproach, and cruelty which he could devise." "Nor is it amiss to observe," says Cox, in his History of Ireland, "the variety and vicissitude of the Irish affairs; for this very Bishop, and those officers whose heads were now placed on the walls of Derry, were within less than a year before confederate with Sir Charles Coote, and raised the siege of that city, and were jovially merry at his table, in the quality of friends."

MacMahon, John B., Marquis d'Eguilly, was born at Limerick in 1715. He entered the French service at an early age, and in 1750 having proved royal descent from Brian Borumha, was admitted to the estates of Burgundy, and created Marquis d'Eguilly. His younger brother Maurice, Lord of Moguien in Burgundy, was in 1746 made Captain in the Pretender's Scotch army. Marshal MacMahon, President of the French Republic, is grandson of the first above-named. An interesting note on the MacMahon family, based on the Annals of the Four Masters, will be found in Notes and Queries, 4th Series.

MacManus, Terence Bellew, a distinguished Young Irelander, was born in Ireland probably about 1823. At the time of the Young Ireland agitation in 1848 he was in business as a shipping agent in Liverpool. In the summer of that year he threw up everything, managed to give the detectives the slip in Dublin, joined Smith O'Brien at Killenaule, and shared the fortunes of the small band of insurgents until their dispersion at Ballingarry. The following is Smith O'Brien's experience of him: "My acquaintance with him commenced at the time of the Repeal agitation, and was developed by the events of 1848. When he learned 'that I had called upon the people of Ireland to take up arms in resistance to the manifold oppressions which the people of Ireland at that time endured, he hastened to the scene of action, and assuredly the result of our efforts would have been very different from that which we experienced if an Irish army could have been formed consisting of such men as Terence Bellew MacManus. Intrepidity which knew no fear - resolution of purpose, directed by intelligence, and accompanied by promptitude of action and by personal prowess - these were the qualities which he displayed during the few days which we spent in Tipperary - qualities which, if our struggle had been sustained even for a few months, would have placed the name of MacManus in the catalogue of those warriors whose deeds have given to our country the fame of heroism." When all hope was over, he was for a time concealed by the peasantry, and then managed to make his way to Cork, and was on board a vessel in the harbour about to sail, when he was arrested. On 9th October 1848 he was brought to trial for high treason at Clonmel, found guilty, and condemned to death. His sentence was ultimately commuted to transportation for life. He was sent to Tasmania, whence he escaped to California, 5th June 1851. His friend Meagher wrote of his Californian life: "Arriving in San Francisco, MacManus resumed his old business. But in a new country it had to be conducted in a new way - more boldly, perhaps, and less scrupulously, but with results less positive and legitimate - and this his sterling mind would not bend to, trained as it had been to the more prudent, correct, and certain mercantile system which prevails in Europe. It was all strange to him, he said to me, all wrong, wild, hazardous, false, and desperate; and he would have nothing to do with it. Hence his days in California were days of poverty, and his proud face that once was full of light, and light alone, now had heavy shadows crossing it at times." He died about nine years after his arrival in California; and his remains were conveyed to Ireland, and buried in Glasnevin, 10th November 1861. His funeral was made the occasion of a great nationalist demonstration.

McMaster, Gilbert, D.D., a divine, and theological writer, was born in Ireland 13th February 1778. While he was still a child, his father emigrated to America, and settled in Pennsylvania. Gilbert was ordained pastor of a Presbyterian congregation at Duanesburg, New York, in 1808, where for thirty-two years, and afterwards for six years at Princeton, Indiana, he exercised his ministry with great acceptance. He was the author of An Analysis of the Shorter Catechism (1815), The Moral Character of Civil Government Considered (1832), and many other theological works. He died at New Albany, Indiana, 17th March 1854, aged 76.

MacMoyer, Florence, was last hereditary keeper of the Book of Armagh, a MS. of 221 vellum leaves. A portion dates as far back as 807. It is written in Latin, and contains the only complete copy of the New Testament scriptures transmitted to our time from the ancient Irish church. Besides the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles, it comprises St. Patrick's Confession and some tracts. It has always been regarded with peculiar veneration, was supposed to have been written by St. Patrick, and was preserved in a silver shrine. This precious relic was in MacMoyer's care on 29th June 1662, as appears from an entry on the reverse of the 104th leaf. MacMoyer was one of the witnesses against Archbishop Plunket in London in 1681. Previously he had pawned the volume for £5. He died, 12th February 1713, and was buried at Ballymoyer. On account of his connexion with Archbishop Plunket's death, his memory is held in the greatest abhorrence by the country people, who believed, until a recent period, that he was annually cursed by the Pope. After passing through various hands, the Book of Armagh came in 1858, by the care of the Rev. William Reeves, and the munificence of the then Lord Primate, into the Library of Trinity College, Dublin. The particulars of the life of John Moyers, given in his evidence against Archbishop Plunket, do not exactly correspond with those generally given of MacMoyer, the hereditary keeper, so that they may have been different persons, and Florence MacMoyer may have given his evidence privately.

MacMurrough, Dermot, King of Leinster, was born in 1090. His family had given rulers to the province for some time previous to the Anglo-Norman invasion. In early times they held court at Dinnrigh, on the Barrow, and at Naas in Kildare. Afterwards they had castles at Ferns, which was their capital, at Old Ross in Wexford, and at Ballymoon, near Carlow. The Annals of the Four Masters tell of constant differences between Dermot and his feudatory chiefs, and of the plundering expeditions in which he engaged in different parts of the country, often in alliance with the Northmen. In 1153 he carried off Dervorgilla, daughter of O'Melaghlin, and wife of O'Ruark, prince of Breffny. The transaction cannot have had much of the romance usually associated with the idea of an elopement. She was forty-four years of age, and did not leave her lord without carrying off her cattle and furniture. This was fifteen years before Dermot sought Anglo-Norman assistance, so that the invasion can scarcely be attributable to the elopement. O'Ruark sought the assistance of Turlough O' Conor, then nominal Monrch of Ireland, who was glad of the opportunity of lending aid against Dermot, who had supported the rival house of O'Neill. He ravaged Dermot's territories, and compelled the return of Dervorgilla. Upon O'Conor's death in 1156, Dermot was one of the first to acknowledge the supremacy of Murtough O'Lochlainn, an O'Neill, who reigned ten years, and who established Dermot in all his possessions. O'Lochlainn was slain at the battle of Leiter-Luin (in the barony of the upper Fews, County of Armagh), whereupon Roderic O'Conor assumed the sovereignty; and one of his first acts was to deprive Dermot of his crown. Dermot was evidently a man of singular determination, and not wanting in resource. It had probably reached his ears that King Henry II. of England had received a grant of Ireland from one Pope, and had it confirmed by another, and that he but waited an opportunity to assert his title. He therefore astutely determined to seek an interview, and perform homage, in the hope of regaining his kingdom of Leinster. How he fared cannot be better told than in Keating's words: "Diarmaid then proceeded to the Second Henry, King of Saxon-land, who was then in France, and when he arrived in this King's presence, he was received with a welcome, and with a very great display of friendship. And when he had explained the object of his visit to his host, the latter furnished him with kindly letters to bring him to the land of the Saxons. In these he gave him permission to enlist every one of the Saxons which might be willing to go with him to Ireland, and thus aid in recovering the sovereignty of his own country. Upon receiving these, Diarmaid bid farewell to that King, and set out for the country of the Saxons. When he arrived there he caused the letters of Henry to be read publicly at Bristol, and at the same time made a proclamation in which he promised large rewards to all persons who would aid him in the recovery of his territories. It was there that he met Richard FitzGilbert, Earl of Strigul, with whom he made the following compact, to wit: Diarmaid promised to give his own daughter Aeifi [Eva] to this Earl as his wife: and with her he promised him the inheritance of Leinster after his own death. The Earl bound himself upon his part to follow the exiled prince into Ireland, and there to assist him in recovering his lost principality." On his return through Wales he visited Rhys-ap-Griffen, who was induced to liberate Robert FitzStephen, his prisoner, "upon the express condition that he should follow MacMurcadha into Ireland in the course of the summer ensuing. To Robert, Diarmaid promised to grant Loch Garman [Wexford] and the two cantreds of land that lay next thereto, as a reward for his agreeing to come to his assistance." Some doubt exists as to whether Dermot sought Henry II. in the summer of 1167 or of 1168. In view of the dealings he was likely to have with the Anglo-Normans, he prudently attached to his service as his secretary Maurice Regan, probably an Irishman who had resided for a considerable time in England. Keating's statement that Dermot on his return proceeded secretly to Ferns, "and placed himself under the protection of the clergy and brotherhood of that monastery, and there dwelt in sadness and obscurity for a short time, until the summer had set in," does not agree with the tolerably well-ascertained fact that before FitzStephen's arrival in the spring of 1169, Dermot had regained possession of at least a portion of his kingdom. After the advent of the different bands of Anglo-Normans in 1169 and 1170, he was little more than a cypher, and any events in which he was engaged are more properly related in the notices of Robert FitzStephen, Maurice FitzGerald, Strongbow, and their fellows. According to promise, he gave his daughter Eva in marriage to Earl Strongbow at Waterford shortly after his landing in 1170. Dermot lived little more than a year after this. His death in 1171 (aged about 81) is thus noticed by the Four Masters: "Diarmaid MacMurchadha, King of Leinster, by whom a trembly sod was made of all Ireland - after having brought over the Saxons, after having done extensive injuries to the Irish, after plundering and burning many churches, as Ceanannus, Cluain Iraird, etc. - died.. of an insufferable and unknown disease; for he became putrid while living, through the miracle of God, Colum-Cille, and Finnen, and the other saints of Ireland, whose churches he had profaned and burned some time before; and he died at Fearnamor [Ferns], without making a will, without penance, without the body of Christ, with­ out unction, as his evil deeds deserved." Cambrensis sketches his appearance and character: "Dermidius was tall in stature, and of large proportions, and, being a great warrior and valiant in his nation, his voice had become hoarse by constantly shouting and raising his war-cry in battle. Bent more on inspiring fear than love, he oppressed his nobles, though he advanced the lowly. A tyrant to his own people, he was hated by strangers; his hand was against every man, and the hand of every man against him." The same writer admits that the invaders encountered "no dastards, but valiant men who stood well to the defence of their country, and manfully resisted their enemies." Dervorgilla spent much of her later life in religious exercises, and part of her substance in endowing churches. She survived until 1193, when she died at Mellifont Abbey, County of Meath, which she had enriched with many presents. Although Dermot's kingdom nominally passed into Earl Strongbow's family after his decease, much of it appears to have been soon again occupied by the MacMurroughs, by whom it was held in almost undisputed sway for several centuries.

MacMurrough, Art, King of Leinster, collaterally descended from preceding, was born in 1357. He was knighted when but seven years of age. At twenty his father died, and he succeeded to the government of Leinster. From his sixteenth year he had successfully repelled encroachments and levied exactions upon the colonists in return for leaving open the roads between the northern and southern portions of the Pale. Many of the Leinster septs, claiming descent from Cahir Mor, obeyed Art as their chief. According to their chroniclers, he held in "his fair hand the sovereignty and the charters of the province." He is spoken of as "replete with hospitality, knowledge, and chivalry; the prosperous and kingly enricher of churches and monasteries with his alms and offerings." He strengthened his position by marrying the Baroness of Narragh, daughter of Maurice, 4th Earl of Kildare. She was entitled to estates in Kildare, which were seized and granted by the crown to others, on the ground of her having forfeited them by marrying one of the principal enemies of the King of England. The war that ensued was one cause of Richard II.'s expedition to Ireland in 1394. When MacMurrough was informed of his arrival at Waterford, he immediately made a descent upon and ravaged New Ross, and carried thence a large booty and many hostages. King Richard could make little head against the harassing irregular warfare carried on by MacMurrough, and at length expressed willingness to come to terms with him, and make grants of lands in exchange for those of which he had been deprived. On 16th February 1395, MacMurrough, mounted on a black steed, and accompanied by his tributary chiefs, met the King's commissioners at Ballygorry, near Carlow. The terms of agreement having been read over in English and Irish, MacMurrough swore allegiance conditional on the restitution of his wife's lands, the payment of an annuity, and equivalent territories for some he was asked to surrender near Carlow. In the following month, MacMurrough, attired in rich silk garments, edged with fur, was entertained at Dublin in great splendour, accompanied by O'Neill, O'Brien, and O'Conor, and with them accepted knighthood from Richard, having kept his vigils in Christ Church. The English Privy Council jubilantly congratulated the King upon having effectually subdued "Macmourg," "le grand O'Nel," and others of the greatest and strongest captains. On Richard's return to England, he took with him as hostages sons of MacMurrough, and other young chiefs. It was not long, however, before MacMurrough was again engaged in hostilities. In 1397 he took Carlow; and on the 20th July, next year, at the head of a large force, defeated the Anglo-Irish army on the banks of the Nore. The Viceroy, Roger Mortimer, fell in this engagement. King Richard was again obliged to visit Ireland to assert his supremacy, and on the 23rd June 1399, with a fresh army, marched against MacMurrough, who said he "would neither submit nor obey Richard in any way, but affirmed he was the rightful king of Ireland, and that he would never cease from war and the defence of his country till his death, declaring that the wish to deprive him of his land by conquest was unlawful." With but 3,000 men he harassed Richard's large forces, and retreating before them into the fastnesses of Wicklow, reduced them to the greatest straits for provisions. Indeed the King's army would have been almost annihilated but for his timely meeting with some of the fleet at Arklow. Eventually MacMurrough consented to a parley with the Earl of Gloucester. His appearance on the occasion is thus described by Froissart: "From a mountain between two woods, not far from the sea, I saw MacMurrough descend, accompanied by multitudes of the Irish, and mounted on a horse without saddle or saddle-bow, which cost him, it was reported, four hundred cows, so good and handsome an animal it was. This horse was fair, and in his descent from the hill to us, ran as swift as any stag, hare, or the swiftest beast I have ever seen. In his right hand he bore a long spear, which, when near the spot where he was to meet the Earl, he cast from him with much dexterity. The crowd that followed him then remained behind, while he advanced to meet the Earl near the brook. He was of large stature, wonderfully active, very fell and ferocious to the eye-a man of deed." We are told that "Gloucester and MacMurrough, meeting at a little brook, exchanged much discourse. MacMurrough declared he would have no terms but peace without reservation, free from molestation of any kind, and asserted that otherwise he would never come to a compact so long as lie lived. Failing to agree, they parted hastily; and on learning the result of the conference, Richard's usually ruddy face grew pale with anger, and he swore, in great wrath, by St. Edward, that he would never depart from Ireland, till he had taken MacMurrough, alive or dead. .. From Dublin the king despatched three bodies of well-appointed soldiery against MacMurrough, and exhorted them to behave bravely, promising one hundred marks of pure gold to any who might kill or capture him. He declared that should they fail, he would himself pursue Art, and burn all the woods after the fall of the leaves in autumn." Richard was, however, compelled to return home, leaving his threats unfulfilled. Art now took and kept Camolin, Enniscorthy, and Wexford, and sacked Castledermot. In 1408 he advanced to the attack of Dublin, and defeated the garrison under Lord Thomas of Lancaster, but was unprepared to lay regular siege to the city. His power within his own limits continued unquestioned. He died at New Ross a week after Christmas, in 1417, aged about 60. D'Arcy McGee thus writes of him: "In the Irish history of the middle ages - from Brian's era to Hugh O'Neill's - he has no equal for prudence, foresight, perseverance, valour, and success." The Four Masters declare that "he was a good father and a true friend; a cultivator of knowledge, and a lover of letters." MacMurrough's line is at present represented by Arthur Kavanagh, of Borris.

MacNally, Leonard, a barrister who distinguished himself in the defence of the United Irishmen, but who, since his death, has been discovered to have been a government spy, was born in Dublin in 1752. Early in life lie abandoned the grocery business, to which he had been brought up, studied law with great assiduity, entered at the Middle Temple, and was called to both the English and the Irish Bar. Practising first in England, he is said to have been induced by Curran to transfer his talents to his native country. He was one of the original members of the Society of United Irishmen, and assisted in the defence of Emmet, Jackson, Tandy, Tone, and many others. He was the trusted friend of Curran - one of the intimates to whom the family felt it proper first to communicate Curran's death. MacNally was the author of twelve dramatic pieces, including the opera of Robin Hood, 1779-96; also of The Claims of Ireland, 1782; Rules of Evidence, 1802; Justice of the Peace for Ireland, 1808; and other works. For two editions of his Justice he received £2,500. He died at 22 Harcourt-street, Dublin, 13th February 1820, aged 68. Then only did his treachery appear. His heir claimed a continuance of a secret service pension of £300 a year, which his father had enjoyed since 1798. The Lord-Lieutenant demanded a detailed statement of the circumstances under which the agreement had been made; it was furnished after some hesitation, and the startling fact became generally known, not only that he had been in regular receipt of the pension claimed, but that during the state trials of 1798 and 1803, while he was receiving fees from the prisoners to defend them, he also accepted large sums from Government to betray the secrets of their defence. The Cornwallis Correspondence, Madden's Lives of the United Irishmen, and communications from Mr. FitzPatrick in Notes and Queries, 2nd Series, put all this beyond doubt. Another writer in the same series relates how in the London riots of 1780, MacNally saved the life of Dr. Thurlow, Bishop of Lincoln. Sir Jonah Barrington gives an amusing account of a duel between himself and MacNally, in which he says: "MacNally stood before me, very like a beer- barrel on its stilly, and by his side were ranged three unfortunate barristers, who were all soon afterwards hanged and beheaded for high treason - namely, John Sheares, who was his second,.. and Henry Sheares and Bagenal Harvey, who came as amateurs." In the same connexion, Sir Jonah, who was of course ignorant of MacNally's perfidy, thus describes him: "His figure was ludicrous; he was very short, and nearly as broad as long; his legs were of unequal length, and he had a face which no washing could clean... He possessed, however, a fine eye, and by no means an ugly countenance; a great deal of middling intellect; a shrill, full, good bar voice... In a word, MacNally was a good-natured, hospitable, talented, dirty fellow."

MacNevin, William James, M.D., a distinguished United Irishman, was born 21st March 1763, at Ballynahowna, County of Galway, where his father possessed a small estate inherited from an ancestor who in the Cromwellian settlement was consigned to Connaught. His uncle, Baron MacNevin, lived at Prague, where he was physician to the Empress Maria Theresa. Thither young MacNevin, precluded by the Penal Laws from obtaining an education at home, was sent when about eleven years old, and there he resided ten years, received a classical education, and passed through the medical college - finishing his professional studies at Vienna, where he graduated in 1783. Next year MacNevin commenced as a physician in Dublin, and soon worked into extensive practice. He became an active member of the Catholic committee, was returned from Navan in 1792 as representative to the Catholic Convention held in Back-lane, and took a firm stand with Tone in opposition to the pusillanimous policy of Lord Kenmare. Entering cordially into the views of the United Irishmen, he joined the body at the solicitation of FitzGerald and O'Connor-taking the oath from Miss Moore of Thomas-street, the friend of Lord Edward FitzGerald, and an enthusiast in the national cause. He never shrank from danger, and with Bond and McCormack arranged with Colonel McSheehy, Tone's aide-de-camp, relative to the proposed descent by the French on the Irish coast, and also conferred personally with Tone in Paris. In after life he often referred to the delightful evenings he spent with other leaders of the party at Frascati, Blackrock, in the company of Lord Edward, his wife, and his sister, Lady Emily FitzGerald. On 12th March 1798 he was seized, with the principal leaders of the party, and imprisoned at Kilmainham. He joined the other state prisoners in their agreement with Government, and was removed to Fort George, Scotland. [See EMMET, THOMAS A.] He lightened his subsequent imprisonment by study - translating many of the Ossianic legends into English, and noting traditions from the mouths of the Scotch soldiers of the fort. For the use of his friend Emmet's children he compiled a grammar. He passed the summer and autumn of 1802, after his liberation, in travelling through Switzerland; and next year he joined Emmet in Paris, and entered an Irish Brigade as captain. Deceived and disappointed at the failure of all hopes of an invasion of Ireland, and concerned at the fatal issue of a duel in which he acted as second, he sailed from Bordeaux for the United States in 1805, and landed in New York on the 4th of July. With favourable introductions, and among old friends, he soon felt himself at home, and his rise in the honours and the emoluments of the medical profession was rapid. He occupied several important medical positions in New York, and married in 1810. In 1820 he published an exposition of the Atomic Theory; his other works were an edition of Brande's Chemistry, Argument in opposition to a Union, Rambles in Switzerland, Pieces of Irish History, Nature and Functions of an Army Staff. Mr. MacNevin was an accomplished scholar, and spoke German, French, Italian, and Irish. During his long career in America he continued to take a warm interest in Catholic Emancipation and the different movements which agitated his native country. He died at the residence of his son-in-law, Thomas A. Emmet, Jun., near New York, 12th July 1841, aged 78. The most striking features of his character were imperturable coolness and self-possession, combined with remarkable simplicity of mind, and singleness of purpose.

McSkimin, Samuel, a writer on the affairs of 1798-1803, was born at Carrickfergus in 1775. He kept a small huxter's shop in a back street of his native town - a little room behind serving him at once for bedroom, parlour, and library. The latter consisted of not more than about fifty volumes; yet in this humble position, and with these poor appliances he made some valuable contributions to Irish literature. Besides a History of Carrickfergus, he contributed papers to the Gentleman's Magazine on extinct birds and the round towers, and to Fraser's Magazine on the emeute of 1803. He died 17th February 1843, aged about 68. Dr. Reeves says: "He possessed a marvellous taste and faculty for archaeological pursuits. His History of Carrickfergus is a book of great merit, and especially rich in family history. When he died, his son, a carpenter, became possessed of all his MS. collections, and instead of selling them as a whole, to be deposited in some public library, they were broken up and scattered. A manuscript containing his experiences of the United Irishmen in the County of Antrim subsequently fell into the hands of the late John Mullen, a bookseller of Belfast, who printed it in a neat 12mo (Belfast, 1849), under the title, Annals of Ulster, or Ireland Fifty Fears Ago"

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