John Henry MacMahon (1829–23 May 1900) was a Church of Ireland cleric, known as a scholar of patristics and the scholastic philosophers.
Born at Dublin in 1829, he was the son of John Macmahon, a barrister. He was educated at Enniskillen, and on 1 July 1846 entered Trinity College, Dublin, as a pensioner; he graduated B.A. in 1852, being senior moderator and gold medallist in ethics and logic, and proceeded M.A. in 1856.[1]
MacMahon took holy orders in 1853, and was for some years a curate under William Alexander, later Archbishop of Armagh. He left parochial work after the disestablishment of the Church of Ireland church in 1869. He was subsequently chaplain to the lord-lieutenant, and from 1890 to Mountjoy Prison. He died in Dublin on 23 May 1900.[1] His daughter was the romance novelist Eleanor MacMahon.
MacMahon was deeply read in Aristotle, the Christian fathers, and the schoolmen, but was not considered an original thinker. His works were:[1]
