Maureen Hegarty (1 September 1921 – 14 January 2016), was an Irish local historian and president of the Kilkenny Archaeological Society.

She was educated in Johnswell and the Presentation convent secondary school before she graduated with an arts degree in English and History from University College Dublin.

After teaching in Newport in Wales during the Second World War, Hegarty returned to Ireland to teach, first in her own secondary school and then becoming vice principal of the Loreto Secondary School in Kilkenny City.

[1][2][3] In 1952, Hegarty joined the Kilkenny Archaeological Society and was elected to the council in 1957.

Hegarty was awarded an honorary master's degree from NUI Maynooth in 2007.