Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Irish Surnames

  • 27-06-2016 10:03pm
    #1
    KingBrian2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,363 ✭✭✭


    Finding out the origins of Irish family names.

    The FitzGerald or Fitzmaurice are examples of Norse names.


    Gaelic Names: O'Neill, O'Shea and O' Donnell, Ni Bheolain, McDonough, McGrath or McLaughlin,


    Brady, Ward, Plunkett, Hook, Duffy all English names in Ireland.


    Yeats, Keane, Pierce and Kenny all common Anglo-Irish names.


    McCloskey, Mclean are prime examples of Scottish names in Ireland.


    French names Delaney & Darcy.

    Does anyone have any other names I can add to the list or other family names that have become common occurrences in Ireland?


Comments

  • #2
    Ipso
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,995 ✭✭✭Ipso


    The Fitz prefix usually indicates a Norman name, in the case of Fitzpatrick this was a change from Gilpatrick.
    Walsh and Burke are also associated with the Normans (with Walsh being more associated with the Welsh entourage, Cambro Normans).
    McManus and McIver are Associated with vikings, also Doyle.
    There are names like Sweeney, McCabe and McFadden that are associated with the Gallowglass mercenaries from the Scottish Isles.
    As far as I know Duffy and Ward are Gaelic names.


  • #3
    KingBrian2
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,363 ✭✭✭KingBrian2


    Didn't know about the last ones. Thanks. As for the names beginning with Mc are Scottish so I don't see how they are of Viking origin.


  • #4
    Ipso
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,995 ✭✭✭Ipso


    Manus comes from the first mame Magnus. McIver/Ivor/Gyver/Geever from Ivar.


  • #5
    Red Wolf
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 399 ✭✭Red Wolf


    Not all names beginning with Mc/Mac are Scottish. The Mc prefix predates O/Ui etc and was used by the Irish. Howeverthe Gaels in Scotland didn't adopt the "O" when it came into use in Ireland


  • #6
    Coolnabacky1873
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 556 ✭✭✭Coolnabacky1873


    If you like to study surnames then I would recommend:

    Edward MacLysght's The Surnames of Ireland (considered to be the definitive publication on the subject, at least for genealogy anyway), Sean de Bhulbh's Sloinnte na h-Eireann and Robert Matheson's Varieties and Synonymes of Surnames and Christian Names in Ireland. There are thousands of surnames in those publications, with an effort made at attributing many of them to a part of Ireland, along with the origins of each name.

    The often seen '100 most common surnames in Ireland' list comes from another Matheson publication, Special Report on Surnames in Ireland.

    More recently, genealogist Sean Murphy has done some interesting work with Irish surnames.


  • Advertisement
Advertisement