Irish surnames

One page for each name below. Each holds the Irish form the name came from and what that form means, the counties where it was thickest on the ground in Ireland a century and a half ago, and photographs I have made in those counties.

A county here is where the name was common, not a claim about any one family. Names moved around inside Ireland as much as they left it.

The Giant's Causeway at twilight with wet hexagonal basalt columns stretching to the sea and long exposure blurred waves
The Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim

Every name, A to Z

B

C

D

K

M

R

The names, county by county

The same names again, under the counties where they were found. A name found in several counties appears under each of them.

Co. Antrim

Baker, Clarke

Co. Carlow

Doyle

Co. Cavan

Clarke

Co. Clare

Ryan

Co. Galway

Kelly, Ryan, Walsh

Co. Kerry

Doyle

Co. Kilkenny

Ryan

Co. Limerick

Ryan

Co. Louth

Clarke

Co. Mayo

Clarke, Kelly, Walsh

Co. Roscommon

Kelly

Co. Sligo

Leonard, Murphy

Co. Tipperary

Ryan

Co. Tyrone

Murphy

Co. Waterford

Ryan, Walsh

Co. Wexford

Doyle, Murphy, Ryan

Co. Wicklow

Doyle