Carr

An Irish surname of Donegal, Dublin, and Galway. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 119,076 people, the 255th most common surname in the country.

Carr is the anglicised form of eight distinct Irish names. Some you can hear in the English name; others look and sound nothing like it, and were simply swapped for it.

de Cathair. This family stood in Co. Limerick.

Mac Cathaoir, son of Cathaoir (a common Irish personal name)

Mac Ceara. This family stood in Co. Galway.

Mac Giolla Chathair, son of Giolla Chathair (servant of St. Cathair). This family stood in Co. Donegal.

Ó Carraidhín, descendant of Carraidhín (diminutive of Carradh). This family stood in Co. Galway and Co. Mayo.

Ó Carra, descendant of Carra (spear). This family stood in Co. Galway.

Ó Cartha. This family stood in Co. Galway.

Ó Cearáin. This family stood in Co. Mayo.

Where the name comes from

Carr is a crossroads. Ó Carra, descendant of Carra, a spear, is a common Ulster surname and is also found in Co. Galway; Ó Carraidhín is a variant anglicised Carr in Mayo and Galway; and Mac Ceara and Ó Cartha are both in use in Co. Galway.

de Cathair is the Norman de Cathyr, of Cahir, an Irish place-name found very frequently all over the country. It belonged to an old Co. Limerick family on record since the last quarter of the 13th century which, though never numerous, is still there.

Mac Giolla Chathair, son of the servant of St. Cathair, is a Donegal surname, and it has been written MacIlhar, MacElhair, Kilcar and Kilcarr as well as Carr.

Nocturne, Fanad Head, Co. Donegal
Nocturne, Fanad Head, Co. Donegal

The Carr counties, photographed

Donegal

Slieve League is about 600 metres from clifftop to sea, one of the highest sea cliffs in Europe. Errigal is the highest mountain in the county at 751 metres, and it's quartzite, so it turns pink in low light. Glenveagh National Park covers about 16,000 hectares behind them.

Fanad Head Lighthouse at dawn with sunrise over Inishowen, Co. Donegal, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxFanad Head at Dawn, Co. Donegal Co. Donegal St. John's Point Lighthouse standing on the headland on a bright spring day with green grass, DonegalSt. John's Point Lighthouse, Co. Donegal Co. Donegal Tory Island Lighthouse beam sweeping through hazy night air on both sides of the tower in a long exposure on the Donegal coastNocturne, Tory Island Lighthouse, Co. Donegal Co. Donegal Intense double rainbow arching across the sky over green mountains near Glencolmcille in County DonegalRainbow, Glencolmcille, Co. Donegal Co. Donegal

Dublin

Dublin is a county as well as a city. The bay has Howth at the north end and Killiney Hill at the south, the Muglins are a pair of rocks off Dalkey, and the Dublin Mountains start about half an hour from the city centre.

Moonlight reflecting on the sea near the Muglins lighthouse off Dalkey Island, Dublin, with the Kish light on the horizonThe Muglins by Moonlight II Co. Dublin Long exposure panoramic view of the White Rock swimming platform at Killiney Bay, Dublin, floating in misty high-tide watersThe White Rock, Killiney Bay, Co. Dublin Co. Dublin Heron fishing at dawn on the Dublin coast — fine art wildlife photograph by Peter CoxHeron, Co. Dublin Co. Dublin

Galway

Connemara takes up the west of the county: the Twelve Bens, blanket bog, and fields walled off into very small squares. The Aran Islands sit at the mouth of Galway Bay. The Gaeltacht starts a few miles west of Galway city.

Enormous waves sending spray over 30-metre sea cliffs at Poll an tSeidein on Inis Meain, Aran Islands at sunsetPoll an tSéideáin, Inis Meáin, Aran Islands, Co. Galway Co. Galway The rusting Plassey shipwreck on Inis Oirr, Aran Islands, seen from above with the Atlantic Ocean beyondThe Plassey, Inis Oirr, Aran Islands, Co. Galway Co. Galway Dramatic storm waves battering tall cliffs at sunset on the west coast of Inis Meain, Aran IslandsPoll an tSéideáin Panoramic, Inis Meáin, Aran Islands, Co. Galway Co. Galway Turf drying at sunset with Connemara mountains in the background, Co. Galway, Ireland, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxConnemara Turf, Co. Galway Co. Galway

All Donegal prints · All Dublin prints · All Galway prints

Notable bearers

E. H. Carr (1892-1982), writer, politician, and journalist.

Emily Carr (1871-1945), writer, autobiographer, and painter.

John Dickson Carr (1906-1977), writer, screenwriter, and journalist.

Eric Carr (1950-1991), musician and drummer.

Jimmy Carr (born 1972), film actor, writer, and screenwriter.

About this page

The counties on this page are where the name was thickest on the ground in Ireland a century and a half ago, not a claim about any one family. Names moved around inside the country as much as they left it. The photographs are mine, made in the counties named.

More Irish surnames: Smith · Brown · Miller · Wilson · Anderson · Thomas · Taylor · Moore · Jackson · Martin · Lee · Thompson

How common the name was

In 1890, 90 births were registered under Carr in Ireland, most of them in Donegal, Dublin, and Galway.

Ulster 35
Connacht 24
Leinster 21
Munster 10
Ireland 90