Ford

An Irish surname of Cork, Dublin, Galway, and Mayo. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 184,832 people, the 137th most common surname in the country.

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

Fórd, Fórt, le fort. This family stood in Co. Louth and Co. Meath.

Fúrd. This family stood in Co. Meath.

Ó Fuarráin, Ó Fuartháin. This family stood in Co. Cork, Co. Kerry, Co. Limerick, and Co. Waterford.

Where the name comes from

Fórd is the Norman le fort, the strong, and it belonged to an Anglo-Norman family who settled in Meath and Louth. Foord of Foordston was one of the chief gentlemen of Meath in 1598.

The commoner Ford here is not that at all. Ó Fuarthán, descendant of the little cold one, from fuar, is an old Munster family still numerous in Waterford, Cork, Kerry and Limerick. It was written O Fowrane, O Forhane, O Forehan and O Fordhane, and that last spelling is how Foran turned into Ford, especially in Cork.

Rugged Atlantic coastline at Allihies, Cork, Ireland, with layered slate cliffs, fine art landscape photograph by Peter Cox
Allihies Coast, Cork

The Ford counties, photographed

Cork

Cork is the largest county in Ireland. Three peninsulas run west into the Atlantic: Beara, Sheep's Head and Mizen, with the population thinning the further out you go. My gallery is in Glengarriff at the head of Bantry Bay, so it's the ground I photograph most.

Sunset over Dun an Oir ruins and sea stacks on Cape Clear Island, Cork, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún an Óir, Cape Clear Island, Cork Co. Cork The Fastnet Lighthouse standing proud on a calm summer evening off West Cork in black and white panoramic viewThe Fastnet Lighthouse, Co. Cork Co. Cork

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

Mayo

Achill is the largest island off the Irish coast and is joined to the mainland by a bridge. Clew Bay is full of drumlins that were drowned when the sea rose, which is where the story about an island for every day of the year comes from. Croagh Patrick stands over the south side of the bay. Mayo's population is still less than half what it was before the Famine.

Black and white view across Doo Lough towards Ben Gorm and mountains, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDoo Lough, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo Black and white view of Dun Briste sea stack from a sea cave, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún Briste from the Cave Co. Mayo Black and white lone tree standing in bogland with the Partry Mountains behind, County MayoLone Tree, Partry Mountains, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo

All Cork prints · All Dublin prints · All Galway prints · All Mayo prints

Notable bearers

Henry Ford (1863-1947), writer, politician, and journalist.

Gerald Ford (1913-2006), politician, lawyer, and autobiographer.

Harrison Ford (born 1942), actor, film producer, and aircraft pilot.

John Ford (1894-1973), actor, writer, and screenwriter.

Betty Ford (1918-2011), writer, politician, and model.

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: King · Reynolds · Hunt · Hart · Burke · Banks · May · Hopkins · Leonard · Moran · Thornton · Higgins

How common the name was

In 1890, 164 births were registered under Ford in Ireland, most of them in Cork, Dublin, Galway, and Mayo.

Connacht 65
Munster 41
Leinster 26
Ulster 22
Ireland 164