Hale

An Irish surname of Antrim and Cork. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 86,618 people, the 362nd most common surname in the country.

Mac Haol, son of Howel (a Welsh personal name). This family stood in Co. Mayo.

Where the name comes from

Mac Haol is son of Howel, a Welsh personal name, and the surname is of Welsh origin though it is in use in various parts of Ireland. It gives MacHale, Hale, Hales, Howell and Howels. In Co. Mayo the collective plural is peculiar: Clann tAol, pronounced Clann Tael.

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

The Hale counties, photographed

Antrim

The Antrim coast road runs about 25 miles between the cliffs and the sea, with nine glens coming down to it. The rock is basalt, the same flow that formed the Giant's Causeway. Scotland is 12 miles off at the narrowest point and visible on a clear day.

The iconic Dark Hedges beech tree tunnel near Armoy in County Antrim with intertwined branches forming a brooding canopyThe Dark Hedges, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Long exposure of Pan's Rock with its footbridge at dawn on the Antrim Causeway Coast, silky water and blurred clouds, Rathlin Island on the horizonPan's Rock, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Sunrise over Colliery Bay with Fair Head cliffs and mountains, Co. Antrim, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxColliery Bay & Fair Head, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Dunluce Castle on coastal cliffs with long exposure sea, Co. Antrim, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDunluce Castle, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Black and white photograph of a rainstorm sweeping across the Skerries islands off the North Antrim coast near PortrushRainstorm, the Skerries, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim

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.

Rugged Atlantic coastline at Allihies, Cork, Ireland, with layered slate cliffs, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxAllihies Coast, Cork Co. Cork 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 Aerial view of the Fastnet Lighthouse surrounded by angry seas off West Cork with Cape Clear Island on the horizonThe Fastnet from the Air Co. Cork Inside the rotating lantern of the Fastnet Lighthouse with Fresnel lenses, ladder, and a rainbow projected on a poleInside the Lantern, the Fastnet Lighthouse, Co. Cork Co. Cork The winding Healy Pass road climbing through the Caha Mountains on the Beara Peninsula, Cork on a cloudy dayThe Healy Pass, Co. Cork Co. Cork

All Antrim prints · All Cork prints

Notable bearers

Lucy Hale (born 1989), actor, singer, and model.

George Ellery Hale (1868-1938), journalist, physicist, and astronomer.

Tony Hale (born 1970), actor and comedian.

Barbara Hale (1922-2017), actor.

Jennifer Hale (born 1972), musician and voice actor.

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.

How common the name was

In 1890, 13 births were registered under Hale in Ireland, most of them in Antrim and Cork.

Munster 6
Ulster 6
Connacht 1
Leinster no figure printed
Ireland 13