Harrington

An Irish surname of Cork, Kerry, and Mayo. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 66,959 people, the 500th most common surname in the country.

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

Ó Haireachtaigh, descendant of Aireachtach (holding assemblies, belonging to an assembly)

Ó Harrachtáin, descendant of Arrachtán (diminutive of arrachta , tall, mighty, brave, heroic). This family stood in Co. Galway.

Ó Hiongardail, descendant of Iongardal. This family stood in Co. Tipperary.

Ó Hoireachtaigh, descendant of Oireachtach (holding or frequenting assemblies). This family stood in Co. Donegal, Co. Galway, Co. Mayo, and Co. Westmeath.

Ó Húrdail

Where the name comes from

Four separate names end up as Harrington. Ó hIongardail, now pronounced Ó hÚrdail, belongs to a well-known and numerous family in West Cork and South Kerry, formerly common in Tipperary too, and it is now always anglicised Harrington.

Ó hArrachtáin is descendant of the little tall or mighty one, from arrachta, and it belonged to a family of Ui Maine in Co. Galway; by the 16th century it was scattered through all North Munster. Ó hOireachtaigh, descendant of one who holds or frequents assemblies, covers several distinct families formerly in Galway, Westmeath and Donegal and now most frequent in Donegal and Mayo.

That last one is disguised more than most: Harty, Geraghty, Harrington and even O'Connor. Nearly all of the family near Abbeyfeale have adopted O'Connor, for a peculiar local reason.

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

The Harrington 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 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

Kerry

Carrauntoohil in the MacGillycuddy's Reeks is the highest mountain in Ireland at 1,038 metres. The Dingle and Iveragh peninsulas run west from it, with the Skelligs eight miles off the Iveragh coast. I ran a gallery in Killarney for years.

Moody long exposure of Coumeenoole Beach with Blasket Islands, Dingle, Kerry, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxEvening, Coumeenoole Beach, Dingle, Kerry Co. Kerry Long exposure evening light on moss-covered rocks at Coumeenoole Beach, Dingle, Kerry, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxEvening II, Coumeenoole Beach, Dingle, Kerry Co. Kerry An Searrach sea stack at night near Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland, long exposure fine art photograph by Peter CoxAn Searrach, Dingle, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry Ballaghbeama Gap mountain pass in black and white, Co. Kerry, Ireland — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxBallaghbeama Gap, Co. Kerry Co. Kerry

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 Black and white long exposure of Dun Briste sea stack at Downpatrick Head, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún Briste, Downpatrick Head, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo

All Cork prints · All Kerry prints · All Mayo prints

Notable bearers

Desmond Harrington (born 1976), actor.

Kellie Harrington (born 1989), boxer.

Paul Harrington (born 1960), singer and musician.

James Harrington (1611-1677), writer, philosopher, and sociologist.

Mike Harrington (born 1964), engineer, computer scientist, and manager.

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: Johnson · Collins · Murphy · Howard · Coleman · Hayes · Mason · Palmer · Warren · Ryan · Lane · Franklin

How common the name was

In 1890, 119 births were registered under Harrington in Ireland, most of them in Cork, Kerry, and Mayo.

Munster 99
Connacht 12
Leinster 7
Ulster 1
Ireland 119