Hayes

An Irish surname of Antrim, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Tipperary, and Wexford. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 194,246 people, the 127th most common surname in the country.

Hayes is the anglicised form of two 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 Hae. This family stood in Co. Wexford.

Ó Haodha, descendant of Aodh (fire). This family stood in the barony of Farney in Co. Monaghan, the barony of Gorey in Co. Wexford, Co. Cork, Co. Galway, Co. Mayo, Co. Meath, Co. Sligo, and Co. Tyrone.

Where the name comes from

Ó hAodha is descendant of Aodh, fire, and it is numerically one of the strongest surnames in Ireland. It covers a great many distinct families: lords of Ui Fiachrach of Ardstraw in Tyrone; chiefs of Eas Ruadh near Ballyshannon in Tirconnell; chiefs of Fearnmaighe, now the barony (an old land division, several parishes across) of Farney in Co. Monaghan; lords of Odhbha near Navan; chiefs of Ui Deaghaidh in Wexford, nearly co-extensive with (covering the same ground as) the barony of Gorey; lords of Muscraighe-Luachra in the north-west of Co. Cork; a Dalcassian family in Thomond; and several of the Ui Fiachrach in Mayo and Sligo.

It comes down as O'Hea, Hay, Hays, Hayes, Hews and Hughes, all the same word.

de Hae is the other Hayes: the Norman de la Haye, at the hay or hedged field, from living in one. That family settled about the time of the invasion in Co. Wexford.

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 Hayes 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

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

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

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

Tipperary

Tipperary is landlocked. The Golden Vale running through it is the best dairy land in Ireland. The Galtees are along the southern border, with Galtymore at 917 metres. The Rock of Cashel is a limestone outcrop with a medieval cathedral and round tower on top of it.

Aerial panoramic view of the Rock of Cashel at sunset, medieval towers glowing on a limestone outcrop in TipperaryThe Rock of Cashel, Tipperary Co. Tipperary Aerial vertical view of the Rock of Cashel at sunset, medieval ruins catching golden light on the Tipperary plainThe Rock of Cashel, Tipperary (vertical) Co. Tipperary

Wexford

Wexford gets more sunshine than anywhere else in Ireland. Hook Head lighthouse has been working since the thirteenth century, which makes it one of the oldest in the world. The beaches on that coast, Curracloe and Rosslare among them, run for miles and are mostly empty.

Hook Lighthouse beam reflecting across calm waters at dusk, Co. Wexford — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxHook Lighthouse at Dusk, Wexford Co. Wexford Black and white panoramic of Hook Head lighthouse and wild sea under brooding skies, Co. Wexford — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxHook Head, Co. Wexford Co. Wexford

All Antrim prints · All Cork prints · All Dublin prints · All Galway prints · All Tipperary prints · All Wexford prints

Notable bearers

Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893), politician, lawyer, and military officer.

Helen Hayes (1900-1993), actor, autobiographer, and Ziegfeld girl.

Isaac Hayes (1942-2008), actor, singer, and musician.

Sean Hayes (born 1970), actor, composer, and film producer.

Lucy Webb Hayes (1831-1889), politician and missionary.

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 · Mason · Palmer · Warren · Ryan · Lane · Franklin · Obrien

How common the name was

In 1890, 275 births were registered under Hayes in Ireland, most of them in Antrim, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Tipperary, and Wexford.

Munster 181
Leinster 57
Ulster 27
Connacht 10
Ireland 275

Limerick is the one I haven't worked in.