Henry

An Irish surname of Antrim and Sligo. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 170,964 people, the 149th most common surname in the country.

Henry 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.

Mac Éinrí, son of Henry. This family stood in Co. Wexford.

Mac Hanraoi, Mac Hannraoi, son of Henry

Ó Hinneirghe, descendant of Inneirghe (the rising, early riser). This family stood in Co. Tyrone.

Where the name comes from

Mac Éinrí is son of Henry, a very common name among the early Anglo-Norman settlers, and it covers several distinct families. It is common in Ulster and parts of Connacht, and it has produced MacEnry, MacEndry, MacHenry, MacHendrie, MacKendry, Fitzhenry and Hendry. The Fitzhenrys of Wexford are an Anglo-Norman family. The variant Mac Hanraoi reaches further still, as far as Fitzharris, Harris and Harrison.

Ó hInneirghe is a native name entirely: descendant of Inneirghe, the rising, an early riser. The family belonged to the Cinel Eoghain and were chiefs of Cuileanntrach in Co. Tyrone. Cian Ó hInneirghe was one of the chiefs who fell at the battle of Down in 1250, and the name is very common in Ulster.

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 Henry 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 Sunset over Bengore Head with waves rolling over rocks, Co. Antrim, Ireland — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxBengore Head, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Sunset over the Skerries coast in County Antrim with warm light reflecting on wet sand and rock formationsThe Skerries, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim

Sligo

Benbulben is a limestone plateau with its sides cut away by ice, standing flat-topped over the plain. Knocknarea has a cairn on top, thought to be a passage tomb and never excavated. Strandhill and Mullaghmore get some of the biggest surf in Europe. Yeats is buried at Drumcliffe below Benbulben.

Mullaghmore, Co. SligoMullaghmore, Co. Sligo Co. Sligo Ruined cottage on a blustery day in the Ox Mountains, Co. Sligo, Ireland, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxCottage, Ox Mountains, Co. Sligo Co. Sligo Aerial view of a stream winding across a beach to the sea, Co. Sligo, Ireland — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxBeach Detail, Co. Sligo Co. Sligo Benbulben mountain bathed in sunset light, Co. Sligo, Ireland — fine art aerial landscape photograph by Peter CoxBenbulben, Co. Sligo Co. Sligo

All Antrim prints · All Sligo prints

Notable bearers

Thierry Henry (born 1977), association football player, association football coach, and sports commentator.

Joseph Henry (1797-1878), university teacher, physicist, and engineer.

Lou Henry Hoover (1874-1944), politician, geologist, and president.

Patrick Henry (1736-1799), writer, politician, and lawyer.

Frederick Henry of Orange-Nassau (1584-1647), politician, art collector, and military leader.

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, 132 births were registered under Henry in Ireland, most of them in Antrim, Sligo, and Tyrone.

Ulster 73
Connacht 41
Leinster 17
Munster 1
Ireland 132

Tyrone is the one I haven't worked in.