Moore

An Irish surname of Antrim, Cork, and Dublin. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 724,374 people, the 18th most common surname in the country.

Moore is the anglicised form of four 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 Móra

de Múra

Ó Mórdha, descendant of Mórdha (majestic). This family stood in Co. Kerry and Co. Laois.

Ó Mothair, descendant of Mothar (dark). This family stood in Co. Cork.

Where the name comes from

Ó Mórdha is descendant of Mórdha, the majestic, and it belonged to a distinguished Leinster family who were chiefs of Leix. Their chief fortress was at Dunamase near Maryborough, and the ruins still remain.

The O'Mores make a remarkable figure in Irish history, having with conspicuous bravery defied for several centuries all the power of the English invaders to conquer their territory. Rory O'More, a celebrated chieftain in the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth, defeated them in many engagements, and his son Owney O'More was a famous commander in the wars against Elizabeth. Perhaps no Irish family suffered greater cruelties at the hands of the English. In 1609 the remnant of the clan was transplanted to Kerry and settled near Tarbert, though many of them returned.

de Móra is the other Moore: the Norman de la More, at the moor or heath, from living beside one. An old Anglo-Norman surname still found in parts of Munster and Connacht, and one that cannot be told apart from the Irish once both are in English.

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 Moore 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

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

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

All Antrim prints · All Cork prints · All Dublin prints

Notable bearers

Demi Moore (born 1962), film actor, television actor, and stage actor.

Julianne Moore (born 1960), actor, writer, and musician.

Roger Moore (1927-2017), actor, film producer, and television producer.

Michael Moore (born 1954), film actor, writer, and screenwriter.

Henry Moore (1898-1986), artist, illustrator, and sculptor.

This name is borne widely in Britain as well as Ireland. What follows is where it was found in Ireland, not a claim that every family carrying it came from here.

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 · Jackson · Martin · Lee · Thompson · White

How common the name was

In 1890, 396 births were registered under Moore in Ireland, most of them in Antrim, Cork, Dublin, Kildare, Londonderry, Tyrone, and Westmeath.

Ulster 185
Leinster 135
Munster 52
Connacht 24
Ireland 396

Kildare, Londonderry, Tyrone, and Westmeath are the ones I haven't worked in.