Sutton

An Irish surname of Cork, Dublin, and Wexford. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 90,964 people, the 341st most common surname in the country.

de Sutún. This family stood in Co. Kildare and Co. Wexford.

Where the name comes from

de Sutún is of Sutton, a common place-name in England. The Suttons are an old and respectable Anglo-Norman family who settled soon after the invasion in Kildare and Wexford.

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

The Sutton 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 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

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

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 Moonrise, Tramore, Co. WexfordMoonrise, Tramore, Co. Wexford Co. Wexford Long exposure of carnival Ferris wheel at night on the coast, Tramore, Co. Wexford, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxCarnival, Tramore, Co. Wexford Co. Wexford

All Cork prints · All Dublin prints · All Wexford prints

Notable bearers

Chris Sutton (born 1973), association football player and association football coach.

May Sutton (1886-1975), tennis player.

Christopher Sutton (born 1984), sport cyclist.

Richard S. Sutton (born 1950), university teacher, engineer, and computer scientist.

Antony C. Sutton (1925-2002), university teacher, engineer, and historian.

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: Williams · Davis · Edwards · Cooper · Kelly · Cox · Brooks · Wood · James · Price · Butler · Jordan

How common the name was

In 1890, 27 births were registered under Sutton in Ireland, most of them in Cork, Dublin, and Wexford.

Leinster 19
Connacht no figure printed
Munster no figure printed
Ulster no figure printed
Ireland 27