Ward

An Irish surname of Donegal, Dublin, and Galway. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 260,464 people, the 79th most common surname in the country.

Mac An Bháird. This family stood in Co. Donegal, Co. Dublin, and Co. Galway.

Where the name comes from

Mac an Bháird is son of the bard, from bárd, and it is a very common surname found in every county in Ireland, especially Donegal, Galway and Dublin.

Three families of the name are known to history, and all three did the job. Mac an Bháird of Tirconnell were bards to the O'Donnells; Mac an Bháird of Ui Maine were bards to the O'Kellys and were seated at Muine Chasain and Ballymacward; and there was a third family of the name in Oriel.

Nocturne, Fanad Head, Co. Donegal
Nocturne, Fanad Head, Co. Donegal

The Ward counties, photographed

Donegal

Slieve League is about 600 metres from clifftop to sea, one of the highest sea cliffs in Europe. Errigal is the highest mountain in the county at 751 metres, and it's quartzite, so it turns pink in low light. Glenveagh National Park covers about 16,000 hectares behind them.

Fanad Head Lighthouse at dawn with sunrise over Inishowen, Co. Donegal, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxFanad Head at Dawn, Co. Donegal Co. Donegal St. John's Point Lighthouse standing on the headland on a bright spring day with green grass, DonegalSt. John's Point Lighthouse, Co. Donegal Co. Donegal Tory Island Lighthouse beam sweeping through hazy night air on both sides of the tower in a long exposure on the Donegal coastNocturne, Tory Island Lighthouse, Co. Donegal Co. Donegal Intense double rainbow arching across the sky over green mountains near Glencolmcille in County DonegalRainbow, Glencolmcille, Co. Donegal Co. Donegal

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

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 Dramatic storm waves battering tall cliffs at sunset on the west coast of Inis Meain, Aran IslandsPoll an tSéideáin Panoramic, Inis Meáin, Aran Islands, Co. Galway Co. Galway Turf drying at sunset with Connemara mountains in the background, Co. Galway, Ireland, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxConnemara Turf, Co. Galway Co. Galway

All Donegal prints · All Dublin prints · All Galway prints

Notable bearers

Sela Ward (born 1956), actor, film producer, and model.

Fred Ward (1942-2022), actor.

Danny Ward (born 1993), association football player.

Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), writer, songwriter, and poet.

Bill Ward (born 1948), singer, musician, and composer.

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, 1,213 births were registered under Ward in Ireland, most of them in Donegal, Dublin, and Galway.

Ulster 87
Leinster 67
Connacht 47
Munster 22
Ireland 1,213