List of Irish clans

Last updated April 06, 2024

The following is a list of Irish clans sourced from modern published sources.

Clans of Ireland organization

Clans of Ireland is a modern organization that was started in 1989 and has eligibility criteria for surnames to be included on their register of Irish clans. This includes that the family or clan can trace their ancestry back to before 1691 which is generally considered to mark the end of the clan based lineage system in Ireland. There can be more than one clan with the same surname if of a different ancestry.^[2] Clans of Ireland lists the following clans on their Register of Clans, some of whom have their own clan societies or associations:^[3]

Boyle - Ó Baoighill / Ó Baoill
Carty - Cartys of Connaught
Connolly – Ó Conghaile
Fitzpatrick / Mac Gilpatrick of the tribe of Cas – Mac Giolla Phádraig Dál gCais
Fitzpatrick / Mac Gilpatrick of Leinster – Mac Giolla Phádraig Laighean
Hackett of Leinster – Ó hAicéad Laighean
Joyce of Joyce Country – Seoigh Duthaigh Seoghach
Mac Cabe of Breffny – Mac Cába Breffny
Mac Carty – Mác Cárthaigh
Mac Curtin of Thomond – Mac Curtáin Thuamhumhan
Mac Garvey of Ulster – Mac Gairbhith Ulaidh
Mac Ginley of Donegal – Mag Fhionnghaile Dhún na nGall
Mac Grath of Ulster – Mac Craith Ulaidh
Mac Hale of Co. Mayo – Mac hÉil Condae Mhuigheo
Mac Kenna of Truath – Mac Cionaoith
Mac Laughlin of Donegal – Mac Lochlainn Dún na nGall
Mac Mullen Leinster - Maoláin agus Mac Maoláin
Mac Shane – Mac Seáin
McCarty - Mac Carthaigh
McGillycuddy of the Reeks
McKernan - Mac Thighearnain
Mannion of Soghan – Ó Mainnín Soghain
Morgan of Roscommon
Nolan – Ó Nualláin
O'Boylan of Darty – Ó Baoighealláin
O'Brosnan of Brosna – Ó Brosnacháin Brosnach
O'Byrne of Leinster – Ó Broin Laighean
Ó Cellaigh Dal gCais
O'Colman – Ó Colmáin Uí Fiachrach Muaidhe
O'Crowley of Cork – Ó Cruadhlaoich Corcaigh
O'Dea of Dysert – Ó Deághaidh Dísert
O'Dowd - Ó Dubhda
O'Driscoll of Corca Laoidhe – Ó hEidersceoil Corcu Loígde
O'Farrell of Annaly – Ó Fearghail Angaile
O'Flanagan – Ó Flannagáin
O'Halloran - Ó hAllmhuráin / Ó hAlluráin
O'Higgins of Ballynary
O'Lafferty of Tyrone – Ó Laithbheartaigh Tír Eoghain
O'Malley Clan – Clann Ó Máille
O'Mordha / O'Moore / Moore of Leinster
O'Mulvihill of Connacht
O'Neill – Ó Neill
O'Sullivan of Munster – Ua Súileabháin Mhumhain
O'Tierney – Ó Tighearnaigh
Poole
Quigley of Connacht - Ó Coigligh
Redfern
Roche
Lydon
Walker

LangSyne Publishers

LangSyne Publishers, who are based in Kilbarrack, Dublin, Ireland, have published individual books on the following Irish clan surnames and their histories: Barry, Boyle, Brady, Brennan, Burke, Byrne, Callaghan, Carroll, Casey, Cassidy, Clancy, Collins, Connolly, Coyle, Daly, Devlin, Doherty, Donnelly, Donovan, Doran, Doyle, Duffy, Dunne, Farrell, Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick, Flaherty, Flanagan, Flynn, Foley, Gallagher, Griffin, Healy, Higgins, Hogan, Joyce, Kane, Kavanagh, Kelly, Kennedy, Kenny, Lynch, Maguire, Malone, McCarthy, McCormick, McDermott, McGrath, McGuigan, McKenna, McLoughlin, McMahon, McManus, McNamara, Moore, Moran, Mullan, Murphy, Nolan, O'Brien, O'Dowd, O'Dwyer, O'Grady, O'Halloran, O'Hara, O'Keeffe, O'Leary, O'Neill, O'Rourke, O'Shea, O'Connor, Quinn, Reagan, Reilly, Rooney, Ryan, Sheehan, Sheridan, Sullivan, Sweeney, Traynor, Walsh, Ward, Whelan.^[4]

John Grenham (1993)

John Grenham in his 1993 book, Clans and Families of Ireland: The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families, lists the following Irish clan surnames and gives at least a paragraph of information for each: Aherne, Allen, Armstrong, Barrett, Barry, Beatty, Bell, Boyd, Boyle, Bradley, Brady, Breen, Brennan, Browne, Buckley, Burke, Burns, Butler, Byrne, Cahill, Campbell, Carroll, Casey, Cassidy, Clancy, Clarke, Cleary, Coleman, Collins, Conlon, Connolly, Conway, Corcoran, Costello, Coughlan, Craig, Cronin, Crowley, Cullen, Cunningham, Curran, Daly, Delaney, Dempsey, Dillon, Doherty, Dolan, Donnelly, Doran, Dowd, Dowling, Doyle, Driscoll, Duffy, Duggan, Dunne, Dwyer, Egan, Fahy, Farrell, Ferguson, Finnegan, Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick, Flaherty, Flanagan, Fleming, Flynn, Foley, Ford, Fox, Gallagher, Gorman, Graham, Greene, Griffin, Hall, Hamilton, Hayes, Healy, Hegarty, Hennessy, Henry, Hickey, Higgins, Hogan, Hughes, Hurley, Johnston, Jones, Joyce, Kane, Kavanagh, Keane, Kearney, Keating, Kelleher, Kelly, Kennedy, Kenny, Keogh, Kerr, Kiely, King, Leary, Lee, Lenehan, Lennon, Long, Lynch, Lyons, MacAuley, MacBride, MacCabe, McCann, MacCarthy, MacCormack, MacCullagh, MacDermot, MacDonagh, MacDonald, MacDonnell, MacEvoy, MacGillcuddy, MacGovern, MacGowan, MacGrath, MacGuiness, MacHugh, MacKenna, MacKean, MacLoughlin, MacMahon, MacManus, MacNally, MacNamara, Madden, MacGee, Maguire, Maher, Malone, Martin, Meehan, Molloy, Moloney, Monaghan, Mooney, Moore, Moran, Morgan, Moraiarty, Morris, Mullan, Mulligan, Murphy, Murray, Nolan, O'Brien, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, O'Connor, O'Donnell, O'Donoghue, O'Donovan, O'Grady, O'Hara, O'Keefe, O'Mahony, O'Neill, O'Rourke, O'Shea, O'Sullivan, O'Toole, Patterson, Power, Quigley, Quinn, Redmond, Regan, Reid, Reilly, Riordan, Robinson, Roche, Rogers, Rooney, Ryan, Scott, Sheehan, Sheridan, Smith, Stewart, Sweeney, Tobin, Wallace, Walsh, Whelan, White, Woods.^[5]

Related Research Articles

Fitzpatrick is an Irish surname that most commonly arose as an anglicised version of the Irish patronymic surname Mac Giolla Phádraig "Son of the Devotee of (St.) Patrick".

Aodhagán Ó Rathaille or Egan O'Rahilly (c.1670–1726), was an Irish language poet. He is credited with creating the first fully developed Aisling.

The kings of Osraige reigned over the medieval Irish kingdom of Osraige from the first or second century AD until the late twelfth century. Osraige was a semi-provincial kingdom in south-east Ireland which disappeared following the Norman Invasion of Ireland. A number of important royal Ossorian genealogies are preserved, particularly MS Rawlinson B502, which traces the medieval Mac Giolla Phádraig dynasty back through Óengus Osrithe, who supposedly flourished in the first or second century. and one in the Book of Leinster. Recent analysis of ninth and tenth century regnal succession in Osraige has suggested that in peaceful times, kingship passed primarily from eldest to youngest brother, before crossing generations and passing to sons and nephews.

Irish clans are traditional kinship groups sharing a common surname and heritage and existing in a lineage-based society, originating prior to the 17th century. A clan included the chief and his patrilineal relatives; however, Irish clans also included unrelated clients of the chief.

Osraige or Osraighe, Osraí, anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of the Osraige people, it existed from around the first century until the Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. It was ruled by the Dál Birn dynasty, whose medieval descendants assumed the surname Mac Giolla Phádraig.

Donoghue or O'Donoghue is an anglicised form of the Irish language surname Ó Donnchadha or Ó Donnchú.

Brian Mac Giolla Phádraig was an Irish poet and priest. He is not to be confused with any of the Barons of Upper Ossory, his relations, several of whom bore the same name in Irish.

Events from the year 1652 in Ireland.

Mac Maoláin Gaelic-Irish surname.

Muircheartach Ó Cobhthaigh was an Irish poet, a member of the Ó Cobhthaigh clan of poets from County Westmeath. He is known as the author of six extant poems:

Before the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland which took place during the late 12th century, the Irish people were Celts who lived in kinship groups as found recorded in historic manuscripts such as the Irish annals, the Leabhar na nGenealach, the Book of Ballymote, the Great Book of Lecan and Ó Cléirigh Book of Genealogies.

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Barnaby Fitzpatrick (c.1478–1575) was the last person to have claim to the kingship of Osraige; forfeiting his ancestral title in favour of being created the first Lord Baron Upper Ossory by King Henry VIII of England, by patent dated 11 June 1541, as part of the King's policy of Surrender and regrant. Barnaby Fitzpatrick was subsequently knighted on 1 July 1543.

Upper Ossory was an administrative barony in the south and west of Queen's County in Ireland. In late Gaelic Ireland it was the túath of the Mac Giolla Phádraig (Fitzpatrick) family and a surviving remnant of the once larger kingdom of Ossory. The northernmost part of the Diocese of Ossory and medieval County Kilkenny, it was transferred to the newly created Queen's County, now known as County Laois, in 1600. In the 1840s its three component cantreds, Clarmallagh, Clandonagh, and Upperwoods, were promoted to barony status, thereby superseding Upper Ossory.

Mac Giolla Phádraig is a native Irish dynastic surname which translates into English as "Son of the Devotee of (St.) Patrick". In the medieval period, the Mac Giolla Phádraigs were hereditary kings of Osraige; today, the anglicised version of the name is commonly "Fitzpatrick".

Dál Birn is a tribal epithet found in Irish sources which refers to the descendants of Loegaire Birn Buadach, the hereditary ruling lineage of the kingdom of Osraige in Ireland.

Dúngal mac Fergaile was king of Osraige from 802 until his death in 842.

Donnchad mac Gilla Pátraic, was King of Osraige and King of Leinster.

Gilla Pátraic mac Donnchada was king of Osraige and the progenitor from whom all Mac Giolla Phádraigs (Fitzpatricks) of Ossory took their hereditary surname. Gilla Pátraic succeeded his father Donnchad mac Cellaig in 976. Donnchad mac Cellaig was the son of Cellach mac Cerbaill, king of Osraige and his wife, Echrad ingen Matudán. After a reign of 21 years, Gilla Pátraic was slain by Donnabhan, king of the Danes of Waterford, and Domhnall, king of the Desies. By his wife, Maelmuire, he had five sons: (1) Donnchad mac Gilla Pátraic, king of Osraige and king of Leinster; (2) Dunghal ; (3) Tadhg ; (4) Diarmaid ; and, (5) Muircheartach.

The surname Mulpatrick originates from the Irish surname O' Maol Phadraig. One of the locations the name is first recorded is in Clogher in County Tyrone.

References

↑ Leerssen, Joep (2008). "The 'The': Clan Chiefs in Modern Ireland". The Irish Review (Cork) (38): 111 and 115. JSTOR 29736378.
↑ "Registering an Irish Clan - Registration Criteria". clansofireland.ie. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
↑ "Register of Clans". clansofireland.ie. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
↑ "Irish Books". langsyneshop.co.uk. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
↑ Grenham, John (1993). Clans and Families of Ireland: The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families. Gill and Macmillan Publishers. pp. 78–183. ISBN 0717120325.

Sources

MacLysaght, Edward (1985). Irish Families - Their Names, Arms and Origins (4th ed.). Blackrock, Dublin: Irish Academic Press. ISBN 0716523647. The 6th edition includes over 4,000 Irish surnames

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[1] Leerssen, Joep (2008). "The 'The': Clan Chiefs in Modern Ireland". The Irish Review (Cork) (38): 111 and 115. JSTOR 29736378.

[2] "Registering an Irish Clan - Registration Criteria". clansofireland.ie. Retrieved September 16, 2023.

[3] "Register of Clans". clansofireland.ie. Retrieved September 16, 2023.

[4] "Irish Books". langsyneshop.co.uk. Retrieved September 16, 2023.

[5] Grenham, John (1993). Clans and Families of Ireland: The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families. Gill and Macmillan Publishers. pp. 78–183. ISBN 0717120325.

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