Roots Archive
Roots: Reynolds and Haughey
This month we are featuring the families of our new Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Albert Reynolds,…
Roots: Unusual Irish Names
My recent article on “That’s Not an Irish Name” has prompted a lot of comment…
Roots: That’s Not an Irish Name!
Names such as Kelly, Murphy, O’Brien and Ryan are distinctively Irish and are widely known…
More Articles
Roots: The Connolly Family
The Connolly family are an ancient sept of Ireland’s western province of Connacht. The Gaelic form of the name is O’Conghaile. The original sept dispersed and in time three separate […]
Roots: The O’Neill Family
There are several different septs of the O’Neills in County Clare (where the name is also spelled O’Nihill), in Waterford and in Carlow. The most famous of the O’Neills, however, […]
Roots: The Brady Family
The Brady family name derives from the Gaelic McBradaigh which was originally anglicized as McBrady, but the “Mc” is very seldom used in modern times. The vast majority of this […]
Roots: The Kavanaghs
Unlike most of the families covered in this column, the origin of the Kavanaghs or Cavanaghs can be traced back to one specific person. This was Donal, the son of […]
Roots: The O’Neills
There are several different septs of the O’Neills in Counties Clare (where the name is also spelt O’Nihill), Waterford and Carlow. The most famous of the O’Neills, however, are the […]
Roots: Walsh, Welsh (or Brannagh)
The name Walsh or Welsh is one of the most numerous of Norman associated names found in Ireland. It seems to have been the name used independently by the many […]