Irish America
Irish America
The O’Reilly family name comes from the Gaelic O’Raghailligh, meaning descendants of Raghaillach. The O’Reillys were the most powerful sept of the old Gaelic Kingdom of Breffny, and the family remains numerous in the area that made up this kingdom: Cavan and the surrounding counties. The name is frequently shortened to Reilly or Riley. Members of the O’Reilly clan are … [Read more...] about Roots | The O’Reilly / Reilly Clan
Genealogy is all about researching your family’s history, but every once in a while, it can turn up a piece of your own past. I was fortunate enough to experience this when I received a response to a letter I had written to a stranger in Ireland 28 years earlier – in 1984. More peculiar still, the gentleman I contacted had passed away in 1990. Perhaps I should explain. I’ve … [Read more...] about Roots | Letter to Ireland Answered – 28 Years Later
This month we are featuring the families of our new Taoiseach [Prime Minister] Albert Reynolds, and our previous Taoiseach Charles Haughey. Both names are Gaelic in origin and both exemplify the interesting variation in name-forms which can occur in the change of Gaelic names to an anglicized form. Although Reynolds is also an English name of Norman origin, almost all of the … [Read more...] about Roots: Reynolds and Haughey
My recent article on "That's Not an Irish Name" has prompted a lot of comment from readers with interesting names, and theories about their derivation. I must also acknowledge one mistake. Bill Delaney of Philadelphia corrected me on the name Delaney, which had been given as an example of the many Norman names with the prefix "De." Delaney, however, is of course, derived from … [Read more...] about Roots: Unusual Irish Names
Names such as Kelly, Murphy, O'Brien and Ryan are distinctively Irish and are widely known to be so. However, there are many names which are Irish but this fact is far from obvious. Names such as Holland, King, Waters, Rabbitte, Woods, Smith, Kidney, Bird, Salmon, Moore, Traynor, Moss, Fox and Dean and many others can be of Irish origin due to some strange evolutions of … [Read more...] about Roots: That’s Not an Irish Name!
