Surnames in Ireland

By Sir Robert E. Matheson

The full title of this work is Special Report on Surnames in Ireland, with Notes as to Numerical Strength, Derivation, Ethnology and Distribution and it was originally published in Dublin, 1909 (78 pages). It is a very useful reference work, based on information extracted from the indexes of the General Registrar's Office. After a brief introduction, the report begins with a list of the 100 most commons surnames, in order of frequency, with an estimate of the number of persons bearing each surname. This first list is based on the index of births for the year 1890, and shows Murphy as the most common Irish surname, with about 62,600 bearing the name. The name Dwyer ranks 100 in the list, with about 8,100 persons. Next are listed the fifty most common names in England, followed by the fifty most common Scottish surnames, for comparisons. Next the derivation of Irish surnames is considered, along with observations on their distribution. Particular attention is given to names bearing the "Mac" or "O" prefixes. Another table shows the names most common in each county, usually listing from ten to twenty surnames for each county, in order of frequency. About half of the publication consists of a table of approximately 2500 surnames --all of the names for which there were five or more entries in the birth indexes for 1890. For each surname the table shows how many births were registered in all of Ireland, then breaks it down for each of the four provinces. Then the table lists those counties where the name was most frequently found. (The approximate number of persons bearing each name can be calculated by multiplying the figures given by 44.8). Finally, the addendum includes a list of names of Irish Septs contained in the Book of Arms compiled by Sir James Terry, Athlone Herald (1690).

Matheson's Surnames in Ireland

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0001 Title
0002 Title Page
0003 Preface
0004 Table of contents
0005 Introduction
0006 Introduction
0007 Principal Surnames in Ireland
0008 Principal Surnames in Ireland
0009 Principal Surnames in Ireland
0010 Principal Surnames in Ireland
0011 Derivation of Surnames
0012 Derivation of Surnames
0013 Derivation of Surnames
0014 Derivation of Surnames
0015 Celtic Names
0016 Celtic Names
0017 Celtic Names
0018 Celtic Names
0019 Celtic Names
0020 Celtic Names
0021 Celtic Names
0022 Celtic Names
0023 Celtic Names
0024 Danish Names
0025 Anglo Norman Names / English Names
0026 Cornish Names / Welsh Names
0027 Welsh Names
0028 Scottish Names / Huguenot Names
0029 German Palatinate Names
0030 Jewish Names
0031 Distribution of Surnames
0032 Distribution of Surnames
0033 Distribution of Surnames
0034 Distribution of Surnames
0035 Distribution of Surnames
0036 Distribution of Surnames
0037 NAMES: Abbott
0038 Bannister
0039 Bohane
0040 Brownlee
0041 Carey
0042 Clerkin
0043 Coogan
0044 Crosbie
0045 Day
0046 Donnell
0047 Dunne
0048 Farrell
0049 Flynn
0050 Garrett
0051 Godfrey
0052 Gunn
0053 Hartnett
0054 Hillis
0055 Hyndman
0056 Kelly
0057 Kirwan
0058 Lennox
0059 Lynn
0060 Maughan
0061 McClelland
0062 McErlain
0063 McIlroy
0064 McNiff
0065 Mitchell
0066 Mulqueen
0067 Oakley
0068 Paisley
0069 Quail
0070 Roberts
0071 Seery
0072 Smith
0073 Taaffe
0074 Trueman
0075 Webster
0076 Addendum
0077 Addendum
0078 Addendum