Do you have Irish surnames in your family tree? If the answer is yes, then read on – and discover more about the surnames of Ireland, where they come from – and see if you can spot some of your Irish surnames.

Ask And Ye Shall Receive

During my four trips to Ireland I have never been disappointed at the generosity and helpfulness of the locals I have encountered on my travels. This is particularly the case if you explain that you have “returned” to trace the footsteps of your ancestors. Here are some examples of what I have encountered…… During my…

Tralee to Kilkee on the Wild Atlantic Way

Coming into the town of Tralee – the administrative capital of County Kerry – my mind always goes back to the Rose of Tralee festival. Specifically to the early 1980s and heading down to Tralee for the craic, sleeping only when necessary and wherever possible. Funny how those memories can colour your impressions of a…

Irish Norman Surnames.

When we hear the word “Norman” in Ireland today, we often think of the “Anglo-Norman” invasion of Ireland in 1170 that we learned about in school. Many of my own friends today have Norman surnames – Roche, Barry, Fitzgerald and so on. We attended the same classes in school, played for the same teams and…

Did your Family Live in an Irish Castle?

When a new reader signs up for our weekly Letter from Ireland – we ask them to supply the Irish surnames in their family tree AND the county their ancestor emigrated from. So far we have collected over 21,000 Irish entries in our database of Irish surnames representing over 3,750 different surnames. If you’d like to…