Family stories
Some names never moved far
Five families and the ground they held. The red ring marks the old seat; the darkest shade marks where the name was thickest when the census came in 1926. We add new stories as we research them.
Burt Castle, Inishowen
O'Doherty
Lords of Inishowen until 1608, when Cahir O'Doherty burned Derry and lost the peninsula to Sir Arthur Chichester. Three centuries later the name still crowded the peninsula's northern tip.
498 of 1,440 people
Ardmalin, Co. Donegal, census of 1926
Joyce Country, Galway and Mayo
Joyce
The mountains between Lough Mask, Lough Corrib and Killary Harbour carry the family's name on the map today: Dúiche Sheoigheach, Joyce Country.
190 of 266 people
Illion, Co. Galway, census of 1926
Clare Island, Clew Bay
O'Malley
Clare Island Abbey holds the O'Malley tomb and its motto, Terra Marique Potens: powerful by land and sea. Grace O'Malley's people held the bay.
101 of 479 people
Clare Island, Co. Mayo, census of 1926
Dún na Séad, Baltimore
O'Driscoll
Lords of Baltimore and the islands of Roaringwater Bay, with castles on Sherkin and Cape Clear. The islands kept the name.
261 of 1,294 people
Cape Clear district, Co. Cork, census of 1926
Castle Donovan, Drimoleague
O'Donovan
The ruined tower house still stands near Drimoleague in west Cork. In 1926 the name's strongest district lay close by.
124 of 669 people
Carrigbaun, Co. Cork, census of 1926
The story of your own name
Where your surname began, the old seat, the records that name it, and how far it spread by 1926. Researched for you and added to your order at checkout.
Lettering from John Speed's maps of Ireland, 1610, public domain. Census of Ireland 1926 and 1911, National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.