Irish Identity

Where your folk
came from

Daffy A Clare name.	Dagg An English name seen on old records in Wicklow and Wexford.
Dahill Associated with Tipperary.	MacDaid Son of David with Donegal and Derry as its homeland. Anglicised to MacDavitt and MacDevitt.
Dallaghan An old Irish name found mostly in Connacht.	Dallagher A Limerick clan.
Dallas From Scotland and seen in Derry.	Dalton A Norman family D’Alton. Prominent in counties Meath and Westmeath.
Daly Numerous with a broad spread. Most dense pockets can be seen in Cork, Westmeath and Galway.	Danaher Also Danagher. Associated with Limerick and west Tipperary.
Dane A Roscommon sept sometimes linked to Deane.	MacDaniel Close links with McDonnell. Also Scottish origin. See Ulster and Westmeath.
Darby An English name, common enough in Meath. Linked to the Irish name Darmody.	Darcy One of the tribes of Galway. Usually of Norman origin, especially in Leinster.
Dardis Norman extraction and seen in Leinster.	Dargan O’Deargáin means red. Becomes Dorgan in Cork.
Darling English and recorded in Dublin and Belfast.	Darmody Also Dermody. Close relationship with such as MacDermott and Darby. Common enough is Tipperary and neighbouring counties. See also Westmeath.
MacDarragh Found in Antrim. Sometimes anglicised to Oakes.	Davane A Connacht spelling of Devane. See also Davin.
Davern See Davoren.	Davey Or Davy. English and seen in Dublin. Sometimes arrives from MacDavitt.
Davidson A Scottish clan and numerous throughout Ulster.	Davis Originally from Wales. Now quite common throughout the country.
Davitt Sometimes with the prefix Mac. Seen in Mayo and Galway.	Davoren A Clare sept which is also on record in parts of Tipperary.
Dawson An English family with roots in Tipperary and Monaghan.	O’Dea Also O’Dee. Generally comes with the prefix O. Connected to Godwin. A Clare name.
Deady Seen in Limerick and Kerry.	Dealy Also Dealey and found in Cork.
Deane One of the tribes of Galway. Originally le Den. But from O’Deaghains in Tipperary and Mac an Deagánaigh in Donegal.	Deany Also Deanie or Deeney and a Donegal name.
Deasy Déiseach, meaning from the Decies (Waterford). Mostly recorded in nearby Cork.	O’Dee See O’Dea.
Deegan A Laois family .	Deehan Related to Deighan, sometimes anglicised to Dickson. Generally an Ulster name, also Roscommon.
Deeley A county Galway name with close links to Divilly.	Deenihan See also Dinaghan. Originally Limerick, now mostly Kerry.
Deeny O Duibne (a disagreeable one). Found in Donegal and Derry.	Deering An English family and found in Wexford and Wicklow.
Deery A Derry name.	Deevy Associated with Laois and Kilkenny. Linked to Devoy.
Deighan Connected to Deegan, Deehan and Dickson.	Deignan See Duigenan. An important Leitrim-Roscommon family who moved to Cavan, Longford and Westmeath and where the name is often spelt Dignam.
Delahunty Originally from O’Carroll country in Offaly. Still found in this part of the midlands.	Delaney Delane in Mayo but one of the most common name in Kilkenny, Laois, south Offaly and north Tipperary.
Delap Sometimes Lappin and seen in Mayo, Galway and Donegal.	Delargy Originally Mayo, nowadays Antrim.
Deloughery Found in Cork and often spell in other forms like Deloorey or Dilloughery.	Dempsey A well known family who feature prominently in Irish history. Still common in Laois, Offaly area.
Dennany Or Denneny, is found in Cavan.	Dennery See Roscommon and Mayo.
Dennigan Or Denegan. Linked to Donegan and usually comes up in Connacht.	Dennis Of mixed origin, usually English. Seen in Cork and Dublin. Dennison in Ulster.
Denny An English family. Connected to Dennehy in Kerry though.	Dermody See Darmody. Found in Westmeath, Kilkenny and Galway.
MacDermot An important Connacht sept. Still strongly connected to the Galway-Roscommon homeland.	Dervan A Galway name.
Desmond A Cork family who could be related to the Fitzgeralds.	Devally Connected to Devilly.
Devane O Dubháin, the black one. Divane in Kerry, Devane is usually associated with Connacht.	Devanny Found in Donegal and Sligo.
Deven Or Devon and Devin which is found in Louth and Meath.	Devereux A Norman family which settled in Wexford.
Devery Found in Laois and Offaly.	Devine Connected to Divine and Devin. Popular Galway name.
MacDevitt See MacDaid	Devlin A very numerous Tyrone sept which has links to Dolan in north Connacht.
Devoy See Deevy	Diamond An erenagh family long associated with Derry.
Dick Or Dix, of Scottish origin and found in the Down-Antrim region.	Dickson An English name but sometimes linked to the Irish Deechan or Deighan.
Diffney Another spelling of Devaney.	Diggin Found in Kerry.
Dignam See Deignan	Dilgan Seen in Clare.
Dillane Found along the Kerry-Limerick border. Connected to Dillon and Delaney.	Dillon A Norman family who, as they say, became more Irish than the Irish. Nowadays common in Galway and Roscommon.
Dinan Or Dynan. Sometimes changed to Dinneen. See Cork and Clare.	Dinkin Originally north Connacht, changed to Duncan.
Dinneen A literary family and fairly popular in Cork.	Dinnegan Found in Westmeath and Longford. Related to Donegan.
Dirrane Or Derrane, a Galway name.	Diskin From Ballydiscin in Sligo. Recorded in Galway area.
Disney Taken from the French D’Isigny.	Diver Sometimes with the prefix Mac. Very common in Donegal. See Dever in Mayo. Also MacDwyer.
Divilly A Galway name. See Devilly.	Diviney Or Divenny. On record in Mayo.
Dix A variant of Dick	Dixon See Dickson. English.
Dobbin Common enough in Ulster. Also on record in Waterford and Kilkenny.	Dobbs Long established English family in Antrim.
MacDockery MacDháil Ré Dochair, an east Connacht sept. Connected to Harden.	Dodd English origins, seen in the north of Ireland.
Doheny A popular Cork name.	Doherty A great Inishowen clan. From its Donegal homeland spread to other areas of Ulster. See Doorty, Docherty or Dorrity.
Dolan From the Irish O’Dobhailen. Homeland around the south Roscommon-East Galway area. Now also popular in Cavan, Leitrim and Fermanagh.	Dollard Found in Laois.
Dolly O’Dathlaoich, menaing champion. A Galway name.	Dolphin Of Norse extraction, came with the Normans. Found in Meath and Galway.
MacDonagh MacDonnchadha. Nowadays mostly associated with Galway. The Connemara clan are related to the O’Flahertys. MacDermott is another close relation while the MacDonaghs of Cork became MacCarthy.	MacDonaghy A Tyrone-Derry name and a variant of MacDonagh.
MacDonald A Scottish clan common in the northern counties.	Donaldson Popular Ulster name.
McDonald While it is true that our clan originated in what is now called "Scotland", it is just as true that Ireland was referred to as "Scotia" and her people the "Sots", hundreds of years before the name "Ireland" and "Irish" came into being. My clan, the McDonalds, can trace our ancestry right back to Ireland and to the high kings of Ireland. Every one of our historic records bears out the fact that our Gaelic ancestors came from Dal Riata, in Antrim. We began in Ireland, not Scotland. I would like very much for you to add that part to our history and include us as being Irish Gaels, as well. When my clan came to Ireland, we were coming home to the birthplace or our people. I'm proud to be Irish, even though national boundaries now exist that say otherwise. Remember, once there was once a naton of Gaels on either side of the Moyle. It' high time the Irish and Highlanders realized we are one family of Celts, separated by time and geography, but the same blood. *Sincerely, James M. McDonald*
Donarty Seen in south Tipperary.	Dondon Or Dundon. A Norman family, found in Tipperary.
Donegan Or Dunnigan. A list of unrelated septs. These include a branch in Cork, Tipperary, Roscommon and Westmeath. In Offaly, it has links to Dunican.	Dongan English but also connected to Donegan.
Donlan Or Donlon. Closely related to the Donnellans. Popular in Longford, Roscommon and neighbouring parts of Westmeath.	Donledy See Dunledy.
Donly See Donnelly.	Donnan Of Norman origin in Cork but generally associated with Down.
MacDonnell Three different branches. The most significant is the Gallowglass arm from the Glens of Antrim. Also Clare and Fermanagh.	O’Donnell A very powerful Donegal clan. Also popular enough in Clare and Galway.
Donnellan Said to have strong links to Elphin in Roscommon but the Donnellan heartland is the Galway-Roscommon border areas.	Donnelly Very popular name in Tyrone and surrounding counties.
O’Donoghue Or Donohoe. A powerful west Cork clan who later moved to Kerry. Two other branches in Galway and Cavan where it is usually spelt Donohoe.	MacDonough See MacDonagh.
Donovan Originally Limerick, moved to south west Cork, where they became prominent.	Doody Found in Kerry. Connected to O’Dowd.
Doogan See Duggan.	Dooy Often spelt Dougue.
Doohan A Donegal name.	Dooher Found in Mayo, Sligo, Donegal and Tyrone.
MacDool Connected to MacDowell.	Doolan Linked to Doolin, Dowling and Dolan. Found in Cork.
Doole A variant of Doyle in Ulster.	Dooley An important sept from the Slieve Blooms along the Laois-Offaly border.
Doonan An erenagh Fermanagh family, found in Roscommon, Leitrim and Meath.	Dooner A Roscommon-Leitrim name. See also Meath.
Donnegan Or Dunican. Another erenagh family from Fermanagh. Popular in Offaly, Westmeath, Longford area.	Doorey Found in Mayo and Roscommon.
Doorish Originally along Monaghan-Fermanagh border. Also found in Tyrone and Longford.	Doorley Two septs, one Cork, the other where Roscommon and Galway join. Found nowadays in Galway and Offaly.
Doorty O’Dubhartaigh was anglicised to Doorty in Clare and Doherty in Cork.	Doran Sometimes spelt Dorran, one of the Seven Septs of Laois. Still found in large numbers around the midlands.
Dorgan See Dargan	Dornan An Antrim, Down version of Durnin.
Dorney A Cork, Tipperary clan sometimes changed to Durney in east Cork.	Dorohy Found in parts of south west Kerry.
Dorran See Doran	Dorrian Also Durrian and Durran which are Mourne variants of Doran.
Dorrigan Linked to Dorgan in Cork.	Dougan Often Doogan in Connacht, Duggan in Munster and Dougan in Ulster.
Doughan Found in north Tipperary and south Offaly.	Doughty An English family which is associated with east Cavan.
Douglas Scottish and common in Ulster.	Dow Also associated with the north east and a branch of the Scottish clan Buchanan.
O’Dowd O Dubhda, from the Sligo-Mayo area. A Kerry branch became Doody and Duddy in Derry. Sometimes spelt Dowds.	Dowdall An English family associated with the Navan area of Meath since the arrival of the Normans.
Dowdican Or Dudican, is on record in Sligo.	MacDowell The Irish form of the Scottish clan MacDougal who arrived as Gallowglasses. Nowdays mostly found in Donegal.
Dowling One of the Seven Septs of Laois. Still numerous in the midlands of Laois-Offaly and further south. Another clan migrated to Kerry.	Downes A Clare-Limerick name.
Downey Sometimes changed to Muldowney and MacEldowney in Ulster. See Kerry, Cork and Galway.	Downing An English name but sometimes an anglicisation of Downey or variation of Dinneen.
Doyle Of Norse origin and found in large numbers in the south east of the country.	Drake An English family and a number of Drakestowns exist in the old Pale area.
Draper An English family. See Draperstown, Co. Derry. Associated with west Cork.	Drea A variation of Drew.
Dreelan Seen in south Leinster especially in Kilkenny area.	Drennan On record in Galway, Laois, Kilkenny. Sometimes changed to Thornton in Connacht.
Drew English origin, although an anglicisation of O’Draoi in Clare.	Drinan A variation of Drennan in Cork.
Dring Seen in Cork area.	O’Driscoll A great west Cork clan who have spread into neighbouring areas of Kerry.
Drislane Recorded in Cork.	Drohan Often Droghan and comes up in counties Waterford, Kilkenny and Wexford.
Droody A name which is sometimes changed to Drury in Roscommon and Mayo.	Drumm A erenagh family from the Fermanagh-Cavan border. Can be seen in Cavan and Meath. A Cork branch became known as Drummy.
Drumgoole A Jacobite family and seen in Dublin area.	Drury Mac an Druaidh, anglicised to Drewry and Drew.
Duane Linked to Dwane, a Connacht name.	Ducey Or Doucey, seen in Waterford.
Duff Means black (dubh). Linked to MacElduff in Tyrone and Duffy in Monaghan. Popular north Meath name.	Duggan While seen in Munster, is generally associated with Galway.
Duhig Or Doohig is a Cork version of Duffy.	Duignan Originating in Leitrim area, it has spread eastwards to Longford, Cavan, Westmeath and Meath.
Duke Usually from the French word Duc (leader). Found in Ulster, and also in Meath and Cavan.	Dullaghan Usually linked to north Louth.
Dunbar A Scottish clan who settled in west Ulster.	Duncan Scottish, sometimes the anglicisation of Donegan.
Dundon See Dondon.	Dunford Found in Waterford, linked to Donarty.
Dungan See Dongan	Dunican See Donegan
Dunlea A west Cork family.	Dunlevy Often with the prefix O, a Donegal family who fell under the influence of the O’Donnells. Those who went to Scotland became known as Dunlop or Dunlief.
Dunlop See Dunlevy.	Dunne Dunn is English but Dunne remains one of the more popular Irish names. Heavy concentration in the Laois, Offaly area.
Dunnigan See Donegan.	Dunning On record in Athlone.
Dunny A variant of Downey, seen around Kildare area.	Dunphy The Macs are related to MacDonagh but the more numerous Dunphys originated in Kilkenny.
Dunwoody A Scottish name found in Ulster.	Durack Found in east Clare.
Durkan Or Dorcan. O’Duarcáin means pessimist. A common name in Mayo and Sligo.	Durnane Connected to Durnin.
Durnin On record in Louth.	Durnian Seen in Ulster counties.
Dwane From O’Dabhaín (black). Anglicised Dwane in Kerry and west Limerick, Downes in Clare and Duane in Galway-Mayo.	O’Dwyer A great Tipperary family.
Dyer The English Dyer is usually found in Wexford but the Irish MacDyer is more common and found in the north west.