Ryan has two Irish sources. Most Ryans descend from Ó Maoilriain, “descendant of Maolriain,” a family of Leinster origin that settled in the thirteenth or fourteenth century in Owney in County Tipperary and Owneybeg in east Limerick, where they became numerous and powerful; the older form Mulryan preserves that name. A separate Ó Riain family, lords of Idrone in County Carlow, spread the Ryan and O’Ryan name through Leinster.
In 1610 William Ryan surrendered his lands in the barony of Owney O’Mulryan to the Crown and received them back by letters patent, and although the estates were lost in the seventeenth-century confiscations, the name kept its Munster strength. In 1890 Tipperary recorded by far the most Ryan births, with Limerick next, and Ryan ranked eighth among Irish surnames.
The Ryan range gives the name a place at home and in the garden. A woven blanket, two garden flag designs and two ceramic Christmas ornaments are set on the Irish National Tartan, alongside an accent mug, a cork coaster set, a wall pennant, crest and harp T-shirts, and a novelty license plate. Explore the Tipperary and Carlow lines in our Ryan surname history.