Walsh is the English form of Breathnach, or more correctly Breatnach, the Irish word for a Welshman. Irish speakers gave that description to the settlers who crossed from Wales with the Anglo-Norman lords in the late twelfth century, and because it named an origin rather than a single ancestor, many separate families came to bear it. Walshe is the same name with a final e.
Walsh families put down roots early in Cork, Dublin, Kerry, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow, and in County Kilkenny the Walsh Mountains, Sliabh Breatnach, still carry the name. By 1890 Walsh ranked fourth among Irish surnames, strongest in Cork, Mayo, Waterford, Galway, Dublin and Wexford, and Famine emigration from Mayo and Galway carried it across the Atlantic. Among its distinguished bearers is William Walsh, Archbishop of Dublin from 1885 to 1921.
The Walsh range is built for giving. A woven blanket, two garden flag designs, ceramic Christmas ornaments and a heritage mug are set on the Irish National Tartan, with a cork coaster set, a wall pennant, crest and harp T-shirts, and a novelty license plate to round it out. Trace the name from Wales to Mayo in our Walsh surname history.