50 items

• McMahon & MacMahon Irish Surname History: Origins & Meaning

  McMahon and MacMahon derive from the historical Irish form Mac Mathghamhna, “son of Mathghamhain.” Surname scholarship distinguishes major Oriel/Monaghan and Thomond/Clare traditions within the name.

• Flanagan Irish Surname History: Origins, Meaning & Ó Flannagáin Heritage

  The Flanagan surname derives from the Gaelic Ó Flannagáin, hereditary lords of Tuath Róin in County Roscommon and one of the principal Gaelic families of medieval Connacht. From the political...

• Corcoran Irish Surname: History, Origins & Heritage of a Clare Family

  The Corcoran surname comes from the Irish O Corcráin, meaning descendant of Corcrán, a personal name thought to derive from the old Irish word for purple or crimson. Associated primarily...

• Clancy Irish Surname: History, Origins & Heritage of a Clare Family

  The Clancy surname comes from the Irish Mac Fhlannchaidh, meaning son of Flannchadh, a personal name built on the Gaelic words for red and warrior. The family were hereditary brehons...

• Famous Americans with Scottish Clan Surnames — Is Your Family Name on This List? (2026)

  Explore which famous Americans had Scottish clan surnames — from presidents like Andrew Jackson and Woodrow Wilson to inventors like Andrew Carnegie and Alexander Graham Bell — and what that...

• O'Boyle Irish Surname History: Origins, Meaning & Ó Baoill Heritage

  The O'Boyle surname comes from the Gaelic Ó Baoighill, a principal family of Cenél Conaill in County Donegal whose country became the barony of Boylagh. From the O'Donnell world of...

• Battle of the Yellow Ford 1598: Hugh O’Neill’s Great Ulster Victory

  On 14 August 1598, Hugh O’Neill and his allies defeated Sir Henry Bagenal’s relief force near Armagh in a turning point of the Nine Years’ War.

• Glenveagh Castle History, O'Donnell Connections and Donegal Heritage

  Glenveagh Castle sits in the wild highlands of Donegal, built on land cleared of its Gaelic tenants in the nineteenth century. Discover the history of Glenveagh, the O'Donnell heritage of...

• Irish Castles of Munster: Cork, Kerry, Tipperary, Limerick and Clare Heritage

  Munster is home to some of Ireland's most celebrated castles, from Blarney and the Rock of Cashel to Cahir, Bunratty, and the tower houses of Cork and Kerry. Discover the...

• Higgins Irish Surname History: Origins, Meaning & Ó hUigínn Heritage

  The Higgins surname derives from the Gaelic Ó hUigínn, a hereditary bardic family of the first rank who served as poets and historians to the O'Donnell lords of Donegal across...

• Henry VII’s Birthplace: What Pembroke Castle Can Actually Tell Us

  The birthplace is secure; the exact room is a more interesting question. Follow Margaret Beaufort’s story and use a labelled site key to distinguish medieval buildings, restoration and new archaeological...

• Ward Surname in Scotland: The Watchman's Name, the King's Doorward & the Irish Mac an Bhaird

  Ward is an occupational name for a watchman, from Old English weard, and in Scotland it is also the anglicized Irish Mac an Bhaird. Older Scots usage, Alan Durward and...

• Stoddart History & Origins: A Keeper of Stock, the Kelso Writers & Scottish Heritage

  Stoddart began as a job: the herd of the stots. What the Scots word really meant, why the name is not only a Roxburghshire one, and the Kelso angler, editor...

• Irish Surnames from County Clare: Origins, History & Family Heritage

  County Clare in the west of Ireland is the heartland of the great O'Brien dynasty and home to some of the most proudly Gaelic surnames in Munster — McNamara, Clancy,...

• Clan Auchinleck History, Motto & Origins: Ayrshire, the Affleck Variant & Scottish Heritage

  Discover the history of Clan Auchinleck — Ayrshire origins and the Affleck spelling variant, the motto Pretiosum Quod Utile meaning What is useful is valuable, Field Marshal Auchinleck at El...

• O'Rafferty Irish Surname History: Origins, Meaning & Ó Raifeartaigh Heritage

  The O'Rafferty surname derives from the Gaelic Ó Raifeartaigh, a recognised Gaelic sept of Ulster historically associated with Counties Tyrone, Derry, and Monaghan and operating within the political world of...

• O'Flaherty Irish Surname History: Origins, Meaning & Ó Flaithbheartaigh Heritage

  The O'Flaherty surname derives from the Gaelic Ó Flaithbheartaigh, meaning bright ruler or lord of bright deeds, the lords of Iar Connacht and Connemara who were one of the most...

• Irish Surnames from County Donegal: Origins, History & Family Heritage

  County Donegal in the north-west of Ireland is one of the great strongholds of Gaelic Irish culture and surname tradition, home to ancient families including O'Donnell, Gallagher, Doherty, Friel, McFadden,...

• O'Dowd Irish Surname History: Origins, Meaning & Ó Dubhda Heritage

  The O'Dowd surname derives from the Gaelic Ó Dubhda, lords of the ancient coastal territory of Tir Fhiachrach in County Sligo and north Mayo, one of the most enduring Gaelic...

• Clan Irvine History, Motto & Origins: Drum Castle, Aberdeenshire & Scottish Heritage

  Clan Irvine is one of the great families of Aberdeenshire, their name rooted in the River Irvine in Ayrshire and their most enduring chapter written at Drum Castle — one...

• Irish Surnames from County Kildare: Origins, History & Family Heritage

  County Kildare is the heartland of the Fitzgerald Earls of Kildare — the most powerful family in fifteenth-century Ireland — and carries a surname landscape shaped by Gaelic Leinster kingdoms,...

• O'Hara Irish Surname History: Origins, Meaning & Ó hEadhra Heritage

  The O'Hara surname derives from the Gaelic Ó hEadhra, sovereign Lords of Leyny in County Sligo for over eight hundred years and one of Connacht's most distinguished royal dynasties. From...

• Irish Surnames from County Limerick: Origins, History & Family Heritage

  County Limerick in the province of Munster carries surnames shaped by the ancient kingdom of Thomond, the Norman Fitzgeralds and Bourkes, and the great Gaelic families of the Shannon region....

• Scottish Border Clans and Reiver Families: Names, History & Heritage

  Discover Scottish Border clans and reiver families — Armstrong, Kerr, Scott, Home, Johnston and more. Explore their feuds, castles, and the turbulent history of the Anglo-Scottish frontier.