According to irishgenealogy.ie there has never been an easier time to trace your Irish Roots and discover the Irish ancestors in your family tree. Thanks to the digital revolution, many dusty records that were formerly stashed away in archives are now available online for all to access.

Tracing Irish Roots

Given that Ireland was one of the earliest adopters of hereditary surnames, you might expect that it is one of the easier places to trace your roots. But of course there are plenty of complications to block your search - names lost in translation from gaelic, spellings garbled in transcription, prefixes and suffixes dropped and reclaimed.

Read on to find out more about the history of Family Names in Ireland and what that tells you about your own heritage and how to trace your roots.

History of Family Names in Ireland

There is some evidence for hereditary names taking hold in Ireland in the early 900s. Scholars believe that this reflects how Irish society was structured with everything focused around the extended family. Your family dictated many things - your occupation, what you could own, who were your friends, and of course who were your enemies! Your name was your tribe and your social currency.

The name of the Father

At this time almost all names were based on the paternal line with Mac (son of) and Ó (grandson of) with many new names arising in the following generations. A fantastic example of this is the O'Brian (Ó Briain) family name. The children and many descendants of Brian Ború understandably wanted all to know of their connection to the last High King of Ireland. So one of the most common Irish surnames was created.

From one Name comes Many

And this process continued to evolve and change. When Brian Ború’s great grandchildren chose to take the name of their own powerful father, the Mac Mathúna, or McMahon name was born. Several generations later, Constantine (Consaidín) O'Brien, the bishop of Killaloe, started the Mac Consaidín line, and today we have the anglicised surname Considine.

So from this one surname O'Brian, several drastically different names evolved. And that doesn't even take into account the many variations in the spellings of these names.

Spellings can Change

Translations and transcriptions from Gaelic to English resulted in some entirely different names and variations. O’Brien is now the more common spelling of this old name despite it originally being O'Brian. Ó Foghlú, from foghlaí , became Foley. Mac an Bhreitheamhan, 'son of the judge', became 'Judge'.

Tricky Prefixes and the Return of the Mac

With the anglicisation of many Gaelic names in the 17th Century, Mc and O were treated as almost entirely optional. e.g. Mahon instead of MacMahon

With the Gaelic revival in the 19th Century, many families reclaimed these lost prefixes - the return of the Mac! After the 1916 rising, this trend only grew and now many names are more well known with their prefix than without. So 'O'Shea' is much more common than 'Shea'. But back in the 1800’s you would have been hard pressed to find many with the name 'O'Shea' while there were thousands with the name Shea.

Genealogy Search Tips

This is all useful information to know when searching the roots of your own family tree. It can be useful to search with an open mind, conscious that your grandparents or great grandparents might be known by another name reflecting some of these changes.

1) Follow the Paternal line

Given that Irish hereditary names generally follow the name of the father or grandfather (think of Brian Ború), it can be easier to start with a paternal line.

2) Prefixes may come and go

A missing Mac or O is nothing to get concerned about. Prefixes like these may come and go - especially if you are searching between the 17th and 19th centuries.

3) Don’t worry too much about spellings

Names change with translation and transcription. If your search leads you to what might seem like a drastic name change, that might not be the end

4) Get expert help when you need it

If your search runs cold, and it often does given all the ins and outs of Irish names, it can be useful to enlist the help of an expert. There are many resources to draw on like professional genealogists or free online resources.