Surnames of Ireland

an excellent book in general, but a very short on native Irish Antrim county names; sometimes confusing them with Hebridean Scottish ones. And God help you if you have an obscure Irish name.. it will not be there.

I have used this book repeatedly for my personal studies of Irish Gaelic. It is the definitive work on the subject. It goes so far as to indicate modern (often shortened) Gaelic spellings alongside of the originals so that a name's devivation is evidant. So too are inventions (ie. late-Norman) and borrow-names (ie. Nordic or English) indicated. What did not make it here, appears in the suppliment More Irish Names. Definately not for researchers of their family history (try McLoughlin), but rather the study of the nominclature, the Irish language, or entomology.

If you are looking for a detailed family history, this is not the book for you. But it does list thousands of surnames found in Ireland along with three or four lines summarising origin and location. It also includes many rare and exotic sounding names which you will not find in any other book. This book is a starting point only and the serious researcher should also have "Irish Families" and "More Irish Families" by the same author if he is looking for detailed information.

Edward MacLysaght, the leading authority on Irish names and family history, has writen a guide to over 2000 family names found in Ireland. Brief notations on each family include the original Gaelic version of name, an english translation of the Gaelic, the county or country of origin, and notes on the history of the family when available. If you need a single, definitive volume of Irish names, you won't do any better than this one.