[Home] [Introduction] [Family Gateway] [South Armagh] [County Down] [Song and Story] [Local News] [Site Map] Guestbook [Links] [What's New?]

surname distribution 1890

This table shows the distribution of the main family surnames, registered on this database, in Ireland in 1890. The data was derived from Robert R. Matheson's Special Report on Surnames in Ireland. This statistical report is based on the births registered in Ireland during that year. As the former Chief Herald of Ireland, Donal Begley, pointed out "Its value lies in the fact that it provides authorative information as to the numerical strength and distribution of family names throughout the country" (Irish Genealogy: A Record Finder, Heraldic Artists Ltd).

It should be noted that the data provides a snapshot of Irish surname distribution in the late 19th century after Ireland had experienced significant population change caused by factors such as the Great Famine, emigration, rural to urban migration etc. As such, one might expect differences between this data and the distribution of surnames in Ireland in the first half of the 19th century. A further limitation is the fact that it includes only surnames having five or more birth entries thus excluding some of the rarer Irish family names.

Source: Ulster Historical Foundation

Surname Ulster Leinster Connaght Munster Total Principally located in
Ahern 1 4 0 117 122 Cork and Limerick (Ahern [92] Aherne [9]
Boyle 189 27 34 23 273 Donegal, Antrim, Mayo
Brady 125 105 21 10 261 Cavan, Dublin, Antrim
Brennan 36 178 94 50 358 Kilkenny, Dublin, Sligo
Carr 35 21 24 10 90 Donegal, Galway, Dublin
Carville 0 0 0 0 0 Less than 5
Carragher 0 0 0 0 0 Less than 5
Clarke 176 99 33 17 325 Antrim, Dublin, Mayo
Collins 49 60 43 200 352 Cork, Limerick, Dublin
Conlon 25 31 42 9 107 Roscommon, Mayo, Sligo - generally distributed in Leinster and Ulster
Curran 67 42 23 37 169 Donegal, Dublin, Waterford, Galway
Curry 48 15 4 8 75 (29 in Antrim) Curry (60) Currie (15)
Devlin 88 19 2 3 112 Antrim, Tyrone, Dublin
Dinsmore 6 0 0 0 6 Derry
Donnelly 135 64 22 19 240 Antrim, Tyrone, Armagh, Dublin
Duffy 126 82 95 2 305 Mayo, Monaghan, Donegal
Durkan 1 3 58 0 62 Mayo [35] Sligo [15]
Fearon 16 5 0 0 21 Armagh, Down and Louth
Feehan 1 7 3 6 17 Louth
Fitzpatrick 64 103 20 62 249 Widely distributed
Hanratty 16 14 0 0 30 Louth [12] Armagh [9] Monaghan [7] Dublin [2]
Kane 96 57 27 10 190 Antrim, Derry, Dublin
Keenan 57 34 11 1 103 Antrim, Monaghan, Dublin, Down
Laverty 26 0 0 0 26 Antrim
Mackrell 0 0 0 0 0 Less than 5
Magill 0 0 0 0 0 Less than 5
McAllister 78 7 0 2 87 Antrim (McAllister -40; McAlister - 34)
McArdle 31 24 0 0 55 Nearly all in Louth, Monaghan and Armagh
McCourt 29 13 2 0 44 Louth, Armagh, Antrim
McEntegart 0 0 0 0 0 Less than 5
McGuill 0 0 0 0 0 Less than 5
McKeown 115 33 25 2 175 Antrim, Down (McKeown-119;McKeon-40;McKeone-12)
McKenna 134 37 8 22 201 Antrim, Monaghan, Tyrone
Moore 185 135 24 52 396 Antrim, Dublin, Down
Murphy 189 476 110 611 1386 Generally distributed but largest numbers in Cork and Dublin
O'Callaghan 5 8 0 51 64 Cork
O'Reilly 9 37 2 14 62 Dublin
Quinn 155 114 76 63 408 Dublin, Tyrone, Antrim (Quinn [349] Quin [58])
Richardson 32 14 0 8 54 Dublin, Antrim
Treanor 48 24 4 1 77 (Traynor-Dublin[35]); (Treanor-[26] Trainor [12] - Antrim)
Watters 17 5 9 0 31 Tyrone, Antrim, Louth

Last Updated on 1 November 2004
By Patrick Devlin