The following excerpt is from the first few lines of an article written by Bryan Fitzgerald, and posted a while back on IrishCentral.com:
IrishCentral brings you the low down on the top 100 most common Irish surnames with a little explanation of where these names come from.
Whether you’re looking to trace your family crest or trying to trace your family roots this list will point you in the right direction.
From Aherne to Whelan here is our top 100 Irish names:
Aherne – (Ó hEachtighearna/Ó hEachthairn) (each, steed tightearna, lord). Originally Dalcassian, this sept migrated from east Clare to Co. Cork. In County Waterford the English name Hearn is a synonym of Hearn.
MacAleese – MacGiolla (son of the devotee of Jesus). The name of a prominent Derry sept. There are many variants of the name such as MacIliese, MacLeese, MacLice, MacLise, etc. The best known of this spelling, the painter Daniel MacLise, was a family of the Scottish highlands, know as MacLeish, which settled in Cork.
