List of Irish clans
The following is a list of Irish clans sourced from modern published sources.
Unlike Scottish clans which are defined by surnames recognised by Scottish law of the Court of the Lord Lyon, there is no definitive authority on which surnames are regarded as Irish clans.[1]
Clans of Ireland organisation
Clans of Ireland is a private company limited by guarantee. The organisation's eligibility criteria for membership requires that the family or clan can trace their ancestry back to before 1691, which is generally considered to mark the end of the clan based lineage system in Ireland. There can be more than one clan with the same surname if of a different ancestry.[2] Clans of Ireland maintains a list of paid-up members on their 2025 Register of Clans, some of whom have their own clan societies or associations.[3]
LangSyne Publishers
LangSyne Publishers, who are based in Kilbarrack, Dublin, Ireland, have published individual books on the following Irish clan surnames and their histories: Barry, Boyle, Brady, Brennan, Burke, Byrne, Callaghan, Carroll, Casey, Cassidy, Clancy, Collins, Connolly, Coyle, Daly, Devlin, Doherty, Donnelly, Donovan, Doran, Doyle, Duffy, Dunne, Farrell, Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick, Flaherty, Flanagan, Flynn, Foley, Gallagher, Griffin, Healy, Higgins, Hogan, Joyce, Kane, Kavanagh, Kelly, Kennedy, Kenny, Lynch, Maguire, Malone, McCarthy, McCormick, McDermott, McGrath, McGuigan, McKenna, McLoughlin, McMahon, McManus, McNamara, Moore, Moran, Mullan, Murphy, Nolan, O'Brien, O'Dowd, O'Dwyer, O'Grady, O'Halloran, O'Hara, O'Keeffe, O'Leary, O'Neill, O'Rourke, O'Shea, O'Connor, Quinn, Reagan, Reilly, Rooney, Ryan, Sheehan, Sheridan, Sullivan, Sweeney, Traynor, Walsh, Ward, Whelan.[4]
John Grenham (1993)
John Grenham in his 1993 book, Clans and Families of Ireland: The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families, lists the following Irish clan surnames and gives at least a paragraph of information for each: Aherne, Allen, Armstrong, Barrett, Barry, Beatty, Bell, Boyd, Boyle, Bradley, Brady, Breen, Brennan, Browne, Buckley, Burke, Burns, Butler, Byrne, Cahill, Campbell, Carroll, Casey, Cassidy, Clancy, Clarke, Cleary, Coleman, Collins, Conlon, Connolly, Conway, Corcoran, Costello, Coughlan, Craig, Cronin, Crowley, Cullen, Cunningham, Curran, Daly, Delaney, Dempsey, Dillon, Doherty, Dolan, Donnelly, Doran, Dowd, Dowling, Doyle, Driscoll, Duffy, Duggan, Dunne, Dwyer, Egan, Fahy, Farrell, Ferguson, Finnegan, Fitzgerald, Fitzpatrick, Flaherty, Flanagan, Fleming, Flynn, Foley, Ford, Fox, Gallagher, Gorman, Graham, Greene, Griffin, Hall, Hamilton, Hayes, Healy, Hegarty, Hennessy, Henry, Hickey, Higgins, Hogan, Hughes, Hurley, Johnston, Jones, Joyce, Kane, Kavanagh, Keane, Kearney, Keating, Kelleher, Kelly, Kennedy, Kenny, Keogh, Kerr, Kiely, King, Leary, Lee, Lenehan, Lennon, Long, Lynch, Lyons, MacAuley, MacBride, MacCabe, McCann, MacCarthy, MacCormack, MacCullagh, MacDermot, MacDonagh, MacDonald, MacDonnell, MacEvoy, MacGillcuddy, MacGovern, MacGowan, MacGrath, MacGuiness, MacHugh, MacKenna, MacKean, MacLoughlin, MacMahon, MacManus, MacNally, MacNamara, Madden, MacGee, Maguire, Maher, Malone, Martin, Meehan, Molloy, Moloney, Monaghan, Mooney, Moore, Moran, Morgan, Moraiarty, Morris, Mullan, Mulligan, Murphy, Murray, Nolan, O'Brien, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, O'Connor, O'Donnell, O'Donoghue, O'Donovan, O'Grady, O'Hara, O'Keefe, O'Mahony, O'Neill, O'Rourke, O'Shea, O'Sullivan, O'Toole, Patterson, Power, Quigley, Quinn, Redmond, Regan, Reid, Reilly, Riordan, Robinson, Roche, Rogers, Rooney, Ryan, Scott, Sheehan, Sheridan, Smith, Stewart, Sweeney, Tobin, Wallace, Walsh, Whelan, White, Woods.[5]
See also
- Standing Council of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains - organization started in 1991 that recognizes sixteen Chiefs of the Name of the Gaelic nobility of Ireland but not "clans".
- List of Irish kingdoms
References
- ^ Leerssen, Joep (2008). "The 'The': Clan Chiefs in Modern Ireland". The Irish Review (Cork) (38): 111–117. JSTOR 29736378.
- ^ "Registering an Irish Clan - Registration Criteria". clansofireland.ie. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
- ^ "Register of Clans 2025". clansofireland.ie. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
- ^ "Irish Books". langsyneshop.co.uk. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
- ^ Grenham, John (1993). Clans and Families of Ireland: The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families. Gill and Macmillan Publishers. pp. 78–183. ISBN 0717120325.
Sources
- MacLysaght, Edward (1985). Irish Families - Their Names, Arms and Origins (4th ed.). Blackrock, Dublin: Irish Academic Press. ISBN 0716523647.
The 6th edition includes over 4,000 Irish surnames