What’s in a name?

Based on the work of Barry Griffin, the list below shows the five most popular surnames in Ireland and in each county in 1901.

Overall in Ireland 

Murphy, Kelly, Walsh, Ryan and Sullivan

Connaught

Galway Kelly, Walsh, Burke, Conneely and Joyce

Leitrim Macgowan, Reynolds, Rooney, Flynn and Kelly

Mayo Walsh, Gallagher, Kelly, Moran and Murphy

Roscommon Kelly, Beirne, Macdermott, Brennan and Flanagan

Sligo Brennan, Gallagher, Walsh, Kelly and MacDonagh

Leinster

Carlow Byrne, Murphy, Doyle, Nolan and Kelly

Dublin Murphy, Kelly, Walsh Byrne and O’Brien

Kildare Kelly, Byrne, Dunne, Murphy and Doyle

Kilkenny Walsh, Murphy, Brennan, Ryan and Phelan

Laois Dunne, Phelan, Fitzpatrick, Delaney and Whelan

Longford Reilly, Farrell, Kiernan, Brady and Kelly

Louth Murphy, Byrne, Kelly, Carroll and Duffy

Meath Reilly, Lynch, Smith, Smyth and Farrelly

Offaly Kelly, Dunne, Egan, Daly and Carroll

Westmeath Kelly, Murray, Farrell, Daly and Reilly

Wexford Murphy, Doyle, Byrne, Walsh and Furlong

Wicklow Byrne, Doyle, Murphy, Kelly and Kavanagh

Munster

Clare Macmahon, Macnamara, O’Brien, Kelly and Moloney

Cork Murphy, Sullivan, Maccarthy, Donovan and Walsh

Kerry Sullivan, Shea, O’Connor, Connor and Murphy

Limerick Ryan, O’Brien, FitzGerald, Hayes and OConnor

Tipperary Ryan, Maher, Dwyer, Kennedy and O’Brien

Waterford Power, Walsh, Flynn, Murphy and Macgrath

Ulster

Antrim Wilson, Johnston, Thompson, Campbell and Smyth

Armagh Murphy, Hughes, Wilson, Maccann, Kelly

Cavan Reilly, Brady, Smith, Macgovern and Lynch.

Derry Doherty, Maclaughlin, Maccloskey, Kelly and Bradley

Donegal Gallagher, Doherty, O’Donnell, Boyle and Maclaughlin

Down Johnston, Thompson, Wilson, Martin and Brown

Fermanagh Maguire, Macmanus, Johnston, Armstrong and Gallagher

Monaghan Mackenna, Duffy, Connolly, Macmahon and Maccabe

Tyrone Quinn, Donnelly, Kelly, O’Neill and Devlin

Further information and a list of the top 100 surnames in each county in 1901 can be seen at this link:

https://www.barrygriffin.com/surname-maps/irish-tops/Ireland/1901

Barry also prepared maps depicting the prevalence of surnames in an area based on census data. The maps at this link https://www.barrygriffin.com/surname-maps/irish/ will show the locations where surnames occurred in 1901 and 1911. These maps are based on the 1901 and 1911 census data. While not being definitive on the occurrence of a surname, they do give an indication of the popularity of a given name in a specific area.