Kentucky Irish American., 1906-07-07
The smiths Are Fifth in Numer-
ical Strength and O'Briens
Come Next.
How the English Sought to
Stamp Out the Old
Names.
THE FITS, MACS and THE O'S

A man bearing the very general
name of Smith, as a rule passes un-
challenged, and yet in the report Of
the Registrar General of ireland we
find that in numerical strength the
Smiths are fifth in Ireland, while the
historic name of O'Brien is sixth, and
that name which gave glory and honor
to Kings-O'Neil-is tenth and Nc
Carthy is thirteenth and Mclaughlin
twenty-first.
In numerical order Wilson is twen-
ty-sixth, Campbell is thirty-first; the
very ancient Irish name, Clarke, which
is but another form of Cleary, a COM
mon and well-known recognized Celtic
name, derived from the Celtic "Cler-
ech" which means a clerk, is thirty.
second. Johnson is not usually taken
as an Irish name, yet numerically it
is thirty-third, and is but the Angli-
cized form Of McShane or McShawn;
Shawn meaning John in Irish, and Nc
meaning the son of. Other very COM
mon names among the Irish are Brown
Thompson, White, Robinson and
Ward, which is almost the exact re-
production of the Irish word Bhard,
which means a bard. Reid, Graham,
King, Bell and Scott are common and
looking down the Registrars list more
Gastons than Gargans are found, and
more Littles than Logues.
The prefix Fitz is corrupt Norman
French and means the ''Son Of" ex-
actly as Mac means son of" in Irish,
while "O' means descendant. and may
attach the bearer only to a tribe or
family. OF the prefixes Mac was the
more coveted and distinguished. The
records show that there were in Ire
land 600 families with the prefix o and
only 1876 with the prefix Mac The pre-
fix Xii or Gil is a contraction of the
Irish word Giolla, which means ser
want Of" and was generally assumed
by lay persons who followed the rule
of life of some saint. Kilbride is the
servant of Bridget as Gilpatrick is the
servant of Patrick; Gilfoyle is the fol
lower of st. Paul; Gilchrist is the SER
want of Christ and Gildea is the ser.
want of God. Maol is another common
prefix not understood, yet signif-
cant of radiant sancity. 1t is Celtic
and means holy servant who has re-
ceived the minor order of the tousure
Muldoon is but a corrupt form of Maol-
Dubhan and means the servant and fol
lower of Saint Dubhan.
The name Rock and Garrick and
Carrick are rarely considered Irish by
the ignorant ones who discriminate
| against a man with an irish name, YET
these are derived from the Irish word
Carraice, which means stone; Darragh
is taken from the Celtic word Dair and
niears an oak; Mullaly is from Eala
and means swan; Guilty from COLL
te, means woods; Breheny from
Breathafp and means a Judge; Col
gan from Colg, sword or swordsman;
McCraith, from Craith, a weaver;
DAWN, from Daimph, a poet, and Nc
Intyre from Mac-au-t-saoir, meaning
son of a workman. O'Farrell OIL
| O'Ferrall is rich in historic signifi
canoe and is derived from O'Feargail
a descendant Of the mighty Feargal
There is a grandeur in the antiquity
OF that name which would move &c
mao envy the stupid bigots who turr
up their little noses at the mention Of
such a glorious name.
1t might rightly be asked why the
Irish changed so many of their distin
guished historic names into names o.
seeming alien origin. The answer II
simple. By statute of 1885 1t was
provided that Every Englishman dC
use the English language, and bt
named by an English name, leaving
OH entirely the manner of naming uset
by the Irish," and again in 1465 Law
was passed THAT every Irishman tina
dwells betwixt or amongst EnglishmeI
in the County of Dublin, Myeth, Vriel
and Kildare shall take to him an Eng
lish surname of one town, or color
or arte or science or office"
Some of the purest blooded Irish
} men to-day bear such names as John
son. Butler, Chamberlain Brown
White, Stone. Rock and Smith, and tn
general reason is given in the laws o
the alien conquerors above quoted.