Understanding Your Irish Surname
by Pat Friend
Irish surnames as they exist today have evolved over the course of the centuries with influence applied by both politics and the church. A surname today may be an outgrowth of the Gaelic clan system, courtesy of the Norman invasion, or a mix of several factors.
In ancient Ireland, as in the rest of Europe, individuals were known only by one name. Surnames began to come into use around the tenth century when populations grew and became more mobile. The Gaelic Clan provided a logical patronymic convention for the Irish. "O" or "Ua" or "Ui" meaning "grandson of" meant early surnames such as O'Cleirigh (O'Cleary), meaning "grandson of the clerk". Brian Boru, the High-King of the Irish, didn't use a surname. His grandson, however, became known as Teigue Ua Briain and eventually this became O'Brien.
The next step in the convention was the use of "Mac", which means "son of", and is abbreviated "Mc". As in the example of O'Cleary, above, many of the surnames evolved from the occupation of the father or grandfather. A smith for example, was a gabhann, so his son and eventually his family became Mac Gabhainn, or McGowan. Descendants of carpenter's son known as Mhac an t'Saoir would eventually become McAteer, or MacAtee.
The church had a contribution to make in the development of surnames as well. "Giolla" meant "follower" and led to someone Gilmartin (or Kilmartin), which was originally Mac Giolla Mhartain, "son of a follower of St. Martin." Mul as a prefix evolved from "maol" (meaning "bald"), leading to Mulrennan from O'Maoilbhreanainn, "grandson of a follower of St. Brendan". (St. Brendan was a monk and therefore would have been "bald" because of his tonsure.)
The Norman invasion brought with it a set of new surnames (Power, Roche, and Walsh among others) as well as a variation on the patronymic. "Fitz", in modern times considered distinctively Irish, grew out of the French "fils", meaning "son". So, Fitz and Mac mean basically the same thing, as do Fitzgerald and Mac Gearailt.
The arrival of Cromwell and the Plantation of Ulster brought Scottish names, which remain common in Ulster today. The ongoing English presence, however, had a more lasting effect on the native Gaelic and Norman names. During the time when the Penal Laws were if force it became unpopular, if not dangerous, to have a Gaelic (i.e. Catholic) name. "O", "Mac" and "Mc" were dropped. Names were translated into the English. The McGowan mentioned above, for example, might have become the English "Smith".
Finally, the late 19th century gave birth to a Gaelic Revival and the spread of a spirit of nationalism brought a return of some of the earlier conventions. "O", "Mac" and "Mc" were back in many cases. Grady, became "O'Grady" again.
http://allaboutirish.com/library/gen/undersurname.shtm
The Irish Penal Code
by Paul Stenhouse, M.S.C., Ph.D
Most of us know there had been a period often known as the Dark Days of the Penal Code in Ireland. Years back, we may recall the occasional nun or brother mentioning one or other feature of those days, but the full details were not easily found, nor the exact duration of the Dark Days.
May we try here to fill in some of this missing detail?
No attempt will be made to examine tediously the exact dates of each item, but rather it might be said that most of the enactments were in force for most of the time.
The period itself covers, in its worst features, the years of Elizabeth I, James I and Cromwell, that is, roughly 1560 to 1660, though the laws were in force for a further hundred and fifty years.
Their chief provisions were:
— A Catholic was forbidden to vote or to hold public office.
— He could not enter any profession.
— He was forbidden to engage in trade or commerce.
— He was forbidden to live within a walled town or within five miles of a walled town.
— If a child turned Protestant, he automatically inherited his father's property and at once.
— If a wife turned Protestant, she became the sole heir to her husband's property.
— No Catholic could inherit the land of a Protestant.
— No Catholic could purchase any land.
— No Catholic could own a horse valued at more than £5. If he owned a horse of greater value, he was compelled by law to inform on himself to the nearest Protestant.
— No Catholic could hold land valued at more than thirty shillings a year.
— If a Catholic sent his child abroad to be educated, all his property was thereby forfeited and he himself outlawed.
— By law, all Irish people were obliged, under penalty of fine or imprisonment, to attend Protestant worship.
— If anyone refused to disclose a priest's hiding place, he was to be publicly whipped and have both ears cut off.
— it was a capital offence to be a priest. Any priest captured was liable to be hanged, drawn and quartered.
— A price of £5 was placed on the head of a priest, and £20 for a bishop, as an encouragement to informers.