The Irish Family History Forum is an excellent resource for those searching for their links to the Emerald Isle. With a long history of emigration, Ireland is one of the best-represented nationalities ...

Do you know an O'Sullivan or O'Neill in your life? This apostrophe in surnames holds a deep meaning in the roots of Irish ...

In a Gael Linn booklet first published in 1998 and entitled Aspects of Our Shared History, the late lamented Aodán Mac Póilin asked the question: Can a surname tell you where your ancestors came from?

Some Irish last names are easily identifiable, while others you may not realize have Irish roots. Many have also become ...

The origins of some last names are pretty self-explanatory, whether it's Baker, Shepherd or even Rotten. But many surnames make no sense at all, at least not to the average Joe without a degree in Old ...

Further to the "fossil history" of Irish surnames, and to anglicised versions that arose from mistranslation, a reader reminds me about the curious case of Barnacle. That unusual name is now known ...