Irish Surnames C
Posted in: Irish Surnames
A list of Irish surnames beginning with the letter C
| Name | Variants | In Irish | Location | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cahill | MacCathail | Clare, Galway, Tipperary | Gaelic | |
| Cathal is one Irish equivalent of Charles. | ||||
| Campion | Kilkenny, Laois | Norman-French | ||
| From “de Champagnes” | ||||
| Carey | O’Kerry, Kerry, Carew | Ó Ciardha | Kerry, Kildare | Gaelic |
| Carroll | Carville, MacCarvill | Ó Cearbhaill | Gaelic | |
| Cassidy | Ó Caiside | Widespread, Fermanagh, Donegal | Gaelic | |
| Clancy | Clanchy, Glanchy, MacClancy | MacFhlannchaidh | Clare, Leitrim | Gaelic |
| Clarke | O’Clery, Macalary, MacClery | Ó Cleireach | Ulster | Gaelic and English |
| Son of the Clerk. In some cases Clarke is an Anglicised version of Clery but some have ancestors from England, where the name has the same derivation. | ||||
| Clery | Cleary, Clarke | Ó Cleirigh | Connaught | Gaelic |
| Cléireach is the Irish for “clerk”. | ||||
| Cody | MacÓda | Kilkenny, Wexford | Norman-French | |
| Coghlan | Coughlin, O’Coughlan, Coughlan, Cohalan, MacCoughlan. . | Ó Cochlain | Cork, Offaly | Gaelic |
| Means “cape or hood” in Irish. | ||||
| Collins | Ó Cioleáin | Widespread, West Cork | Gaelic | |
| Cioleáin means “young creature” or pup. | ||||
| Conaghan | Cunningham | Ó Connacháin | UlsterMeans “cape or hood” in Irish. | Gaelic |
| Connolly | Connely, Connolley | Ó Conghaile | Widespread. Galway, Mayo, Cork, Monaghan | Gaelic |
| Means “valorous”. An very old Connaught family | ||||
| Conroy | O’Mulconry, Mulconry, Conary, Conree, Conry | Ó Conratha | Clare, Roscommon, Longford | Gaelic |
| Means “hound of prosperity” | ||||
| Conway | O’Conway | MacConnmhaigh | Clare, Kerry, County Dublin. | Gaelic |
| Means “hound of the plains”. | ||||
| Cooney | Conan, Coonan, O’Cuana, Counihan | Ó Cuanaic | Clare, Galway, West Cork | Gaelic |
| Means “handsome”. | ||||
| Corcoran | O’Corcoran | Ó Corcrain | Fermanagh, Kerry, Mayo, Offaly | Gaelic |
| Means “ruddy”. | ||||
| Costello | Nangle, Costelloe | Widespread, Galway, Mayo, Sligo | Norman | |
| From MacOisdealbh “son of Oistealb”, but originally from the Norman name “de Nangles” | ||||
| Crowley | Crawley | Ó Cruadhlaoich | Cork, Roscommon | Anglo-Norman |
| Means “strong hero”. | ||||
| Cullen | Cullion, Culhoun, MacCullen, Cullinane | Ó Cuillin | Kildare, Wexford | Gaelic |
| Means “holly tree”. | ||||
| Cummins | Commons, Comyns, Hurley | Ó Comáin | Kerry, Limerick, Mayo | Gaelic |
| Comáin means “hurley”. . | ||||
| Curran | Ó Corráin | Galway, Kerry, Waterford | ||
| Curtin | MacCuirtin, MacCruitin, MacCurtin, Curtayne | Ó Cuirtin | Cork, Dublin, Limerick | Gaelic |
| Derived from Cruitín maning “hunchback”. | ||||
| Cusack | Ó Cíomhsóg, MacIosóg | Kildare, Meath, Mayo | Anglo-Norman | |
i would like a listing of the original surnames of all parts of Ireland and the most common used since the early 1900’s. My last name is Campbell. I’ve been told that I have English, Irish, and Black Dutch in my family history. in a brief study of the origin of the Campbell name, I found it to be of Scottish origin and not English. Can you give me some info if the name Campbell is a mixture of English, Irish and Scottish or of just one origin?
Any information you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time. Also can you tell me in what part of Ireland the name McFee originated in. Thank you so much for your time.
Sandra Campbell.
Campbell is definitely Scottish. There are Campbells in both Ireland and England, but they would be of Scottish descent.
McFee is a Scottish/Irish name, found pretty much exclusively in the North of Ireland, mainly around Co Down, sometimes as McAfee. It is from Mac Dhuibhshíthe which means “dark man of peace”, but that does not mean it’s an Irish name – Scots Gaelic is pretty like Irish and the name would be mainly of Scottish origin I’d be fairly sure.
Most names that are originally Scottish are more common in the North of Ireland, since a lot of Scottish people settled there over the centuries.
It sounds like you have a lot of Scottish in there! Bear in mind that quite a few people who were of Scottish origin but whose ancestors had settled in Ireland emigrated to the US, so it could be that the Irish connection in your family was actually Scots Irish.
That’s about all I can tell you – hope it helps.
You should remember that the Scots originally came from Ireland and displaced the Picts. Thats why the names and language are similar. There were many to-ings and fro-ings between Larne and Stranraer long before the world Scotland was even thought of.
We are trying to find out if anyone has information on my Great Grandmother’s name which was CROASH. She lived in Wexford, Wellington Bridge area around mid 1800’s. Has anyone every heard of this name and do they know what was the country of origin on this one.
Would appreciate some help!
Thanks very much