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Irish Surname


Bizarra
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Hi Em.

Were you aware that your surname translates as "Son of the Smith" = "Smith's Son " from the Irish. How far back do you have to go to reach your Irish roots? Do you know where in Ireland your family originated?

Course, it could be from Scots Gaelic either. Not sure about that one.

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dont have to go far back with mine mate. Canavan - Co' Mayo :P

this is kerby btw :P oops

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it could be from Scots Gaelic either.

the Scots are only Irish that can swim, so its the same thing really :lol:

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My dad knows a man with the same surname as ours & he was really interested in the origin of our surname (McCormack) & it turned out we had very close bonds with another family (I can't think of the other family name now but I'll ask my dad) & he traced it back really far & then got to a certain point & couldn't get any further because the English burned all the old records during an invasion once.

I'd always thought that the "Mc" means "Son of" so my name was effectively "Son of Cormack", I'd have thought McGowan would have been "Son of Gowan" & so on.

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he traced it back really far & then got to a certain point & couldn't get any further because the English burned all the old records during an invasion once.

for once we can blame the on the English most of the records where distroyed buy ourselves durning the Civil war in 1922, there where stored in the records office in the Four Courts and some gobsihte let off a bomb in the middle of it.

Assault on the Four Courts in 1922

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Hello mate.... didnt know this was for me! :D

I believe its Scottish in origin, as I know we have distant Scottish relatives and the McGowan clan has its own tartan.

However, I was told that Mac was Scottish and Mc was Irish, so to be honest, I have no idea! I'm a 100% Midlander and so are all my family, all were born and raised in Warwickshire, apart from my Grandma, who was born in Canada. If anything I'm probably more Canadian than I am Scottish or Irish.... :lol:

I've often wondered about looking into the family tree, but never gotten round to doing so...

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My dad knows a man with the same surname as ours & he was really interested in the origin of our surname (McCormack) & it turned out we had very close bonds with another family (I can't think of the other family name now but I'll ask my dad) & he traced it back really far & then got to a certain point & couldn't get any further because the English burned all the old records during an invasion once.

I'd always thought that the "Mc" means "Son of" so my name was effectively "Son of Cormack", I'd have thought McGowan would have been "Son of Gowan" & so on.

It is a long time since I learned Irish, so, without use, most is forgotten. An Gabhain is "The Smith", so Mc Gabhain is son of the Smith, an ancient and honourable profession !

Btw, Son of Cormac is correct.

Hello mate.... didnt know this was for me! :D

I believe its Scottish in origin, as I know we have distant Scottish relatives and the McGowan clan has its own tartan.

However, I was told that Mac was Scottish and Mc was Irish, so to be honest, I have no idea! I'm a 100% Midlander and so are all my family, all were born and raised in Warwickshire, apart from my Grandma, who was born in Canada. If anything I'm probably more Canadian than I am Scottish or Irish.... :lol:

I've often wondered about looking into the family tree, but never gotten round to doing so...

Don't start, Em. It becomes an obsession. One side of my family have been around the Irish Midlands for about 300 years & are still there. A Cousin in Canada has 3 letters written in early 1800s to a son who emigrated to Canada. Some learned person is doing a treatise on them as they are a reflection of the times. Interesting thing is that many of the families mentioned in the letters, as gossip from home, are still there.

There, That is a lot of something you didn't want to know ! :D

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it could be from Scots Gaelic either.

the Scots are only Irish that can swim, so its the same thing really :lol:

:unsure: Yeah we found somewhere that had more rain and was colder and decided it'd be a better place to live :rolleyes: clever eh

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