These are basic resource pages for the more common surnames of County Cork, as seen in historical records. The individual surname pages references the sources listed below, and may also list additional sources. These pages are new with the remodel of 2020. They were originally intended to support the TAB pages. Their content will continue to be developed going forward.
Historians may point to one figure as the ancestor from which the surname descended. For your specific genealogy, your descent from that ancestor may not necessarily be the case. Surnames were acquired in various ways and not just from a male line of descent from a known historical figure.
Certain surnames densely cluster in Cork. Secondary names were frequently used to distinguish one family from another with the same real surname. Sometimes the use of a particular secondary name was widespread and applied to several related families, with evidence of its use sprinkled liberally in old records. Other times the use of a secondary name appears isolated to one family.
Land records in particular used modifiers that probably weren't meant to serve as secondary names. Color modifiers like Bawn or Bwee or Crone might have been used to describe particular individuals. Location modifiers like west or east might have been used to distinguish one John Donovan from another John Donovan in the same townland. Age modifiers like Og and Beg might have been used, though they didn't necessarily mark a father and son.
When used as last names, agnomina make research particularly difficult, and not just for us family history researchers today. When the Old Age Pension Acts were passed, Irish residents had to show proof of birth to qualify for benefits. Since birth registration did not commence until 1864, baptism records were used. Some residents had difficulty obtaining their baptism records because their baptisms were recorded under a different name. Ned Glavin might not be recognizable as Edmond Brien.
Possible examples of the use of secondary surnames will be shown in the surname page section Genealogical Record References as they are discovered. Single examples may not constitute exhaustive genealogy proof, so interested researchers should search for more evidence.
Cadogan, Tim. Surnames of County Cork. Article online at Rootsweb.
Finnerty (pen name). The O'Driscoll Sept. Southern Star. August 13, 1932.
Hickey, Nora M. Keohane. What's in a Name? The Septs, vol 13. no 4. Irish Genealogical Society. Available in the Internet archive.
MacLysaght, Edward. Irish Families.
MacLysaght, Edward. More Irish Families.
MacLysaght, Edward. The Surnames of Ireland.
Ó Donoghue, Bruno. Parish Histories and Place Names of West Cork.
Ó Donovan, John. Genealogy of the Corca Laidhe. Miscellany of the Celtic Society. Available in the Internet archive.
Ó Donovan, Peadar. Irish Family Names. Also serialized in the Southern Star.
Ó Dwyer, Riobard. Who were my ancestors? (multi-volume set)
Ó Halloran, W. Early Irish History and Antiquities and the History of West Cork. Online at Library Ireland.
Ó Mahony, Jeremiah. Some West Cork Surnames. Southern Star. March 18, 1939.
Ó Mahony, Jeremiah. Nicknames in Irish Life. Southern Star. September 4, 1948.
Ó Mahony, Jeremiah. West Cork and Its Story. Serialized in the Southern Star circa 1932.
Ó Murchadha, Diarmuid. Family Names of County Cork.
Smith, Charles. The Ancient and Present State of the County and City of Cork. 1774.
Southern Star. Nicknames in Irish Life. September 4, 1948.
Woulfe, Rev. Patrick. Irish Names and Surnames. Online at Library Ireland.