Surnames in the Parish

In History, Our Parish by Pete Coghlan B.A. by admin

The most numerous names in the Parish are:

O’Connor, O’Sullivan, O’Shea, Moriarty, Coffey, Doyle and Foley.

Other Names:

Breen, Cahill, Galvin, Sheehan, Falvey, Tuohy, Kissane, Harnett, Doona, Ferris, Courtney (Cournac), Sweeney, Reilly Shanahan, Mangan, O’Brien, Kelliher, Curran, Clifford, Crowley, Joy, Cremin, Meara, Cronin, Guerin, McCarthy, Coghlan, Scully, O’Donoghue, Griffin, Leane, Hallisey, Carson, McGillycuddy, Tangney, Lynch, Kelly, Culloty, Tarrants, Conveney, Counihan, Murphy, Heffernan, Littlewood, McGrath, Hanrahan, Brosnan, Harrington, Casey, Dennehy, Williams, McQuinn, Healy, Sugrue, Price, Brennan, Walls, Jones, Hayes, Hannigin, Welsh, Cahillane, Nolan, Johnson, O’Leary, Fleming, Horgan, Collette, Rooney, Wren, Bracken, Cunningham, Coleman, Costello, Furlong, Blake, Gabbitt.

O’Shea, Moriarty, Ferris, and Falvey are the oldest names in the Parish and said to be descended from the Fir Bolgs eventhough O’Connor and O’Sullivan maybe more numerous. Yet those last names are really intruders, as they originally came from South Tipperary and with the O’Donoghue and McCarthys took possession of the lands of South Kerry and reduced the original owners to serfs.