Love, Lovie

Padraig Mac Giolla-Domhnaigh

Some Anglicised Surnames in Ireland

1923

Love, Lovie—These two names are the anglicised forms of both Irish and Scottish septs. In the first case Love, in North Connacht, is the anglicised form of O'Gara.

Secondly, both names are the anglicised forms of M'Kinnon, the Scottish sept name, and are found in Ulster and Scotland.

The M'Kinnons, or as the name is written in Gaelic, Mac Fhionghuinn, were located in Mull. The name was written McFingon in 1400, and is also written in Gaelic Mac Ionmhuinn, meaning "Beloved Son," hence the anglicised forms of Love and Lovie. The name is derived from Fionngon, fair-born. They were connected with Iona in the Fifteenth Century, and one of the name, John M'Kinnon, was the last Abbot.

The chief of the clan was at Iona in 1606 when the "Statutes of Icolmkill" were enacted.

Alphabetical Index of Anglicised Surnames in Ireland

See also Woulfe’s Irish Names and Surnames

… and O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees

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