Mac Murchadha

Rev Patrick Woulfe

Irish Names and Surnames

1923

Mac MURCHADHA—IV—M'Murroghowe, M'Moroghoe, M'Murphewe, MacMurrough, MacMurrow, Morrowson, Murrough, Morrough, Morrogh, Murrow, Morrow, Murphy; 'son of Murchadh' (sea-warrior, a very common Irish personal name); the name of three distinct families in Ireland, viz.: Mac Murchadha of Leinster, Mac Murchadha of Muinntear Birn in Ulster, and Mac Murchadha of Clann Tomaltaigh in Connacht. The MacMurroughs of Leinster derive their name and descent from Murchadh, the grandfather of Dermot MacMurrough, and were long the most powerful family in Leinster, and one of the most powerful in Ireland. From Domhnall Caomhánach, the son of Dermot MacMurrough, they took the surname of Caomhánach (which see), which is that by which they have been known for centuries. The Ulster family of Mac Murchadha was seated in Tyrone, and at the end of the 16th century was numerous in that county. Murphy appears to be the anglicised form, at least, in many instances; O'Donovan gives it as MacMurray, which I have failed to verify. The Connacht family of this name was seated in Co. Roscommon.

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