Ó hAodha

Ó hAODHA—I—O Heaa, O Hay, O Hewe, O Hugh, O'Hea, Hay, Hays, Hayes, Hews, Hughes, &c.; 'descendant of Aodh' (fire); the name of several distinct families in different parts of Ireland, of which the following are the best known: (1) a Tyrone family, formerly lords of Ui Fiachrach of Ardstraw; (2) a Tirconnell family, chiefs of Eas Ruadh, in the neighbourhood of Ballyshannon; (3) an Oriel family, chiefs of Fearnmaighe, now the barony of Farney, in Co. Monaghan; (4) a Meath family, lords of Odhbha, in the neighbourhood of Navan; (5) a Meath family, chiefs of East Tir Teathbha; (6) a Wexford family, chiefs of Ui Deaghaidh, a district nearly co-extensive with the barony of Gorey; (7) a Cork family, lords of Muscraighe-Luachra, in the north-west of Co. Cork; (8) a Cork family, sub-chiefs of Tuath O Donnghaile, in the southwest of Co. Cork, where they are still numerous; (9) a Dalcassian family in Thomond; (10) a family of Ui Maine in Co. Galway; (11) a family of Ui Fiachrach in Co. Mayo, formerly seated at Ard O nAodha, in the parish of Templemurray; (12) another family of the same race, seated in the parish of Ballintobber; and (13) a family of Ui Fiachrach, seated at Tonrego, in the parish of Dromard, Co. Sligo. This surname, which is numerically one of the strongest in Ireland, is generally anglicised Hughes in the North and Hayes in the South. The O' is almost universally rejected, being retained only by the family of Ó hAodha of Corca Laoighdhe (8), who anglicise the name O'Hea.

Alphabetical Index to Irish Surnames