Why might my family name be spelled several ways in Irish records?
Because spelling was not fixed for most of the period the records cover. Clerks, priests and registrars wrote a name as they heard it, and the same Irish name could be anglicised in more than one way, sometimes in the same parish register. Families themselves varied: prefixes were dropped and later restored, Mac and Mc were used interchangeably, and a spelling often settled only after emigration. Literacy played its part too, since many people could not correct a written version of their own name. Woulfe lists the variant forms name by name. In practice, search every variant, read the surname map page for the forms it groups together, and never reject a record on spelling alone.
Useful pages: The Irish surnames map · Trace your Irish roots · The 1926 Census guide · Coming home · Irish around the world · Plan your journey
Sources
- R. E. Matheson, Special Report on Surnames in Ireland; Patrick Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
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