Stories of The Glasgow Irish
December 5, 2009 · Print This Article
In the aftermath of the Potato Famine in Ireland, a number of the Irish immigrants who came to Scotland in the 1840s and 1850s changed their surnames and religion in order to conceal their roots and avoid discrimination. In documented cases, Sweeney was changed to Swan, O’Carroll to Charles, O’Donnell to Dodds. The Irish immigrants were viewed by the locals as undesirable, ignorant and superstitious (ie poor, uneducated and Catholic). The fact that the Irish immigrants were prepared to work for lower wages than the indigenous Scots did not help matters.
The Irish immigrants who came to Scotland from the 1860s onwards rarely changed their religion, but in many cases their surnames were recorded incorrectly by Scottish officials.
Most of the 19th century Irish immigrants to Scotland were illiterate. Several Irish surnames were often recorded as Scottish surnames. For example, the Irish surname of McCormack was often recorded in the Scottish form of McCormick. Other examples were McFadden(Irish) being recorded as McFadyen(Scottish), McLaughlin(Irish) as McLachlan(Scottish), McDonnell(Irish) as McDonald(Scottish), McCullough(I) as McCulloch(S), Duffy(Irish) as Duff(Scottish), Byrne(Irish) as Burns(Scottish).
Even some Irish surnames which had no Scottish equivalent were recorded in a Scottish manner (ie given a Scottish spelling).
For example, Gallagher was usually recorded as Gallacher,
Dougherty as Docherty.
The following Irish surnames are commonly found in Scotland, particularly in the Glasgow area:
Kelly, Docherty, Gallacher, Boyle, Coyle, Murphy, Reilly, Connor, Connolly, Donnelly, Sweeney, Rafferty, Lafferty, Devine, Devlin, Bonar, Byrne, Quinn, Molloy, Kane, Lynch, Daly, Dougan, Brennan, Dempsey, Duffy, Friel, Gillan, Healy, Ward, Sullivan, Meehan, Rooney, Mulligan, Flanagan, Carrigan, Flynn, Curran, Keenan, Scanlon, Gormley, O’Donnell, O’Neill, O’Brien, McLaughlin, McVeigh, McManus, McFadden, McCluskey, McCormick, McCabe, McCann, McGuire, McGinty, McGlinchey, McGinness, McNulty, McDaid, McBride, McMenamin, McGonigle, McMonagle, McGoldrick, McGinley, McGlynn, McFall, McGrath, McSorley, McAteer, McCarthy, McCafferty, McDonagh, McGurk, McGee, McInally, McMahon, McDermott, McMullan, McAvoy, McAuley, McCulloch, McNamee, McKenna, McShane, McGowan.
I hope I have not missed out your surname.
The 8 most common Irish surnames in Scotland, in descending order, are : Kelly, Murphy, Docherty, Boyle, Reilly, Gallacher, McLaughlin, O’Donnell.
Kelly, Murphy, Docherty, Boyle and Reilly are among the top 100 most common surnames in Scotland, with Kelly the highest at position 38.
The fact that most of the Irish immigrants to Scotland came from the northern counties of Ireland is reflected by the above surnames. Surnames like Kelly, Docherty, Boyle, Gallacher, McLaughlin, McMenamin are very common in northern and western Ulster (Donegal, Derry, Tyrone, etc). Surnames like Reilly, Murphy, McGuire, McManus, McKenna, McShane are very common in southern and eastern Ulster (Fermanagh, Monaghan, Armagh, etc).
My mother was from rona street,number14, her name was susan mcdonagh. She passed away at a very young age,i never new her as i was only weeks old. I still have family in and around the garngad area but i would like to hear from people who new her as a friend when she was growing up. She would have been about75-80 years old now if she had lived. Thank you for your time.