The study of family names has been a regular feature of Ireland's Own from its earliest years and it has been my privilege to have continued this tradition for the past twenty-five years. I must say that I have gained a great deal of satisfaction in responding to readers' requests for information about their names, at the same time increasing my own knowledge of the subject.

You would imagine that after such a long period interest would have dried up. Not so, as every week continues to bring its quota of enquiries. These come from all parts of Ireland and everywhere the Irish and their descendants are to be found across the globe and for whom Ireland's Own is an important link with the homeland.

What surprises me most is the constant appearance of names I have not previously encountered among the thousands I have dealt with over the years, especially when they are of a little-known ancient Irish family in some county. It used to be that all enquiries were about native names, but that has changed to include as many English ones, due mainly to marriage alliances. I cannot claim much credit for my work in this field, as I must rely on the valuable published works of the experts. Foremost among these is Edward MacLysaght's renowned volumes of Irish Families, the first of which appeared in 1957, followed by More Irish Families (1960), Supplement to Irish Families (1964) and The Surnames of Ireland, which contains an index to the three earlier books.

MacLysaght, who became the first Chief Herald of Ireland in 1943 and head of the Genealogical Office in Dublin, was not the first to publish a major study of Irish surnames, though he is acknowledged as the most authoritative. He was critical of John O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees, first published in 1892, but lauded the work of Rev. Patrick Woulfe, a priest of the Diocese of Limerick, whose Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall (Irish Names and Surnames) appeared in 1923.

In more recent times, we've had Brian de Breffmy's Irish Family Names (1982), Robert Bell's valuable book on Ulster Surnames (1988), John Grenham's Clans and Families of Ireland, Diarmuid Ó Murchadha's Family Names of County Cork. The principal works on British surnames are Bardsley's Dictionary of English & Welsh Surnames (1901); P.H. Reany's Dictionary of British Surnames (1958) and Hanks and Hodges A Dictionary of Surnames (1988).

Ireland was one of the first European countries in which a system of fixed hereditary surnames developed. It has been generally stated that this process began in the reign of King Brian Boru (1002-1014), but Brian himself never adopted a hereditary surname. Nor did his sons. It was only in the time of his grandsons that the surname Ó Briain (O'Brien) first came into existence. However, it can be shown from the Irish Annals that fixed surnames were already developing before Brian was born and that the process continued for nearly two centuries after his death.

Probably the first fixed surname in Europe was Ó Cléirigh (O'Clery): the annals record O'Clery of South Ui Fiachrach as flourishing in the year 850, and the death Tigherneach Ó Cléirigh, Lord of Aidhne in Co. Galway, in 916. Ó Canannáin of Tirconaill is mentioned in 941; Domhnall Ua Néill, the first of the O'Neills of Ulster, at 943; Ua Ruairc of Breifney and Ua Ciardha (O'Kearty) of Cairbre, at 952; Mag Aongusa (Maguinness) at 956; while Ó Maoldoraidh (O'Muldory) of Tirconnaill, Ó Dubhda (O'Dowd) of Tireragh; Ú Ceallaigh (O'Kelly) of Ui Maine, and many others were firmly established as surnames before the end of the tenth century.

By the twelfth century most families had adopted surnames with the prefixes 'O' (grandson) or 'Mac' (son), together with the personal name of the ancestor from the whom the descent is indicated. These personal names had their own connotations, often denoting occupation or distinguishing feature. Thus we can guess that the progenitor of the Shanleys (Mac Seanlaoich) was a great warrior in his day, sean laoch meaning'old hero', while the ancestor of the Darcys (Ó Dorchaidhe) must have been darkfeatured, since dorcha, the root of the name, means dark.

Among the occupations recorded in Irish names are, Ó Cléirigh (Clery), grandson or descendant of the clerk (cléireach); Mac an Bháird (Ward), son of the bard; Mac Labhráin (McCloran), son of the spokesman (labhraidh), MacGowan (McGowan), son of the smith (gabha); Mac an tSaoir (McAteer), son of the craftsman (saor). Since saor also has the secondary meaning of free, the English surname Freeman sometimes hides its gaelic origin.

Surnames that begin with 'Gil' and'Kil' usually relate to saints, the Irish Giolla, meaning follower, servant or devotee. Thus Gilmore (Mac Giolla Mhuire) means 'son of the devotee of the Mary'; Gilespie (Mac Giolla Easpuig), son of the servant of the bishop; Kilfeather (Mac Giolla Pheadair), son of the devotee of St Peter. The same goes for the prefix 'Mul', an anglicised form of maol, meaning'bald', as applied to monks because of their distinctive tonsure. Thus, Mulready (Ó Maoibhrighde) denotes 'descendant of the devotee of St Bridget.

Unlike most English surnames, few in Ireland derive from the place of origin, indicating that ancestry was more important than where you came from.

As the population grew and new families were formed, they sought to consolidate their identity by adopting hereditary surnames of their own, usually by simply adding Mac to the first name of the founding ancestor. In the course of this process many surnames were created which were offshoots of more common names.

Thus, for example, the McMahons and the McConsidines are descended from the O'Brien family, the former from Mahon O'Brien, who died in 1129, the latter from Constantine O'Brien, who died in 1193. The continuing division and subdivision of the most powerful Gaelic families like this is almost certainly the reason for the great proliferation of Gaelic surnames.

In districts where the same surname largely prevailed, nicknames were introduced to distinguish one from the other, and in the course of time many of these supplanted the real surnames. Strangers, too, were often called by names indicating their place of origin, for example, Muimhneach (Munsterman), Laighneach (Leinsterman), Ó Dubhghaill (dark foreigner, referring to the Viking Danes). Other surnames of Viking origin are Harold, Henrick, Howard and Cotter.

The arrival of the AngloNormans introduced a whole new set of family names, many from their place or origin in Normandy, France, while others were acquired after their ancestors had settled in England and Wales, a century before coming to Ireland. The ones most obvious of Norman origin are those beginning with 'Fitz', a corruption of the French fils, meaning'son', and used by the Normans in the same way as the Gaels used Mac.

As the Normans began to adapt to Irish ways, their surnames underwent the same process of subdivision as already seen in Gaelic surnames. Thus, for example, in the thirteenth century the descendants of Piers de Birmingham were calling themselves Mac Fheorais (son of Piers), which was later anglicised as Corish, a well-known name in Wexford.

The great variety of English surnames was well illustrated by the Register General for England and Wales: "Derived from almost every imaginable object, from the names of places, from trades and employments, from personal peculiarities, from the Christian name of the father, from objects in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, from things animate and inanimate; their varied character is as remarkable as their singularity is often striking.

"Some of the terms which swell the list are so odd, and even rediculous, that it is difficult to assign any satisfactory reason for their assumption in the first instance as family names, unless indeed, as has been conjectured, they were nicknames or sobriquets, which neither the first bearers nor their posterity could avoid."

Referring to Welsh surnames he stated: "In Wales, however, the surnames, if surnames they can be called, do not present the same variety, most of them having been formed in a simple manner from the Christian or fore-name of the father in the genitive case. Thus, Evan's son became Evans, John's son Jones, etc."

A lot more could be written on this subject, but for now I will be happy to continue to receive readers' enquiries and doing my best to help with whatever information I can find.