Irish surnames starting with Q

The Q names in brief

• Quigley · Ó Coigligh · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Coigleach. Woulfe derives it from Coigleach, itself from coigeal, a distaff — a byname for someone unkempt, with hair like the flax on the spindle. The family were a branch of the Uí Fiachrach seated in the barony of Carra in Mayo, and by the end of the 16th century the name had carried into Sligo, Donegal, Monaghan, Carlow, Wexford and Waterford.
• Quinlan · Ó Caoindealbháin · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Caoindealbhán, 'gracefully shaped'. Chiefs of Cinel Laoghaire near Trim, Woulfe writes, until the Anglo-Norman invasion, descended from Caoindealbhán (died 925), himself of the line of Laoghaire, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, king of Ireland in St Patrick's time. In Meath the name hid under Connellan and Conlon, in Leinster it became Kinlan, and in Munster it was shortened to Ó Caoinleáin (Quinlan) or turned round into Ó Caoinliobháin (Quinlivan).
• Quinn · Ó Cuinn · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Conn, 'chief'. Conn means head, sense, or intelligence, and also a freeman, and Ó Cuinn is one of the commonest surnames in Ireland, borne by several distinct families. The Ó Cuinn of Thomond, a branch of the Dál gCais descended from Conn, lord of Muinntear Ifearnáin in the late 10th century, were seated at Inchiquin and held the country around Corofin in Clare; the Earl of Dunraven belongs to this family.
• Quirke · Ó Cuirce · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Corc, ‘heart’. The family were anciently chiefs of Muscraighe Breogain, also called Muscraighe Cuirc, in what is now the barony of Clanwilliam in Co. Tipperary.

Also spelled with Q

These are listed on the atlas under another spelling, but the Q form is the one many families carry.