Irish surnames starting with R

The R names in brief

• Rafferty · Ó Raithbheartaigh · Gaelic sept
  A corruption of Ó Robhartaigh. Woulfe gives only the name's history: Ó Raithbheartaigh is a corruption of Ó Rabhartaigh or Ó Robhartaigh, and the variant Ravery comes from the softening of the t. He names no territory here; the counties shown are approximate.
• Raftery · Ó Reachtabhra · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Reachtabhra — 'law' and 'fringe'. Woulfe gives the meaning, reacht, law, and abhra, fringe, and says the name was sometimes written Ó Reachtaire and pronounced so in Mayo. He names no territory; the counties shown are approximate.
• Rattigan · Ó Reachtagáin · Gaelic learned family
  Descendant of Reachtagán, a diminutive of reacht, ‘law, decree’. An ecclesiastical family in Co. Roscommon, Woulfe writes, who were coarbs of St Finnen in the parish of Clooncraff, near Elphin.
• Redmond · Réamonn · Norman
  From Raymond (le Gros). Réamonn, son of Raymond, from the Frankish Raginmund; Woulfe insists it is not the English Redmund. It is the name of an old Wexford family: in 1598 Redmond of the Hook was one of the principal gentlemen of the county, as was Redmond of the Hall in 1608, and several of the name were attainted in 1691 after the Williamite war.
• Regan · Ó Riagáin · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Riagán, 'little king' (or 'impulsive'). Two families. The O'Regans of Meath, a branch of the southern Uí Néill, were one of the four tribes of Tara and lords of South Breagh; in 1029 Mathghamhain Ó Riagáin, King of Breagh, took Amhlaoibh, son of Sitric, King of Dublin, prisoner and released him only for an enormous ransom, including the sword of Carlus.
• Reidy · Ó Riada · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Riada, ‘tamed, trained’. A Dalcassian family, Woulfe writes, by then numerous in Clare and Kerry. The name was sometimes pronounced Ó Réada.
• Reynolds · Mac Raghnaill · Norse-Gaelic
  Son of Raghnall — the Irish form of the Norse name Rögnvaldr. Chiefs of Muintir Eolais in south Leitrim, whose Norse-derived name was flattened into the very English-sounding Reynolds. A Viking personal name, an Irish sept, an English spelling — the whole island in one surname.
• Rice · Rís · Norman-Welsh
  From Welsh Rhys. Rís, son of Rhys, a Welsh name. The Rices are of Welsh descent and settled in Ireland in the 14th or 15th century, especially at Limerick and Dingle, where they were wealthy merchants: Walter Ryce was mayor of Limerick in 1520, and the Rices of Dingle were prominent in the 16th and 17th centuries.
• Rigney · Ó Raigne · Gaelic sept
  A variant of Ó Raighne; Woulfe gives no meaning here. Found in Donegal and Offaly, Woulfe writes. The O'Rigneys of Offaly were followers of Mac Cochláin in the barony of Garrycastle, where the name was still common.
• Ring · Ó Rinn · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Reann, ‘spear’. Woulfe names two families. One was an old Cork family, a branch of the Uí Macaille, who gave their name to the barony of Imokilly.
• Riordan · Ó Ríoghbhardáin · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Ríoghbhardán, 'royal little bard'. Ó Ríoghbhardáin, descendant of Ríoghbhardán, royal bard. The family came from Ely O'Carroll in Offaly and was probably a branch of the O'Carrolls, named from Ríoghbhardán, son of the lord of Ely, killed in the Glen of Aherlow in 1058.
• Roche · de Róiste · Norman
  De la roche — 'of the rock'. Norman de la Roche, of the rock, from living beside some prominent rock. Families of the name settled in several parts of Ireland, and the best known were in Cork, Limerick and Wexford.
• Roddy · Ó Rodaigh · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Rodach, 'strong'. A branch of the Uí Maine in Galway, Woulfe writes; in Leitrim the name is also a variant of Ó Rodacháin. A rare Donegal name, Mac Rodaigh, also gives Ruddy.
• Rogan · Ó Ruadhagáin · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Ruadhagán — from ruadh, red. An Oriel family, Woulfe writes, chiefs of Uí Eathach, a district taking in the present barony of Armagh. The name was common in Ulster and Connacht.
• Ronan · Ó Rónáin · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Rónán, 'little seal'. Woulfe finds several families: chiefs of Cairbre Gabhra in the barony of Granard, Longford, dispossessed by the O'Farrells about the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion; a branch of the Uí Fiachrach in Mayo; erenaghs of Clondalkin in Dublin; and a Cork family, where the name (often as Ronayne) was most common.
• Rooney · Ó Ruanaidh · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Ruanadh, 'the champion'. Ó Ruanaidh, from Ruanaidh, hero. Woulfe notes that it was a common surname in Ulster, Leinster and Connacht at the end of the 16th century, though the annals say little of the family.
• Ruane · Ó Ruadháin · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Ruadhán, a diminutive of ruadh, ‘red’. Woulfe names two families. One was an old Uí Fiachrach family in Mayo, who held a district between Newbrook and Killeen, north of Ballinrobe.
• Ryan · Ó Maoilriain · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Maoilriaghain. Most Ryans are Ó Maoilriain, the Mulryans, follower of Rian. Woulfe describes a family of Leinster origin that settled in the 13th or 14th century in Owney in Tipperary and Owneybeg in east Limerick, where it became very numerous and powerful.

Also spelled with R

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