Irish surnames starting with T

The T names in brief

• Taaffe · Táth · Norman-Welsh
  From Welsh Dafydd (David). Táth, son of David, the Welsh Taffy. The Taaffes were a distinguished family of Welsh origin who settled early in County Louth.
• Taggart · Mac an tSagairt · Gaelic sept
  Son of the priest. Son of the priest, from sagart and Latin sacerdos. Woulfe says only that it is an Ulster surname; the counties shown are approximate.
• Thompson · Mac Thómais · Ulster Scots
  Son of Thomas. An English and Scottish name, very common in Ulster since the Plantation. Woulfe records Mac Thómais, son of Thomas, a Scottish name found in Ireland as MacComish, Combes and Holmes.
• Tierney · Ó Tighearnaigh · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Tighearnach, 'lordly'. Tighearnach means lordly. Woulfe gives three families: a Cinéal Eoghain family, chiefs of Fearnmaigh in Donegal; a Uí Fiachrach family, lords of Carra in Mayo and still numerous there; and a Westmeath family of the southern Uí Néill.
• Tighe · Ó Taidhg · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Tadhg, 'poet'. Woulfe finds several families: chiefs of Imail in Wicklow, dispersed after the Anglo-Norman invasion; chiefs of Fir Lí in Derry; a Connacht family of the O'Connors' stock, chiefs of the household of the kings of Connacht, still numerous in Roscommon and Mayo; and probably a Thomond family. Mac Taidhg, common in Ulster and north Connacht, also gives Tighe.
• Tobin · Tóibín · Norman
  De St Aubyn. Norman: de St Aubyn, from St Aubin in Brittany. The Tobins settled early in Tipperary and Kilkenny and spread into Waterford, Cork and Limerick, and the head of the family was styled Baron of Comsey in Tipperary.
• Toner · Ó Tomhrair · Gaelic-Norse
  Descendant of Tomhrar — a Norse personal name. A Cinéal Eoghain family, Woulfe writes, seated near Lough Swilly in Donegal, where they built a church called after them, Cill Ó dTomhrair, now Killodonnell. Still common in Ulster.
• Tormey · Ó Tormaigh · Gaelic-Norse
  Descendant of Thormodr — a common Norse personal name. A midland and south Ulster surname built on the Norse personal name Thormodr, in Woulfe's account.
• Traynor · Mac Thréinfhir · Gaelic sept
  Son of Tréanfhear, 'champion' — literally 'strong man'. A well-known Ulster surname, from the personal name Tréanfhear, champion. Woulfe names no territory; the counties shown are approximate.
• Treacy · Ó Treasaigh · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Treasach, 'the fierce, the warlike'. Treasach means fighter. Two families: lords of Uí Bairrche in Slievemargy in Laois, long dispersed through Leinster and Munster, and a Galway family of the O'Maddens' stock.
• Troy · Ó Troighthigh · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Troightheach, 'the foot-soldier'. Ó Troighthigh, descendant of a foot-soldier. The family were of some note in north-west Clare, around Corcomroe, but were long dispersed and settled for centuries in Offaly, north Tipperary, Limerick and Cork.
• Tully · Mac an Tuile / Ó Maoltuile · Gaelic learned family
  Son of the flood — 'of God's will'. Mac Mhaoltuile, son of Maoltuile, devoted to the will of God: a medical family in Roscommon who were hereditary physicians to the O'Connors of Connacht. The name was long corrupted to Mac an Tuile, wrongly taken to mean son of the flood, and so it was often translated Flood.
• Tuohy · Ó Tuathaigh · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Tuathach, 'rustic' or 'lord'. A branch of the Uí Maine, Woulfe writes, originally at Aughrim in Galway. By the end of the 16th century the name was not uncommon across Munster, especially Cork, and also in Offaly and Donegal.
• Twomey · Ó Tuama · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Tuaim — 'burial mound'. Ó Tuama, descendant of Tuaim: a Dalcassian family, still common across Munster and especially in Cork, and spelled in the records as O'Twomey, O'Toomey, Toomey, Tuomy and Towmey before Twomey settled. Woulfe names Seán Ó Tuama as the most distinguished of the Maigue poets, the 18th-century poets of Croom in County Limerick.
• Tynan · Ó Teimhneáin · Gaelic sept
  Descendant of Teimhneán, 'dark, grey'. Woulfe finds two families: an Ossory surname, common in Leinster and Munster, and a rare Sligo one anglicised Tivnane or Tevnane.

Also spelled with T

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