Gaelic sept

MacNamara

Mac Conmara

Also: McNamara

“son of Cú Mara, 'hound of the sea'”

🏔 Clare · An Clár

The sept's historic heartland, highlighted. People moved — a name can be found far from home.

The story

Second family of Thomond and hereditary marshals to the O'Briens — it was the MacNamaras who built Bunratty Castle, now Ireland's most-visited medieval hall.

Their world Around 1450 — The Gaelic Resurgence. Plague, absentee landlords and Gaelic recovery shrink English Ireland to a fortified strip around Dublin.

See them on the atlas ↗

What the name is made of

Mac Conmara
Mac — son of (Mc is the same word, contracted)
Conmara — the ancestor, trade or place the name is built on

Find this form in the Irish-to-English index → · What Ó and Mac actually mean

Is MacNamara an Irish name?

MacNamara is a Gaelic name: it was formed in Irish, from an Irish ancestor, before English was spoken here.

The five answers, and why it is rarely yes or no →

From Wikipedia — “MacNamara”

MacNamara or McNamara is an Irish surname of a family of County Clare in Ireland. According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the MacNamaras were one of the chiefly families of the Dal gCais or Dalcassians who were a tribe of the Erainn who were the second wave of Celts to settle in Ireland between about 500 and 100 BC.

Read the full article ↗ · Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Neighbours — other names from the same counties

Ahern · Clare Carty · Clare Clancy · Clare Colgan · Clare Considine · Clare Cooney · Clare Creagh · Clare Cusack · Clare Galvin · Clare Gorman · Clare Griffin · Clare Hickey · Clare Hogan · Clare Hurley · Clare

Quick answers

Is MacNamara an Irish name?

MacNamara is a Gaelic name: it was formed in Irish, from an Irish ancestor, before English was spoken here. In Irish the name is Mac Conmara.

What does the surname MacNamara mean?

MacNamara (Irish: Mac Conmara) means “son of Cú Mara, 'hound of the sea'”. Origin: Gaelic sept.

Where in Ireland is the surname MacNamara from?

The historic homeland of the MacNamara name is Clare. People moved, so the name can be found far beyond it.

What is the Irish for MacNamara?

Mac Conmara. Related spellings: McNamara.

Looking for the MacNamara family crest? Read this first — arms belong to people, not surnames, and the honest version is more interesting. Tracing MacNamara ancestors? The step-by-step guide.

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