Kavanagh - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Caomhánach
Meaning: “follower of St Caomhán”
Traditional stronghold: Carlow, Wexford
Pronunciation: KAV-uh-nuh; Irish Caomhanach: kwee-VAH-nokh
History of the Kavanagh name
Kavanagh is unusual among Irish surnames in deriving from a personal byname rather than a patronymic: Donal Caomhanach, an illegitimate son of Dermot MacMurrough, king of Leinster, was fostered near St Caomhan's church, giving rise to the name. His descendants became the leading sept of the MacMurrough Kavanaghs, who continued to claim the kingship of Leinster into the later medieval period and held sway in Carlow and Wexford. They resisted Anglo-Norman and later English encroachment for centuries, with Art MacMurrough Kavanagh a famous 14th-century leader. The name remains strongly associated with Carlow, Wexford and Wicklow, and has long been rendered in English simply as Kavanagh without the Mac prefix.
Variants: Cavanagh · Kavanaugh · Cavanaugh
Famous bearers of the name
- Patrick Kavanagh - major 20th-century Irish poet, author of The Great Hunger
- Ted Kavanagh - New Zealand-born radio scriptwriter of Irish descent
- Rose Kavanagh - 19th-century Irish poet and journalist
- Sarah Kavanagh - Irish underage All-Ireland winning camogie player
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · Doyle · Nolan · Whelan · Cullen · Roche · Keating · Redmond