McCafferty — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Mac Eachmharcaigh
Meaning: 'son of the steed rider'
Traditional stronghold: Derry, Donegal
Pronunciation: mick-KAFF-er-tee; Irish Mac Eachmharcaigh: mock AKH-var-kee
History of the McCafferty name
McCafferty is Mac Eachmharcaigh, 'son of the horse rider', from each, 'steed', and marcach, 'rider', an appropriately dashing name for a family of northwest Ulster. It belongs chiefly to Donegal and Derry, and in Mayo the same name was anglicised Cafferky and Cafferty. It should not be confused with McCaffrey, a Fermanagh name of different origin. The surname is known to every Irish and British soldier's songbook through the ballad McCafferty, about a young Irish soldier executed in 1862, which folk memory long held to be unlucky to sing in barracks.
Variants: Cafferty · Cafferky · McCaverty
Famous bearers of the name
- Nell McCafferty — Derry journalist, feminist and co-founder of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement.
- Owen McCafferty — Belfast playwright, author of Quietly and Scenes from the Big Picture.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: O'Connor · Gallagher · Boyle · Doherty · Sweeney · O'Donnell · Duffy · McLoughlin