McDonagh - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Mac Donnchadha
Meaning: “son of the brown warrior”
Traditional stronghold: Galway, Sligo
Pronunciation: mick-DUN-ah; Irish Mac Donnchadha: mock DON-uh-kha
History of the McDonagh name
McDonagh, Mac Donnchadha, means 'son of Donnchadh' and arose independently in several places, but the chief sept was a branch of the MacDermots who ruled Tirerrill and Corran in County Sligo from their castle at Ballymote. It was in their house that the Book of Ballymote, one of the great medieval Irish manuscripts, was compiled around 1390 under McDonagh patronage. A second concentration of the name grew up in Connemara and east Galway, where McDonaghs remain among the most numerous families. The spelling varies endlessly, with McDonough favoured in America, but all forms are the one name.
Variants: MacDonagh · McDonough · McDonogh · MacDonough
Famous bearers of the name
- Thomas MacDonagh - Poet, teacher and signatory of the 1916 Proclamation, executed after the Rising.
- Martin McDonagh - Playwright and Oscar-winning filmmaker of In Bruges and The Banshees of Inisherin.
- Joe McDonagh - Galway hurler and reforming president of the GAA.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Kelly · Lynch · Connolly · Burke · McGowan · Clarke · Hughes · Boland