O'Hare — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: O hIr
Meaning: 'descendant of Ir' (a personal name of uncertain origin)
Traditional stronghold: Armagh, Down
Pronunciation: oh-HAIR; Irish O hIr: oh HEER
History of the O'Hare name
O'Hare derives from O hIr, built on the personal name Ir, whose precise original meaning is not clearly recorded. The family were based in County Armagh and County Down, in the Oriel region of south Ulster, where several bearers served as erenaghs, hereditary stewards of church lands, reflecting a close historical link between the family and ecclesiastical estates in that area. The surname remained closely tied to this Armagh-Down heartland through the centuries rather than spreading widely across the country. O'Hare is today still most commonly found in south Ulster, particularly Armagh, and among the Ulster Irish diaspora in Britain and North America.
Variants: Hare · O'Hair
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · Murray · Rooney · Garvey · O'Hanlon · Fitzsimons · Larkin · Doran