surnames.ie

Irish surname · 23rd most common in 1911

Clarke

Also spelt Clark

Clarke means 'clerk', a literate man or cleric. In Ireland it is often a translation of the Gaelic Ó Cléirigh (O'Clery), the family of the Four Masters, or of Mac an Chléirigh in Cavan, while many other Irish Clarkes and Clarks carry the English surname of the same meaning.

Irish Ó CléirighIrish Mac an ChléirighIrish Mac CléirighIrish CléireachIrish Bean Uí Chléirigh
1901 census
14,717
#26 · 33 per 10,000
1911 census
14,965
#23 · 34 per 10,000
1926 census
9,250
#49 · 31 per 10,000
Most numerous
Antrim
Highest share: Cavan

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Gaelic & English (merged) Gaelic Irish (Ó Cléirigh, Mac an Chléirigh), translated into English as Clarke, merged with the English occupational surname Clarke or Clark.[1][2][3][4]

Ó Cléirigh
“descendant of Cléireach (cleric, clerk)”[1][5][6]
Woulfe spells the headword Ó Clérigh. He says the name is often hidden under the translated form Clarke, especially in Ulster. Irish speakers named Clarke, such as Tom Clarke (Tomás Ó Cléirigh), have used this form.
Mac an Chléirigh
“son of the clerk”[2]
A common Cavan surname, probably a variant of Ó Cléirigh, which Woulfe says was by his day almost always rendered Clarke.
Mac Cléirigh
“son of the clerk”[7]
A shortened form of Mac an Chléirigh, also anglicised MacCleary and Clarke.
Cléireach
“the clerk”[3]
Woulfe's Irish rendering of the English or Anglo-Irish surname Clarke, frequent in early Anglo-Irish records.
Bean Uí Chléirigh
“wife of Ó Cléirigh”[8]
The married woman's form, used by Kathleen Clarke (Caitlín Bean Uí Chléirigh).

The name is built on the personal name Cléireach, usually explained as “a cleric or clerk”. The Irish word, like English 'clerk', goes back to Latin clericus. In the Middle Ages almost the only people who could read and write were churchmen, so 'clerk' came to mean a literate man, scribe or secretary.[1][4]

Pronunciation

Clarke: CLARK

Place

Where the Clarkes lived

How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.

Donegal: 18.6 per 10,000 (313 people) Waterford: 7.4 per 10,000 (61 people) Dublin: 41.9 per 10,000 (2,013 people) Kilkenny: 2.7 per 10,000 (20 people) Carlow: 17.1 per 10,000 (62 people) Limerick: 6.3 per 10,000 (91 people) Louth: 97.3 per 10,000 (613 people) Tipperary: 9.8 per 10,000 (150 people) Roscommon: 13.3 per 10,000 (125 people) Meath: 111.2 per 10,000 (725 people) Wicklow: 29.3 per 10,000 (178 people) Cavan: 160.9 per 10,000 (1,470 people) Cork: 8 per 10,000 (313 people) Clare: 4.5 per 10,000 (47 people) Galway: 32.8 per 10,000 (598 people) Mayo: 51.5 per 10,000 (990 people) Sligo: 36 per 10,000 (285 people) Leitrim: 20.8 per 10,000 (131 people) Offaly: 24.9 per 10,000 (142 people) Laois: 7.7 per 10,000 (42 people) Kildare: 21.8 per 10,000 (146 people) Kerry: 1.7 per 10,000 (27 people) Monaghan: 53.1 per 10,000 (380 people) Wexford: 8 per 10,000 (82 people) Longford: 60.7 per 10,000 (266 people) Westmeath: 40.2 per 10,000 (242 people) Tyrone: 34.3 per 10,000 (490 people) Antrim: 44.2 per 10,000 (2,111 people) Armagh: 48.1 per 10,000 (575 people) Fermanagh: 42.7 per 10,000 (259 people) Londonderry: 38.4 per 10,000 (537 people) Down: 48.4 per 10,000 (1,481 people)
fewerup to 170 per 10,000

Share of each county's census population. 1926 covers the 26 counties of the Irish Free State only.

Highest concentration · 1911

Cavan

161 per 10,000

1,470 Clarkes · 4.72× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Cavan 161
  2. Meath 111
  3. Louth 97
  4. Longford 61
  5. Monaghan 53
  6. Mayo 52
  7. Down 48
  8. Armagh 48

Per 10,000 residents. A concentration index above 1 means the name was commoner there than nationally.

County figures as a table
County190119111926Per 10k 1901Per 10k 1911Per 10k 1926
Antrim2,0162,111—4444—
Armagh563575—4548—
Carlow606260161718
Cavan1,6111,4701,397165161170
Clare594744555
Cork356313270987
Donegal337313280201918
Down1,2191,481—4248—
Dublin1,7712,0132,161404243
Fermanagh288259—4443—
Galway629598501333330
Kerry242711121
Kildare129146129212222
Kilkenny112014232
Laois434244889
Leitrim149131135222124
Limerick7291121569
Londonderry532537—3738—
Longford268266235576159
Louth6176136529597104
Mayo1,098990894555252
Meath718725783102111125
Monaghan395380364535356
Offaly13314292222518
Roscommon132125103131312
Sligo296285297373642
Tipperary14715013791010
Tyrone542490—3634—
Waterford396167579
Westmeath194242200314035
Wexford808277888
Wicklow189178182322932

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where Clarkes made up the largest share of the population. In Drumanespick, Co. Cavan, about one resident in 4 was a Clarke.

DEDCountyClarkesShare
DrumanespickCavan169 23.4%
CarnagarveCavan135 13.8%
EnniskeenCavan60 9.3%
FallaghTyrone60 8.9%
TaghartCavan91 8.6%
KillinkereCavan84 8.2%
Dromard WestSligo31 7.8%
CanningstownCavan85 7.2%

Origins

Septs & territories

Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct Clarke lineages described in the sources.

A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.

Ó Cléirigh of Aidhne

Aidhne (Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne), coextensive with the diocese of Kilmacduagh · Galway

Woulfe traces the family to Cléireach, a man of the mid-9th century said to be seventh in descent from Guaire the Hospitable, king of Connacht. They were once the ruling family of Aidhne in south Galway, but lost power early in the 11th century and were finally driven out late in the 13th. Wikipedia adds that they ruled there before the O'Heynes and were probably exiled after the Anglo-Norman invasion of Connacht.[1][9][10]

Ó Cléirigh of Tír Conaill

south Donegal, around Kilbarron near Ballyshannon · Donegal

Descended, according to Woulfe, from the branch that settled in Tirawley, Co. Mayo. They became hereditary poets and chroniclers to the O'Donnells, inheriting by marriage the lands of the O'Scingins who held that office before them, and lived at Kilbarron Castle. The family's most famous work is the Annals of the Four Masters.[1][11][12]

Other Ó Cléirigh branches

Tirawley; Co. Cavan; near Kilkenny · Mayo, Cavan, Kilkenny

After their expulsion from Aidhne the family scattered. Woulfe records three branches: in Tirawley in north Mayo, in Co. Cavan and around Kilkenny.[1]

Mac an Chléirigh of Cavan

Co. Cavan · Cavan

Woulfe calls this a common Cavan name, probably a variant of Ó Cléirigh, and notes it was almost always translated Clarke by the early 20th century. Its exact English equivalent would be Clarkson.[2][7]

English Clarke and Clark

0

An English occupational name for a clerk or scribe, first recorded in 12th-century England and among the commonest surnames in Britain. Woulfe found it frequent in early Anglo-Irish records, though he judged that most Irish Clarkes were in fact O'Clerys or MacClerys.[3][4][13]

The name over time

History

A name that means 'clerk'

Clarke and Clark both come from the word clerk, from Latin clericus. In medieval England the word first meant a member of a religious order and then any literate man, so it became a surname for scribes, secretaries and scholars. Irish has a parallel word, cléireach, and two Gaelic surnames were built on it: Ó Cléirigh and Mac an Chléirigh. When Irish names were translated into English, both were often turned into Clarke. As a result an Irish Clarke may be of Gaelic, English or mixed descent, and the spelling gives no clue which.[4][13][1][2]

Kings of Aidhne

The Uí Chléirigh began as a ruling family in Aidhne, a small kingdom in south Co. Galway whose bounds matched the later diocese of Kilmacduagh. Woulfe derives them from Cléireach, who lived in the mid-9th century and descended from Guaire Aidne, a 7th-century king of Connacht famed for his hospitality. The annals name a Tighearnach Ua Cléirigh, king of Uí Fhiachrach Aidhne, who died in 916. The family's power faded in the 11th century, and by the end of the 13th they had been pushed out of Aidhne and scattered.[1][9][14][10]

Historians to the O'Donnells

One branch went to Tirawley in Co. Mayo, and from there a line moved north into Tír Conaill. These O'Clerys replaced the O'Scingins as poets and historians to the O'Donnells, acquiring their lands through marriage and receiving further grants. Woulfe places their residence at Kilbarron Castle, near Ballyshannon. The family became one of the great learned dynasties of Gaelic Ireland, producing historians and scribes such as Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh, who wrote a life of Red Hugh O'Donnell.[1][9][15]

The Four Masters

The best-known O'Clery is Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, a Franciscan lay brother from south Donegal, baptised Tadhg. Working for the Irish college at Louvain, he returned to Ireland in 1626 to gather and copy manuscripts. Between 1632 and 1636, at the Franciscan community at Bundrowes, he directed the compilation of the Annála Ríoghachta Éireann, the Annals of the Four Masters. His kinsman Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh was among the team. The annals remain a key source for Irish history, and they record many of the families described on this site.[11][12][16]

Clarke as a translated name

Woulfe remarks that by his time the O'Clerys were numerous throughout Ireland, but that the name was often disguised as Clarke, especially in Ulster. In Cavan, Mac an Chléirigh had almost entirely become Clarke. English settlers named Clarke added to the total, and Woulfe found Clarke common in early Anglo-Irish records. Wikipedia suggests the Irish Clarkes clustered first in Galway and Antrim before spreading to Donegal and Dublin. The same Gaelic name also produced Cleary and Clery, which some families kept instead.[1][2][3][4][17]

Places linked to the name

  • Aidhne (diocese of Kilmacduagh) (Aidhne), Co. Galway — The south Galway kingdom where the Uí Chléirigh were the original ruling family.[1][14][9]
  • Kilbarron Castle, Co. Donegal — Residence of the O'Clery historians near Ballyshannon.[1]
  • Bundrowes (Bun Drobhaoise), Co. Donegal — Site of the Franciscan community where the Annals of the Four Masters were compiled in 1632–36.[11][12]
  • Tirawley, Co. Mayo — Where one branch of the dispersed Uí Chléirigh settled, ancestors of the Donegal line.[1]

Everyday lives

The Clarkes in the census

Who the Clarkes were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.

Clarkes All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Clarke bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic −12.7 points vs Ireland
Clarkes 60.9%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland +6.5 points vs Ireland
Clarkes 19.7%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian +5.0 points vs Ireland
Clarkes 15.1%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other +1.2 points vs Ireland
Clarkes 4.3%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 −6.5 points vs Ireland
Clarkes 8.8%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 −6.4 points vs Ireland
Clarkes 7.1%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −3.7 points vs Ireland
Clarkes 9.8%
All of Ireland 13.5%

78 Clarkes spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ +2.9 points vs Ireland
Clarkes 83.3%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ +2.3 points vs Ireland
Clarkes 88.1%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 3,248 households lower than Ireland
Clarkes 4.61
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 higher than Ireland
Clarkes 6.54
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living +1.3 points vs Ireland
Clarkes 81.1%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer2,640
Farmer's son1,090
Farmer's daughter634
General labourer476
Agricultural labourer416
Labourer385
Farm servant332
House keeper282
Farm labourer221
Domestic servant206

Born outside Ireland

4.8% of Clarkes in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England476
Scotland175
United States38
India12
Wales7
Canada3

Median age: 24 in 1901, 25 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the Clarkes

Men and boys

  1. John2,436
  2. James1,918
  3. Patrick1,660
  4. Thomas1,352
  5. William1,035
  6. Michael962
  7. Joseph543
  8. Robert451
  9. Peter431
  10. Edward314

Women and girls

  1. Mary2,571
  2. Bridget1,178
  3. Margaret916
  4. Annie845
  5. Ellen672
  6. Elizabeth625
  7. Catherine572
  8. Sarah482
  9. Anne480
  10. Jane467

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, Patrick, James, Thomas, Michael; Mary, Bridget, Annie, Margaret, Ellen.

Spellings

Spellings

This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.

Spelling190119111926Records
Clarke13,67314,0958,885Search
Clark1,044870365Search

Related forms

  • Clark — The same English name with a different spelling; Wikipedia notes it was often used to anglicise O'Cleary.[13][4]
  • O'Clery, O'Cleary, Clery, Cleary — English forms of Ó Cléirigh that keep the sound of the Irish name rather than translating it.[1][17]
  • MacCleary, MacClery — From Mac an Chléirigh or its short form Mac Cléirigh.[2][7]
  • Clarkson — Woulfe calls it the exact English equivalent of Mac an Chléirigh, 'son of the clerk'.[2][17]
  • Clerk, Leclerc, Beauclerk — Related names from the same word in English and French.[4]

Diaspora

The Clarkes abroad

Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:

SpellingPeopleUS rank
Clarke68,281487th
Clark562,67927th

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).

Heraldry

Is there a Clarke coat of arms?

No single Clarke crest exists. Burke's General Armory lists dozens of separate coats for Clarke and Clark families, most of them English, each belonging to a particular line. For the Gaelic sept of Ó Cléirigh of Aidhne, which he describes as dispersed after the invasion of 1172, Burke records gold arms with three green nettle leaves.[18]

Websites selling a single “Clarke family crest” are selling a design, not an inheritance. Arms in Ireland belonged to individuals and their heirs, and the Chief Herald of Ireland still grants arms that way today.

People

Notable people named Clarke

  • Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh (fl. 1603–1616)
    Donegal poet and historian, author of a life of Red Hugh O'Donnell.
  • Mícheál Ó Cléirigh (c. 1590–c. 1643)
    Franciscan chronicler and chief compiler of the Annals of the Four Masters.
  • William Clark (1770–1838)
    American explorer who co-led the Lewis and Clark expedition across the continent.
  • Marcus Clarke (1846–1881)
    English-born Australian novelist, author of For the Term of His Natural Life.
  • Tom Clarke (1858–1916)
    Irish Republican Brotherhood leader and a principal planner of the 1916 Rising; executed.
  • Kathleen Clarke (1878–1972)
    Founder member of Cumann na mBan, privy to the Rising's plans; wife of Tom Clarke.
  • Harry Clarke (1889–1931)
    Dublin stained-glass artist and book illustrator of the Irish Arts and Crafts movement.
  • Austin Clarke (1896–1974)
    Dublin poet, dramatist and novelist of the generation after Yeats.
  • Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008)
    English science-fiction writer and futurist.
  • Joe Clark (born 1939)
    Prime Minister of Canada, 1979–1980, and Progressive Conservative leader.
  • Darren Clarke (born 1968)
    Northern Irish golfer who won the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St George's.

Questions

Questions about the Clarke name

Is Clarke an Irish surname?

It can be either Irish or English. Clarke is an English surname meaning 'clerk', but in Ireland it was also used to translate the Gaelic Ó Cléirigh and Mac an Chléirigh, both built on the Irish word for a clerk. Woulfe thought most Irish Clarkes were really O'Clerys or MacClerys, though English settlers of the name were common too.[3][1][4]

What is Clarke in Irish?

Usually Ó Cléirigh, 'descendant of Cléireach'. Tom Clarke, the 1916 leader, was Tomás Séamus Ó Cléirigh in Irish, and his wife Kathleen used Caitlín Bean Uí Chléirigh. In Cavan the source is more often Mac an Chléirigh, 'son of the clerk'. For a Clarke of English origin, Woulfe gives Cléireach.[1][2][3][6][8]

Are Clarke and Cleary the same name?

Often they are. Cleary, Clery and O'Clery keep the sound of Ó Cléirigh, while Clarke translates its meaning. Woulfe notes that families of this stock were frequently known as Clarke, especially in Ulster. Not every Clarke is an O'Clery, however, since Clarke is also a native English name.[1][17]

What is the difference between Clarke and Clark?

None in origin. Both are spellings of the same English surname from the word 'clerk', and Wikipedia treats them as variants. In Irish records the two spellings are used interchangeably for English families and for translated O'Clerys alike.[4][13]

Is there a Clarke family crest or coat of arms?

There is no single Clarke crest. Burke lists dozens of Clarke and Clark arms, most belonging to individual English families. For the Gaelic O'Clerys of Aidhne in Co. Galway he records a gold shield with three green nettle leaves. Each coat belonged to a particular family, not to the surname.[18]

Were the Four Masters called Clarke?

Their chief compiler, Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, belonged to the O'Clery family of hereditary historians in Donegal, which is one of the Gaelic sources of the Clarke name. He is usually known in English as Michael O'Clery rather than Clarke.[11][1]

Where in Ireland is the Clarke surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of Clarkes lived in Antrim (2,111), Dublin (2,013), Down (1,481). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Cavan (161 per 10,000), Meath (111 per 10,000), Louth (97 per 10,000).

How common was the Clarke surname in Ireland?

14,965 people were recorded as Clarke or Clark in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 23rd most common surname. That is roughly 0.3% of the population, or 1 person in 293.

Looking for a Clarke ancestor?

Search every Clarke household in the 1901, 1911 and 1926 censuses, with free images of the original forms.

Search records on irishcensus.com

Evidence

Sources

  1. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Clérigh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Patrick Woulfe, Mac an Chléirigh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  3. Patrick Woulfe, Cléireach, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  4. Wikipedia, Clarke (2026)
  5. Gaois research group, Dublin City University, Sloinnte (Irish surnames corpus), cluster 'Cléireach' (2022)
  6. Wikipedia, Tom Clarke (Irish republican) (2026)
  7. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Cléirigh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  8. Wikipedia, Kathleen Clarke (2026)
  9. Wikipedia, Uí Fiachrach Aidhne (2026)
  10. Wikipedia, Guaire Aidne mac Colmáin (2026)
  11. Wikipedia, Mícheál Ó Cléirigh (2026)
  12. Wikipedia, Annals of the Four Masters (2026)
  13. Wikipedia, Clark (2026)
  14. Wikipedia, Aidhne (2026)
  15. Wikipedia, Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh (2026)
  16. Wikipedia, Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh (2026)
  17. Wikipedia, Ó Cléirigh (2026)
  18. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entry 'O'Clery' (the sept of O'Cleirigh of Aidhne) and the many 'Clarke' and 'Clark' entries.
  19. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.

How we compile these figures: methodology.