surnames.ie

Irish surname · 24th most common in 1911

Daly

Also spelt Daley, O'Daly

Daly comes from the Irish Ó Dálaigh, 'descendant of Dálach', a name linked to dáil, an assembly. The family began as chiefs of Corca Adaimh in Westmeath and became Ireland's most celebrated dynasty of bardic poets, with branches serving lords in Clare, Cork, Cavan, Galway and elsewhere.

Irish Ó DálaighIrish Ua Dálaigh
1901 census
14,937
#23 · 34 per 10,000
1911 census
14,646
#24 · 33 per 10,000
1926 census
13,326
#21 · 45 per 10,000
Most numerous
Cork
Highest share: Westmeath

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Gaelic Gaelic Irish: a single family, Ó Dálaigh of Corca Adaimh in Westmeath, whose poets spread across Ireland from the 12th century.[1][2]

Ó Dálaigh
“descendant of Dálach”[1][2][3][4]
The single Gaelic source of Daly, O'Daly and Daley. The Gaois database lists Daly as its main English form and Dawley as an alternative.
Ua Dálaigh
“grandson or descendant of Dálach”[2]
The older spelling found in the annals for the 12th-century poets of the family.

The name is built on the personal name Dálach, usually explained as “one who frequents or holds assemblies”. Woulfe glosses Dálach as 'holding or frequenting assemblies'. Wikipedia says the most accepted view links it to dáil, 'assembly', as in Dáil Éireann, so that it meant something like 'councillor', while admitting the derivation is not certain.[1][2][5]

Pronunciation

Daly: DAY-lee

Ó Dálaigh: oh DAW-lee /oː ˈd̪ˠaːlˠiː/[2]

Place

Where the Dalys 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: 12.1 per 10,000 (204 people) Waterford: 39.4 per 10,000 (324 people) Dublin: 34.3 per 10,000 (1,648 people) Kilkenny: 17.8 per 10,000 (134 people) Carlow: 22.6 per 10,000 (82 people) Limerick: 51.8 per 10,000 (742 people) Louth: 17.6 per 10,000 (111 people) Tipperary: 20.8 per 10,000 (317 people) Roscommon: 37.4 per 10,000 (351 people) Meath: 66.4 per 10,000 (433 people) Wicklow: 15 per 10,000 (91 people) Cavan: 35.3 per 10,000 (322 people) Cork: 88.1 per 10,000 (3,462 people) Clare: 47.3 per 10,000 (494 people) Galway: 26 per 10,000 (474 people) Mayo: 8.8 per 10,000 (170 people) Sligo: 10.4 per 10,000 (82 people) Leitrim: 15.1 per 10,000 (95 people) Offaly: 115.9 per 10,000 (660 people) Laois: 33.8 per 10,000 (185 people) Kildare: 31.9 per 10,000 (213 people) Kerry: 76.6 per 10,000 (1,224 people) Monaghan: 57.6 per 10,000 (412 people) Wexford: 17.6 per 10,000 (180 people) Longford: 29.9 per 10,000 (131 people) Westmeath: 125.1 per 10,000 (753 people) Tyrone: 35.7 per 10,000 (510 people) Antrim: 5.7 per 10,000 (272 people) Armagh: 20.5 per 10,000 (245 people) Fermanagh: 6.9 per 10,000 (42 people) Londonderry: 8.8 per 10,000 (123 people) Down: 5.2 per 10,000 (160 people)
fewerup to 126 per 10,000

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

Highest concentration · 1911

Westmeath

125 per 10,000

753 Dalys · 3.75× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Westmeath 125
  2. Offaly 116
  3. Cork 88
  4. Kerry 77
  5. Meath 66
  6. Monaghan 58
  7. Limerick 52
  8. Clare 47

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
Antrim269272—66—
Armagh197245—1621—
Carlow818273222321
Cavan329322320343539
Clare532494441474746
Cork3,6453,4623,296918891
Donegal198204214111214
Down162160—65—
Dublin1,5201,6481,895353438
Fermanagh6142—97—
Galway512474481272628
Kerry1,2731,2241,214777782
Kildare255213246423243
Kilkenny117134111161816
Laois185185160323431
Leitrim889586131515
Limerick727742767505255
Londonderry106123—79—
Longford129131120283030
Louth96111137151822
Mayo1871701829911
Meath478433424686668
Monaghan432412401585862
Offaly726660563120116107
Roscommon344351342343741
Sligo918269111010
Tipperary329317367212126
Tyrone496510—3336—
Waterford384324367443947
Westmeath732753715118125126
Wexford191180213181822
Wicklow6591122111521

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where Dalys made up the largest share of the population. In Sheepshead, Co. Cork, about one resident in 4 was a Daly.

DEDCountyDalysShare
SheepsheadCork156 26.4%
NewtownWestmeath34 8.8%
KilcumreraghOffaly44 7.7%
ClondagadClare54 7.5%
KilfelinKerry31 7.3%
KilloranGalway24 6.7%
HindsOffaly37 6.6%
AbbeyClare42 6.5%

Origins

Septs & territories

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

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

Ó Dálaigh of Corca Adaimh

Corca Adaimh, in the later barony of Magheradernon · Westmeath

The original family, chiefs of a small territory in the old district of Tethba. Their pedigree ran back to Niall of the Nine Hostages through one of his sons, though sources differ on which. Wikipedia notes they remained chiefs at home even as their poets spread across the country.[1][2][6]

Ó Dálaigh of Finavarra (Burren)

Finavarra, in the Burren · Clare

Founded around the middle of the 13th century by descendants of the poet Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh. They were poets to the O'Loughlins of Burren, and a monument near the site of their bardic school still commemorates Donnchadh Mór.[1][2][7]

Dalys of Galway (Uí Maine)

Uí Maine; later Dunsandle, Killymore and Raford · Galway

An offshoot of the Clare line whose ancestor moved into Uí Maine late in the 15th century. One branch became part of the Protestant Ascendancy, supplying mayors and MPs for Galway, and was raised to the peerage as Barons Dunsandle and Clanconal in 1845.[1][2][8][6]

Ó Dálaigh of Desmond and Muintir Bháire

Muintir Bháire (the Sheep's Head peninsula) and O'Keeffe's country (Duhallow) · Cork

Woulfe traces them to Raghnall Ó Dálaigh, who came to Desmond about the middle of the 12th century and became chief poet to MacCarthy. The Muintir Bháire Dalys lost the last of their land after the fall of James II and became tenant farmers.[1][2][9]

Ó Dálaigh poets in Breifne, Ulster and Connacht

Co. Cavan and elsewhere · Cavan

Woulfe records a Cavan branch who were poets to the O'Reillys, and other branches attached to the O'Neills of Ulster and the O'Connors of Connacht. Wikipedia also lists early branches in Roscommon and Sligo.[1][2]

The name over time

History

Chiefs of Corca Adaimh

The earliest records place the Ó Dálaigh in Tethba, in what is now Co. Westmeath, as chiefs of Corca Adaimh. Burke locates that territory in the barony of Magheradernon. The family traced its descent to Niall of the Nine Hostages. Woulfe names Niall's son Maine as their ancestor, while Wikipedia gives a line through Máel Dúin of the Cenél maic Ercae, a king of Ailech. The Munster branch was later given a separate Eóganacht pedigree, which Wikipedia suggests may simply have tied the poets more closely to the dynasties they served.[2][1][6]

A family of poets

Woulfe calls the O'Dalys famous as a bardic family all over Ireland, and quotes John O'Donovan's view that no family did more for Irish bardic literature. The first to win fame was Cú Connacht Ó Dálaigh, called 'na scoile', 'of the school', who died at Clonard in 1139 and is the earliest recorded bearer of the surname. From then on poetry was the family's profession. Several held the office of chief poet of Ireland, and Wikipedia credits them as the leading masters of dán díreach, the strict classical verse of the later Middle Ages.[1][2]

Donnchadh Mór and Muireadhach Albanach

Two brothers stand out in the early 13th century. Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh, who died in 1244, was praised by the Four Masters as a poet never to be surpassed. He was probably abbot of Boyle and is remembered at Finavarra in Clare, where his descendants kept a bardic school. Muireadhach Albanach, 'the Scottish', killed a steward of the lord of Tír Conaill with an axe and fled to Scotland. Tradition makes him the founder of the MacMhuirich poets there, and his poems suggest he took part in the Fifth Crusade.[2][7][10][1]

Poets across Ireland

From the 12th century the family spread to serve many lords. In Desmond, Raghnall Ó Dálaigh became chief poet to MacCarthy, and Woulfe makes him the ancestor of the O'Dalys of Muintir Bháire and Duhallow. Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh of Duhallow, who died in 1387, was chief poet of Ireland. Other branches served the O'Loughlins in Clare, the O'Reillys in Cavan, the O'Neills and the O'Connors. Royal patrons granted the poets land, and Wikipedia notes that townlands such as Ballydaly near Strokestown in Roscommon still record such grants.[1][2][11]

After the bardic order

The collapse of Gaelic lordship in the early 17th century removed the patrons on whom the poets depended. The surname became Daly, O'Daly, Daley, Dawley and similar forms, and most branches lost land in the wars and confiscations that followed. Some Dalys went abroad. Daniel O'Daly, a Kerry-born Dominican, founded an Irish college in Lisbon and served the Portuguese court, and an O'Daly family from Galway prospered in Spain and Puerto Rico. At home the Dalys of Dunsandle kept their wealth by joining the Protestant establishment and were made barons in 1845.[2][12][8]

Places linked to the name

  • Magheradernon (Corca Adaimh), Co. Westmeath — Barony in which Burke locates Corca Adhamh, the family's original territory.[6][2]
  • Clonard, Co. Meath — Monastery where Cú Connacht Ó Dálaigh, the first famous poet of the name, died in 1139.[1][2]
  • Finavarra, Co. Clare — Burren seat of the O'Daly poets to the O'Loughlins, with a monument to Donnchadh Mór near their bardic school.[1][2]
  • Sheep's Head (Muintir Bháire) (Rinn Mhuintir Bháire), Co. Cork — Peninsula home of the O'Dalys of Muintir Bháire, descendants of the poets to MacCarthy.[1][2][9]
  • Dunsandle, Co. Galway — Seat of the Daly family who became Barons Dunsandle and Clanconal in 1845.[8][6]
  • Ballydaly, Co. Roscommon — Townland near Strokestown whose name Wikipedia links to a grant of land to the poets.[2]

Everyday lives

The Dalys in the census

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

Dalys All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Daly bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +22.8 points vs Ireland
Dalys 96.4%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −10.3 points vs Ireland
Dalys 2.9%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −9.9 points vs Ireland
Dalys 0.2%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −2.6 points vs Ireland
Dalys 0.5%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 +3.7 points vs Ireland
Dalys 19.0%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 +2.8 points vs Ireland
Dalys 16.3%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties about the same as Ireland
Dalys 13.1%
All of Ireland 13.5%

61 Dalys spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ +0.6 points vs Ireland
Dalys 81.0%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ about the same as Ireland
Dalys 85.6%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 3,080 households lower than Ireland
Dalys 4.64
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 higher than Ireland
Dalys 6.66
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living about the same as Ireland
Dalys 80.1%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer2,592
Farmer's son1,370
Farmer's daughter738
Agricultural labourer637
General labourer566
Farm servant450
Labourer398
House keeper306
Farm labourer293
Domestic servant285

Born outside Ireland

1.6% of Dalys in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England110
United States48
Scotland45
Canada9
India8
Australia & NZ7

Median age: 24 in 1901, 26 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the Dalys

Men and boys

  1. John3,098
  2. Patrick2,451
  3. James1,958
  4. Michael1,782
  5. Thomas1,429
  6. William931
  7. Daniel574
  8. Denis557
  9. Joseph516
  10. Peter478

Women and girls

  1. Mary3,512
  2. Bridget1,533
  3. Margaret1,305
  4. Ellen1,153
  5. Catherine741
  6. Kate677
  7. Annie618
  8. Elizabeth524
  9. Anne522
  10. Julia469

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

Spellings

Spellings

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

Spelling190119111926Records
Daly14,23414,15713,113Search
Daley692449165Search
O'Daly114048Search

Related forms

  • O'Daly — The form keeping the O prefix, used by the bardic family and revived by some later families.[1][2]
  • Daley, Dailey, Daily, Dayley, Dalley — Spelling variants of the same Irish name; Wiktionary treats Daley and Dailey as alternative forms of Daly.[2][5]
  • Dawley — An English form recorded by Woulfe and the Gaois database.[1][4]

Diaspora

The Dalys abroad

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

SpellingPeopleUS rank
Daly31,3301118th
Daley24,9011427th
O'Daly130130610th

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

Heraldry

Is there a Daly coat of arms?

Arms belonged to particular families, so there is no single Daly crest. Burke records one coat for the O'Dalys of Corca Adhamh and repeats it for the Finavarra, Killymore and Westmeath branches: a shield divided silver over gold, a lion rampant divided black over red, and two red right hands above. The Galway Dalys, later Lords Dunsandle, added a crest of a black greyhound running before an oak and the motto 'Deo fidelis et regi'. Wikipedia says the Dunsandle Dalys included the red hand to record their Uí Néill ancestry.[6][2]

Websites selling a single “Daly 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 Daly

  • Muireadhach Albanach Ó Dálaigh (c. 1180–c. 1250)
    Poet and crusader who fled to Scotland and founded a bardic line there.
  • Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh (died 1244)
    Master of classical Irish verse, called by the Four Masters a poet never to be surpassed.
  • Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh (died 1387)
    Duhallow poet and chief ollamh of Ireland, a leading professional poet of his century.
  • Daniel O'Daly (1595–1662)
    Kerry-born Dominican, historian and diplomat who founded the Irish college of Corpo Santo in Lisbon.
  • Cearbhall Óg Ó Dálaigh (fl. 1630)
    Poet and harpist who composed the song 'Eileanóir a Rún'.
  • Marcus Daly (1841–1900)
    Irish-born American mining magnate, one of the Copper Kings of Butte, Montana.
  • John Daly (1845–1916)
    Limerick Fenian and leading member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.
  • Edward (Ned) Daly (1891–1916)
    Commandant of the 1st Battalion in the Easter Rising; the youngest leader executed afterwards.
  • Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (1911–1978)
    Chief Justice and fifth President of Ireland, 1974–1976.
  • Cahal Daly (1917–2009)
    Cardinal and Archbishop of Armagh, Catholic Primate of All Ireland from 1990 to 1996.
  • Tyne Daly (born 1946)
    American actress, winner of six Emmy Awards and a Tony Award.
  • Anthony Daly (born 1969)
    Clare hurler who captained the county to All-Ireland success in the 1990s.

Questions

Questions about the Daly name

Is Daly an Irish surname?

Yes. Daly is the English form of Ó Dálaigh, a purely Gaelic name. The family started as chiefs of Corca Adaimh in Co. Westmeath and became the most famous of Ireland's hereditary poets, which is why branches were planted in so many counties. Woulfe describes the name as common all over Ireland.[1][2]

What is Daly in Irish?

Ó Dálaigh, meaning 'descendant of Dálach'. The former President of Ireland Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh was registered at birth as Carroll O'Daly, a good example of the same name in its two languages. Woulfe lists O'Daly, Daly and Dawley as the English forms of Ó Dálaigh, so any of them can be rendered Ó Dálaigh in Irish.[1][2][13]

How do you pronounce Daly?

In English it is 'DAY-lee', rhyming with 'daily' (Wiktionary gives /ˈdeɪli/). The Irish Ó Dálaigh sounds roughly 'oh DAW-lee', with a long 'a'; Wikipedia gives [oː ˈd̪ˠaːlˠiː]. Daly, Daley and Dailey are all pronounced alike, so the spelling a family uses makes no difference to how the name sounds.[5][2]

Are Daly, O'Daly and Daley the same name?

Yes. All three, along with Dailey, Dayley and Dawley, are English spellings of Ó Dálaigh. Wikipedia notes that these anglicised forms took hold as the Gaelic order collapsed in the 17th century. Whatever the spelling, there is only one Gaelic family behind them.[2][1]

Is there a Daly family crest or coat of arms?

No single crest belongs to everyone named Daly. Burke records arms for the O'Dalys of Corca Adhamh in Westmeath, with a lion and two red hands, and the same arms for branches in Clare and Galway. The Galway Dalys, later Lords Dunsandle, used the motto 'Deo fidelis et regi', 'faithful to God and the king'.[6]

What does the name Daly mean?

It means 'descendant of Dálach'. Woulfe explains Dálach as someone who held or frequented assemblies, and Wikipedia connects it with dáil, 'assembly', suggesting a meaning like 'councillor'. Fittingly, the family became professional poets and men of learning at the courts of Irish lords.[1][2]

Where in Ireland is the Daly surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of Dalys lived in Cork (3,462), Dublin (1,648), Kerry (1,224). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Westmeath (125 per 10,000), Offaly (116 per 10,000), Cork (88 per 10,000).

How common was the Daly surname in Ireland?

14,646 people were recorded as Daly or Daley or O'Daly in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 24th most common surname. That is roughly 0.3% of the population, or 1 person in 299.

Looking for a Daly ancestor?

Search every Daly 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 Dálaigh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Wikipedia, Ó Dálaigh (2026)
  3. Wikipedia, Daly (surname) (2026)
  4. Gaois research group, Dublin City University, Sloinnte (Irish surnames corpus), cluster 'Dálach' (2022)
  5. Wiktionary, Daly (2026)
  6. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'O'Daly' (Corca Adhamh, Finnvara, Killymore, Killeleigh) and 'Daly, or O'Daly' (Dunsandle, Raford).
  7. Wikipedia, Donnchadh Mór Ó Dálaigh (2026)
  8. Wikipedia, Baron Dunsandle and Clanconal (2026)
  9. Wikipedia, Sheep's Head (2026)
  10. Wikipedia, Muireadhach Albanach Ó Dálaigh (2026)
  11. Wikipedia, Gofraidh Fionn Ó Dálaigh (2026)
  12. Wikipedia, Daniel O'Daly (2026)
  13. Wikipedia, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (2026)
  14. 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.