surnames.ie

Irish surname · 46th most common in 1911

O'Donoghue

Also spelt Donohoe, Donoghue, Donohue, O'Donohue, O'Donohoe

O'Donoghue, with Donoghue, Donohoe and Donohue, comes from Ó Donnchadha, 'descendant of Donnchadh'. Several unrelated families bore it. The best known ruled the country around Killarney, Co. Kerry, as O'Donoghue Mór and O'Donoghue of the Glens; others were rooted in Tipperary, Ossory, Galway, Sligo, Meath and Cavan.

Irish Ó Donnchadha · Ó Donnchú
1901 census
11,883
#44 · 27 per 10,000
1911 census
11,587
#46 · 26 per 10,000
1926 census
11,601
#30 · 39 per 10,000
Most numerous
Kerry
Highest share: Kerry

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Gaelic Gaelic Irish: a patronymic surname adopted independently by at least seven septs, the most prominent belonging to the Eóganacht of Munster.[1][2]

Ó Donnchadha
Modern spelling: Ó Donnchú
“descendant of Donnchadh”[1][2]
Woulfe's headword, with the variant Ó Donnchaidh. Wikipedia gives Ó Donnchú as the modern spelling, which is close to how the Munster forms Donoghue and Donohue sound.

The name is built on the personal name Donnchadh, usually explained as “brown warrior, or strong warrior”. Woulfe calls Donnchadh a very common Irish personal name. Wikipedia breaks it into donn, 'brown-haired', and cath, 'battle'. In Scotland the same name became Duncan.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

O'Donoghue: oh-DON-uh-hyoo

Place

Where the O'Donoghues 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: 0.1 per 10,000 (1 people) Waterford: 16.4 per 10,000 (135 people) Dublin: 23.1 per 10,000 (1,110 people) Kilkenny: 7.7 per 10,000 (58 people) Carlow: 74.3 per 10,000 (270 people) Limerick: 35.6 per 10,000 (510 people) Louth: 3.5 per 10,000 (22 people) Tipperary: 33.2 per 10,000 (507 people) Roscommon: 18.6 per 10,000 (175 people) Meath: 26.5 per 10,000 (173 people) Wicklow: 26 per 10,000 (158 people) Cavan: 112.3 per 10,000 (1,026 people) Cork: 46.6 per 10,000 (1,831 people) Clare: 55.2 per 10,000 (577 people) Galway: 60.7 per 10,000 (1,107 people) Mayo: 14.5 per 10,000 (279 people) Sligo: 5.8 per 10,000 (46 people) Leitrim: 19.5 per 10,000 (123 people) Offaly: 30.6 per 10,000 (174 people) Laois: 23.9 per 10,000 (131 people) Kildare: 29.8 per 10,000 (199 people) Kerry: 118.3 per 10,000 (1,891 people) Monaghan: 6.6 per 10,000 (47 people) Wexford: 29.5 per 10,000 (302 people) Longford: 79.6 per 10,000 (349 people) Westmeath: 30.6 per 10,000 (184 people) Tyrone: 0.5 per 10,000 (7 people) Antrim: 0.9 per 10,000 (45 people) Armagh: 0.7 per 10,000 (8 people) Fermanagh: 16.3 per 10,000 (99 people) Londonderry: 2.4 per 10,000 (34 people) Down: 0.3 per 10,000 (9 people)
fewerup to 127 per 10,000

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

Highest concentration · 1911

Kerry

118 per 10,000

1,891 O'Donoghues · 4.48× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Kerry 118
  2. Cavan 112
  3. Longford 80
  4. Carlow 74
  5. Galway 61
  6. Clare 55
  7. Cork 47
  8. Limerick 36

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
Antrim3445—11—
Armagh158—11—
Carlow263270255717474
Cavan1,0641,026907109112110
Clare672577537605557
Cork1,9341,8311,999484755
Donegal21123102
Down89—00—
Dublin9041,1101,367212327
Fermanagh9099—1416—
Galway1,1981,1071,126626167
Kerry2,1011,8911,825127118123
Kildare165199195273034
Kilkenny4958837812
Laois119131104212420
Leitrim11712393172016
Limerick515510526353638
Londonderry4134—32—
Longford394349317848080
Louth252227444
Mayo236279257121515
Meath153173137222722
Monaghan5047877713
Offaly178174180303134
Roscommon166175173171921
Sligo294635465
Tipperary512507484323335
Tyrone167—11—
Waterford142135157161620
Westmeath210184158343128
Wexford311302392303041
Wicklow151158157252628

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where O'Donoghues made up the largest share of the population. In Flesk, Co. Kerry, about one resident in 4 was a O'Donoghue.

DEDCountyO'DonoghuesShare
FleskKerry101 22.4%
BrewsterfieldKerry123 20.0%
CooliesKerry83 16.4%
ClydaghKerry62 14.1%
KilmurryKerry37 7.7%
GleninaghClare24 7.5%
DrumgortLongford71 7.1%
LoughdawanCavan58 7.0%

Origins

Septs & territories

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

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

Ó Donnchadha of Cashel

Magh Feimhin, now the barony of Iffa and Offa · Tipperary

Of the same Eóganacht stock as the MacCarthys and O'Callaghans, descended from Donnchadh, son of Ceallachán, king of Cashel. Woulfe says they were lords of Eoghanacht Caisil for most of the 11th century, but were eclipsed by the rising MacCarthys before its end and then vanish from the record.[1][2]

O'Donoghue Mór of Loch Léin

the country around Lough Leane and Killarney (Eoghanacht Uí Dhonnchadha, Onaght O'Donoghue) · Kerry

Senior branch of the Desmond O'Donoghues, who had moved from west Cork to Killarney. Their chief, O'Donoghue Mór, lived at Ross Castle on Lough Leane, which the family built in the late 15th century. Their estates were lost under Elizabeth I and passed in time to the Brownes, later Earls of Kenmare.[1][4][5]

O'Donoghue of the Glens

Glenflesk, the glen of the Clydagh and the parish of Killaha · Kerry

The junior branch of the Desmond O'Donoghues, whose head was called Ó Donnchadha an Ghleanna. Unlike O'Donoghue Mór, the Glens family held on to much of its land into modern times, with its seat at Killaha Castle above the Flesk. Its head is known as The O'Donoghue, and the line was recognised as a Chief of the Name in 1944.[1][5]

Ó Donnchadha of Ossory

Osraige (Ossory) · Kilkenny

Of the same stock as the Fitzpatricks (Mac Giolla Phádraig) and once one of the ruling families of Ossory. Woulfe credits their late 12th-century head, Donnchadh, with founding Jerpoint Abbey, though Wikipedia attributes the abbey to the Mac Giolla Phádraig kings. Woulfe says this family now uses the form Dunphy.[1][2][6]

Ó Donnchadha of Uí Maine

Uí Cormaic · Galway

A family of the Uí Maine, related to the O'Kellys, who were chiefs of Uí Cormaic in what is now Co. Galway. Wikipedia also associates this branch with Co. Roscommon.[1][2]

Ó Donnchadha of Tireragh

Tireragh · Sligo

A branch of the Uí Fiachrach of the Moy. Woulfe records the family but gives no history.[1]

Ó Donnchadha of Teallach Modharain

Teallach Modharain, probably in the barony of South Moyfenrath · Meath

Chiefs of Teallach Modharain, which John O'Donovan placed in south Moyfenrath. Woulfe adds that nothing is known of their history.[1]

Ó Donnchadha of Teallach Dhonnchadha

Teallach Dhonnchadha · Cavan

Woulfe's seventh family, which he found still numerous in Co. Cavan in his day.[1]

The name over time

History

Many families called Donnchadh's descendants

Donnchadh was a very common name in medieval Ireland, so the surname Ó Donnchadha arose independently in many places. Woulfe describes seven distinct families: in Tipperary, Kerry, Ossory, Meath, Galway, Sligo and Cavan. Wikipedia concentrates on four of them, all linked to powerful dynasties. In English the name was written in a bewildering number of ways, from O'Donoghue and Donoghue to Donohoe, Donohue and Donaghy, and Woulfe found it common throughout Ireland under one form or another.[1][2][3]

From west Cork to Killarney

The Kerry O'Donoghues began in west Cork. Woulfe traces them to Domhnall, son of Dubhdábhoireann, king of Munster, who led the Desmond forces at Clontarf in 1014 together with Cian, ancestor of the O'Mahonys. His descendants were first called Ó Domhnaill but took their lasting surname from his son Donnchadh. Around 1200, at the end of the 12th century or early in the 13th, the MacCarthys and O'Mahonys forced them out of Cork. They settled around Killarney, where Wikipedia says they had overcome the older Eóganacht Locha Léin, and the district became known as Eoghanacht Uí Dhonnchadha, or Onaght O'Donoghue.[1][7][5]

Auliffe Mór and the two branches

Tradition makes O'Donoghue Mór and O'Donoghue of the Glens descendants of two sons of Auliffe Mór O'Donoghue, who completed the cathedral of Achadh Dá Eó above the Lakes of Killarney shortly before he was killed in 1158, campaigning in Waterford against the O'Briens. Wikipedia notes, however, that Y-DNA evidence suggests the two branches have different paternal lines. The senior branch took its name from Loch Léin, now Lough Leane, and the junior from the glens of the River Flesk.[5][1]

Ross Castle and the fall of O'Donoghue Mór

O'Donoghue Mór built Ross Castle on the shore of Lough Leane in the late 15th century. The family was ruined by the Desmond rebellions: after Rory Mór O'Donoghue's death the family was attainted in 1586, and Ross passed to MacCarthy Mór, who leased it to Sir Valentine Browne, ancestor of the Earls of Kenmare. Many dispossessed O'Donoghues retreated into Glenflesk. A local legend says O'Donoghue vanished through a castle window into the lake, where he still lives in a palace beneath the water.[4][5][1]

The O'Donoghues of the Glens

The Glens branch fared better. Its 16th-century seat was Killaha Castle, overlooking Glenflesk. The chief was attainted after the Desmond wars but regained his title and lands in 1609, and in 1642 Tadhg O'Donoghue and his sons took part in the siege of Tralee Castle. His son Séafraidh (Geoffrey), chief from 1643, was one of the Four Kerry Poets and wrote laments for the old Gaelic order; in 1652 General Ludlow's army shelled Killaha Castle. The family stayed in its glen, and Daniel O'Donoghue sat as MP for Tralee from 1865 to 1885.[5][8][9]

Ossory, Cashel and beyond

Other O'Donoghue families had long since faded. The Cashel branch, kin of the MacCarthys, were lords of Eoghanacht Caisil in the 11th century before the MacCarthys overshadowed them. The Ossory family, related to the Fitzpatricks, came to be known as Dunphy. Woulfe credits its 12th-century head with founding Jerpoint Abbey. Wikipedia instead credits Mac Giolla Phádraig kings of Ossory, naming Domnall Mac Gilla Pátraic and, in 1180, a king it calls Donogh O'Donoghoe Mac Gilla Patraic, so the sources do not fully agree. Smaller families in Galway, Sligo, Meath and Cavan complete Woulfe's list.[1][2][6]

Places linked to the name

  • Ross Castle (Caisleán an Rois), Co. Kerry — Late 15th-century tower house on Lough Leane, seat of O'Donoghue Mór.[4][1]
  • Lough Leane (Loch Léin), Co. Kerry — The lake that gave its name to O'Donoghue Mór's branch, the O'Donoghues of Loch Léin.[1][7]
  • Glenflesk (Gleann Fleisce), Co. Kerry — Home of the O'Donoghues of the Glens, whose seat was Killaha Castle above the glen.[5][1]
  • Muckross Abbey, Co. Kerry — Contains a tomb inscribed 'O'Donoghue of the Glens', possibly that of Daniel O'Donoghue MP.[9]
  • Jerpoint Abbey, Co. Kilkenny — Cistercian abbey that Woulfe says was founded by the Ossory Ó Donnchadha chief; Wikipedia credits the Mac Giolla Phádraig kings.[1][6]
  • Iffa and Offa, Co. Tipperary — Baronies representing Magh Feimhin, seat of the Cashel O'Donoghues in the 11th century.[1]

Everyday lives

The O'Donoghues in the census

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

O'Donoghues All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the O'Donoghue bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +25.9 points vs Ireland
O'Donoghues 99.5%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −12.8 points vs Ireland
O'Donoghues 0.4%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −10.1 points vs Ireland
O'Donoghues 0.0%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −3.0 points vs Ireland
O'Donoghues 0.1%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 +12.2 points vs Ireland
O'Donoghues 27.5%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 +10.4 points vs Ireland
O'Donoghues 23.9%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties +3.6 points vs Ireland
O'Donoghues 17.1%
All of Ireland 13.5%

159 O'Donoghues spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ −0.8 points vs Ireland
O'Donoghues 79.6%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ about the same as Ireland
O'Donoghues 85.6%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 2,363 households about the same as Ireland
O'Donoghues 4.86
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 higher than Ireland
O'Donoghues 6.82
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living +1.4 points vs Ireland
O'Donoghues 81.2%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer2,471
Farmer's son1,311
Farmer's daughter692
Agricultural labourer401
General labourer381
Farm servant361
Labourer339
House keeper224
Farmer's wife212
Farm labourer211

Born outside Ireland

0.8% of O'Donoghues in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England40
United States30
Scotland9
India5
Australia & NZ4
Wales1

Median age: 23 in 1901, 25 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the O'Donoghues

Men and boys

  1. John2,788
  2. Patrick2,215
  3. Michael1,753
  4. James1,470
  5. Thomas1,325
  6. Daniel550
  7. William444
  8. Timothy424
  9. Denis371
  10. Peter356

Women and girls

  1. Mary3,039
  2. Bridget1,431
  3. Margaret1,087
  4. Ellen925
  5. Kate701
  6. Catherine597
  7. Annie513
  8. Julia491
  9. Anne425
  10. Elizabeth321

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, Patrick, Michael, James, 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
Donohoe4,8884,3592,795Search
Donoghue3,4913,1703,287Search
O'Donoghue1,2201,6492,699Search
Donohue1,5731,5902,022Search
O'Donohue435542527Search
O'Donohoe276277271Search

Related forms

  • Donoghue, Donohoe, Donohue — Forms without the O'. Wikipedia describes Donohoe as a reduced form of Ó Donnchadha, and Donohue as a shortening of O'Donohue.[1][3][10]
  • O'Donohoe, O'Donohue — Spellings keeping the O'; Woulfe lists O'Donohue among the English forms.[1][2]
  • O'Donoghoe — The spelling Burke uses for the Kerry chiefs.[11]
  • Dunphy — The usual English form of the Ossory Ó Donnchadha family, according to Woulfe.[1]
  • Donaghy, Donagh — Woulfe lists these too, though both can also come from other names.[1][12]
  • MacDonagh — A different surname, Mac Donnchadha, 'son of Donnchadh'. Woulfe notes that some of its bearers also used Donoghue or Donohoe.[12]
  • O'Donojú — The Spanish form, borne by Juan O'Donojú, the last viceroy of New Spain.[2]

Diaspora

The O'Donoghues abroad

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

SpellingPeopleUS rank
Donohoe3,10310382nd
Donoghue3,3009810th
O'Donoghue2,11114215th
Donohue13,9192587th
O'Donohue64435016th
O'Donohoe152115034th

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

Heraldry

Is there a O'Donoghue coat of arms?

Arms belonged to particular families, so there is no single O'Donoghue crest. Burke's General Armory records for O'Donoghoe Mór of Lough Lein, whose chief lived at Ross Castle until Elizabeth's reign: on green, two silver foxes rampant facing each other, with a black eagle on a silver chief. Burke gives O'Donoghoe of the Glens the same arms, with an alternative crest of a pelican feeding its young. These belong to the Kerry chiefly lines, not to every bearer of the name.[11]

Websites selling a single “O'Donoghue 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 O'Donoghue

  • Séafraidh Ó Donnchadha an Ghleanna (c. 1620–1678)
    Chief of the O'Donoghues of the Glens and Irish-language poet, one of the Four Kerry Poets.
  • Juan O'Donojú (1762–1821)
    Spanish-Irish officer and diplomat, the last viceroy of New Spain.
  • Daniel O'Donoghue (1833–1889)
    The O'Donoghue of the Glens, MP for Tipperary and then for Tralee.
  • Tadhg Ó Donnchadha (1874–1949)
    Writer, editor and Gaelic League figure; professor of Irish at University College Cork.
  • Steve Donoghue (1884–1945)
    English flat-race jockey, ten times champion between 1914 and 1923.
  • Florrie O'Donoghue (1894–1967)
    Head of intelligence for the IRA's Cork No. 1 Brigade, later a historian.
  • Denis Donoghue (1928–2021)
    Irish literary critic who held the Henry James Chair at New York University.
  • Lowitja O'Donoghue (1932–2024)
    Aboriginal Australian administrator, first chair of ATSIC and Indigenous rights advocate.
  • Mark Donohue (1937–1975)
    American racing driver and engineer, winner of the 1972 Indianapolis 500.
  • John O'Donohue (1956–2008)
    Irish poet, priest and philosopher who popularised Celtic spirituality.
  • Emma Donoghue (born 1969)
    Irish-Canadian novelist whose Room was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
  • Paschal Donohoe (born 1974)
    Fine Gael minister for finance, later a managing director of the World Bank.

Questions

Questions about the O'Donoghue name

Is O'Donoghue an Irish surname?

Yes. O'Donoghue is the English form of the Gaelic Ó Donnchadha, 'descendant of Donnchadh'. Woulfe describes seven separate families of the name, the best known being the O'Donoghues of Killarney in Co. Kerry, who split into O'Donoghue Mór and O'Donoghue of the Glens. Other families of the name lived in Tipperary, Kilkenny, Galway, Sligo, Meath and Cavan.[1][2]

What is O'Donoghue in Irish?

The Irish form is Ó Donnchadha, written Ó Donnchú in modern spelling, meaning 'descendant of Donnchadh'. Donnchadh was a very popular personal name, glossed by Woulfe as 'brown warrior' or 'strong warrior'. It is the same name that became Duncan in Scotland.[1][2][3]

Are O'Donoghue, Donoghue, Donohoe and Donohue the same name?

Yes. All are English spellings of Ó Donnchadha, with or without the O'. Wikipedia lists dozens of variant spellings. The spelling alone does not show which of the several O'Donoghue septs a family descends from.[2][3][10][1]

How do you pronounce O'Donoghue?

Wiktionary gives 'oh-DON-uh-hyoo' in British English, with the main stress on the second syllable and the gh silent. American speakers make the first vowel of Donoghue more open, closer to 'DAH'.[13]

Is there an O'Donoghue family crest or coat of arms?

There is no crest for everyone named O'Donoghue. Burke's General Armory records arms for the Kerry chiefly lines, O'Donoghue Mór of Lough Lein and O'Donoghue of the Glens: two silver foxes on green, facing each other, under a black eagle. Arms like these belonged to particular families and heads of families.[11]

Who is The O'Donoghue of the Glens?

The hereditary head of the Glenflesk branch of the Kerry O'Donoghues. In 1944 the Chief Herald, Edward MacLysaght, recognised the line as having a verifiable pedigree, one of the few such recognitions he made. Wikipedia records that the most recent chief, Geoffrey Paul Vincent O'Donoghue, died in October 2025.[5]

Are O'Donoghue and Dunphy related?

In one family, yes. Woulfe says the Ó Donnchadha family of Ossory, kin of the Fitzpatricks, came to use the English form Dunphy. Most O'Donoghues, however, descend from other septs, especially the Kerry family, and are not connected with the Ossory line.[1]

Where in Ireland is the O'Donoghue surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of O'Donoghues lived in Kerry (1,891), Cork (1,831), Dublin (1,110). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Kerry (118 per 10,000), Cavan (112 per 10,000), Longford (80 per 10,000).

How common was the O'Donoghue surname in Ireland?

11,587 people were recorded as Donohoe or Donoghue or O'Donoghue or Donohue or O'Donohue or O'Donohoe in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 46th most common surname. That is roughly 0.3% of the population, or 1 person in 379.

Looking for a O'Donoghue ancestor?

Search every O'Donoghue 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 Donnchadha, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Wikipedia, O'Donoghue (2026)
  3. Wikipedia, Donohoe (2026)
  4. Wikipedia, Ross Castle (2026)
  5. Wikipedia, O'Donoghue of the Glens (2026)
  6. Wikipedia, Jerpoint Abbey (2026)
  7. Wikipedia, Eóganacht Locha Léin (2026)
  8. Wikipedia, Séafraidh Ó Donnchadha (2026)
  9. Wikipedia, Daniel O'Donoghue (Irish politician) (2026)
  10. Wikipedia, Donohue (2026)
  11. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'O'Donoghoe (O'Donoghoe Mor, Lough Lein, co. Kerry)' and 'O'Donoghoe (O'Donoghoe of the Glens, Glen Flesk)'.
  12. Patrick Woulfe, Mac Donnchadha, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  13. Wiktionary, O'Donoghue
  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.
  15. Irish forms cross-checked against Gaois surname data (Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU).

How we compile these figures: methodology.