surnames.ie

Irish surname · 79th most common in 1911

Roche

Also spelt Roache, Roach

Roche is a Norman surname, from de la Roche, 'of the rock', rendered de Róiste in Irish. It came to Ireland with the Anglo-Norman invasion. The best-known families were the Roches of Fermoy in north Cork, later Viscounts Fermoy, the merchant Roches of Limerick and the Roches of Wexford.

Irish de RóisteIrish RóisteachIrish an Róisteach, Mac an Róistigh
1901 census
8,118
#80 · 18 per 10,000
1911 census
8,086
#79 · 18 per 10,000
1926 census
8,220
#59 · 28 per 10,000
Most numerous
Cork
Highest share: Wexford

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Norman Hiberno-Norman: a French place-type surname meaning 'of the rock', brought to Ireland from Pembrokeshire in the Anglo-Norman invasion.[1][2][3]

de Róiste
“of the rock”[1]
Woulfe's headword, from Norman de la Roche, Latin de Rupe.
Róisteach
“a Roche”[4][5]
The alternative form ending in -ach, which drops the 'de'. Woulfe also records Rostig as an English spelling of it.
an Róisteach, Mac an Róistigh
“the Roche; Mr Roche”[5][6]
Woulfe's examples of how a particular head of the family, or simply 'Mr Roche', was named in Irish without a first name. A woman could be called Inghean an Róistigh, 'Miss Roche'.

Pronunciation

Roche: ROHCH (rhymes with coach)

Place

Where the Roches 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: 0.2 per 10,000 (3 people) Waterford: 39.4 per 10,000 (324 people) Dublin: 15.7 per 10,000 (755 people) Kilkenny: 47.6 per 10,000 (357 people) Carlow: 47.3 per 10,000 (172 people) Limerick: 47.4 per 10,000 (679 people) Louth: 6.8 per 10,000 (43 people) Tipperary: 17.8 per 10,000 (271 people) Roscommon: 4.4 per 10,000 (41 people) Meath: 5.5 per 10,000 (36 people) Wicklow: 27 per 10,000 (164 people) Cavan: 3.5 per 10,000 (32 people) Cork: 49.5 per 10,000 (1,944 people) Clare: 20.7 per 10,000 (216 people) Galway: 12.8 per 10,000 (233 people) Mayo: 29.9 per 10,000 (575 people) Sligo: 2.8 per 10,000 (22 people) Leitrim: 5.1 per 10,000 (32 people) Offaly: 6.7 per 10,000 (38 people) Laois: 6.2 per 10,000 (34 people) Kildare: 15.4 per 10,000 (103 people) Kerry: 27.9 per 10,000 (446 people) Monaghan: 1.3 per 10,000 (9 people) Wexford: 140.3 per 10,000 (1,437 people) Longford: 2.3 per 10,000 (10 people) Westmeath: 6.5 per 10,000 (39 people) Tyrone: 1.1 per 10,000 (15 people) Antrim: 0.4 per 10,000 (19 people) Armagh: 0.3 per 10,000 (4 people) Fermanagh: 0.3 per 10,000 (2 people) Londonderry: 1.3 per 10,000 (18 people) Down: 0.4 per 10,000 (13 people)
fewerup to 143 per 10,000

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

Highest concentration · 1911

Wexford

140 per 10,000

1,437 Roches · 7.62× the national share

Highest share, 1911

  1. Wexford 140
  2. Cork 50
  3. Kilkenny 48
  4. Limerick 47
  5. Carlow 47
  6. Waterford 39
  7. Mayo 30
  8. Kerry 28

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
Antrim1719—00—
Armagh84—10—
Carlow174172168474749
Cavan363218442
Clare262216223232124
Cork1,9821,9441,942505053
Donegal839101
Down1813—10—
Dublin735755919171618
Fermanagh72—10—
Galway274233273141316
Kerry410446444252830
Kildare9110378151514
Kilkenny283357349384849
Laois483434867
Leitrim333221554
Limerick688679750474754
Londonderry618—01—
Longford161015324
Louth4243607710
Mayo607575523313030
Meath483647768
Monaghan8915112
Offaly243842478
Roscommon394146446
Sligo192226234
Tipperary226271248141818
Tyrone1115—11—
Waterford328324393383950
Westmeath4239677712
Wexford1,4571,4371,358140140143
Wicklow171164152292727

Local strongholds in 1911

District Electoral Divisions (300+ residents) where Roches made up the largest share of the population. In Shanballymore, Co. Cork, about one resident in 10 was a Roche.

DEDCountyRochesShare
ShanballymoreCork63 9.6%
HarperstownWexford30 8.0%
ClenorCork31 7.5%
DerryvillaneCork50 6.7%
KilphelanCork38 6.6%
KillathyCork44 6.6%
StradeMayo104 6.4%
KilcolumbKilkenny29 6.1%

Origins

Septs & territories

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

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

Roche of Fermoy (Viscounts Fermoy)

Críoch Róisteach, 'Roche's Country', the barony of Fermoy · Cork

The leading Roche family, who gained the Fermoy district by marriage after it had been claimed by the Flemings. Their head was Viscount Fermoy, and their chief fortress was at Castletownroche on the Awbeg. The 8th Viscount joined the 1641 rising, and the family lost their lands after the Cromwellian conquest.[1][7][2][8]

Roche of Limerick

city of Limerick · Limerick

Woulfe describes a prosperous merchant family. Two Roches, Alderman Jordan Roche and Edmund Roche, were among the twenty men Ireton refused to pardon when he took the city in 1651. Burke records a later Dominick Roche, son of a mayor of Limerick, as given peerage titles by James II after his abdication, though they were never recognised.[1][9]

Roche of Wexford

Rochesland · Wexford

Woulfe names Roche of Rochesland among the leading gentlemen of Co. Wexford in 1598. He gives no further detail of the family.[1]

The name over time

History

'Of the rock'

Roche comes from the Norman French de la Roche, written de Rupe in Latin documents, meaning 'of the rock'. Woulfe thought it first described someone living beside a prominent rock. The Irish branch has a specific rock in its history: Roch Castle near Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, built on a rocky outcrop by the Norman knight Adam de Rupe around 1200. The Roches came to Ireland from Wales with the first Anglo-Norman adventurers, and in Irish their name became de Róiste.[1][10][2]

Arrival with the Normans

Sources differ on the founder. Wikipedia's article on Castletownroche traces the Cork Roches to Richard FitzGodebert, who came with Strongbow and whose family were called FitzGodebert de la Roch after their Pembrokeshire castle. The article on David Roche, 7th Viscount Fermoy, says the family were Old English descendants of Adam de Rupe, who came over with Robert FitzStephen. Woulfe simply notes that Roches settled in several parts of Ireland, with the Cork, Limerick and Wexford families the best known.[2][3][1]

Lords of Fermoy

In Gaelic times the túath of Fermoy belonged to the O'Keeffes. After the invasion part of it was claimed by the Flemings and passed by marriage to the Roches, while the Condons took the rest. Woulfe calls the Roche district Críoch Róisteach, or Roche's Country. The family built a fortress at what became Castletownroche in the late 13th century, and their head was styled Lord or Viscount Fermoy. Burke records a David Roche sitting in parliament as Viscount Fermoy under Edward IV and Henry VII.[7][1][2][9][11]

War and forfeiture

Like many Old English families, the Roches drifted away from the Crown's interest and allied with Gaelic lords. Maurice Roche, 8th Viscount Fermoy, was one of the first in Munster to join the 1641 rising, besieging the Earl of Cork in Youghal in January 1642, and he sat on three Confederate Supreme Councils. He was excluded from pardon in 1652 and at the Restoration regained his title but not his lands. In 1666 the castle at Castletownroche went to John Widenham and was renamed Castle Widenham. In Limerick, Ireton refused pardon to two Roches when the city fell in 1651.[2][8][1]

Later Roche titles

The old viscountcy fell dormant, in Burke's account in 1733. The Roches still produced new titles. Sir Boyle Roche, a soldier and member of the Irish parliament, was made a baronet in 1782. Edmond Burke Roche, who descended from a 16th-century mayor of Cork, was created Baron Fermoy in 1856. Diana, Princess of Wales, was his great-great-granddaughter through her mother, Frances Shand Kydd, a daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy.[9][12][13][14]

Places linked to the name

  • Castletownroche (Baile Chaisleáin an Róistigh), Co. Cork — Named after the Roche fortress built there in the late 13th century; seat of the Viscounts Fermoy.[2][15]
  • Fermoy (barony) (Mainistir Fhear Maí), Co. Cork — Roche's Country, Críoch Róisteach, held by the Roches as Lords and Viscounts Fermoy.[7][1]
  • Blackwater Castle (Castle Widenham), Co. Cork — The rebuilt Roche castle at Castletownroche, granted to John Widenham in 1666.[2]
  • Limerick, Co. Limerick — Home of the merchant Roches; two were refused pardon by Ireton in 1651.[1]
  • Roch Castle, Co. Pembrokeshire, Wales — Castle on a rocky outcrop built by Adam de Rupe around 1200, linked by Wikipedia to the Irish Roches' name.[10][2]

Everyday lives

The Roches in the census

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

Roches All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Roche bar

Religion, 1911

Catholic +25.3 points vs Ireland
Roches 98.9%
All of Ireland 73.6%
Church of Ireland −12.4 points vs Ireland
Roches 0.8%
All of Ireland 13.2%
Presbyterian −10.0 points vs Ireland
Roches 0.1%
All of Ireland 10.1%
Methodist & other −2.9 points vs Ireland
Roches 0.2%
All of Ireland 3.1%

Irish language

Spoke Irish, 1901 +3.5 points vs Ireland
Roches 18.8%
All of Ireland 15.3%
Spoke Irish, 1911 +2.8 points vs Ireland
Roches 16.3%
All of Ireland 13.5%
Spoke Irish, 1926 · 26 counties −1.2 points vs Ireland
Roches 12.3%
All of Ireland 13.5%

25 Roches spoke Irish only in 1901.

Reading & writing

Could read and write, 1901 · aged 15+ −1.7 points vs Ireland
Roches 78.7%
All of Ireland 80.4%
Could read and write, 1911 · aged 15+ −1.3 points vs Ireland
Roches 84.5%
All of Ireland 85.8%

Family life, 1911

Household size · 1,634 households higher than Ireland
Roches 4.9
All of Ireland 4.83
Children born per mother · women 45–59 higher than Ireland
Roches 6.65
All of Ireland 6.46
Children still living −1.1 points vs Ireland
Roches 78.7%
All of Ireland 79.8%

Commonest occupations

Adults aged 15+, 1901 and 1911 combined.

Farmer1,340
Farmer's son647
Farmer's daughter416
Agricultural labourer380
Farm servant316
General labourer290
Labourer276
Domestic servant183
Farm labourer161
House keeper150

Born outside Ireland

0.8% of Roches in 1911 gave a birthplace outside Ireland.

England46
United States12
Scotland5
India2

Median age: 24 in 1901, 26 in 1911.

Given names

First names among the Roches

Men and boys

  1. John1,946
  2. Patrick1,296
  3. James1,236
  4. Michael1,065
  5. Thomas1,050
  6. William711
  7. Edward282
  8. David236
  9. Richard222
  10. Martin204

Women and girls

  1. Mary2,185
  2. Bridget875
  3. Margaret854
  4. Ellen800
  5. Kate481
  6. Catherine470
  7. Annie365
  8. Anne288
  9. Hannah284
  10. Elizabeth276

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

Spellings

Spellings

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

Spelling190119111926Records
Roche7,0627,3047,550Search
Roache579532466Search
Roach477250204Search

Related forms

  • Roache — Woulfe lists it with Roche as an English form of de Róiste.[1]
  • Roach — Grouped with Roche on this site; Woulfe lists Roache but does not give Roach.[1]
  • Rostig — An English spelling of the Irish form Róisteach.[4]
  • Rochford, Rochfort — A separate Norman surname, de Rosfort, from de Rochefort, 'strong rock'; not the same family as Roche.[16]

Diaspora

The Roches abroad

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

SpellingPeopleUS rank
Roche18,9401895th
Roache1,88415533rd
Roach45,019764th

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

Heraldry

Is there a Roche coat of arms?

There is no single Roche crest for everyone of the name. Burke records arms for the Roches who were Viscounts Fermoy: on red, three silver roach fish swimming one above another, with an eagle holding a roach on a rock for the crest and the motto 'Mon Dieu est ma roche' ('My God is my rock'). He lists variations of the same fish for Roche families of Carass in Limerick, Granagh Castle in Galway and Tourin in Waterford, each belonging to that family.[9]

Websites selling a single “Roche 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 Roche

  • David Roche, 7th Viscount Fermoy (1573–1635)
    Irish magnate, soldier and politician, probably born at Castletownroche.
  • Maurice Roche, 8th Viscount Fermoy (1597–1670)
    Joined the 1641 rising early and sat on the Confederate Supreme Council; lost his lands.
  • David 'Tiger' Roche (born c. 1729)
    Irish soldier, duellist and adventurer, hailed as a hero and condemned as a villain.
  • Sir Boyle Roche (1736–1807)
    Army veteran of North America and Irish MP from 1775, remembered as a wit.
  • Regina Maria Roche (1764–1845)
    Bestselling Gothic novelist, author of The Children of the Abbey (1796).
  • Edmond Burke Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy (1815–1874)
    MP for Cork who was created Baron Fermoy in 1856.
  • James Jeffrey Roche (1847–1908)
    Irish-American poet, journalist and diplomat raised in Prince Edward Island.
  • Kevin Roche (1922–2019)
    Dublin-born, Pritzker Prize-winning architect who planned the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new wings.
  • Dick Roche (born 1947)
    Fianna Fáil TD for Wicklow and Minister for the Environment from 2004 to 2007.
  • Adi Roche (born 1955)
    Anti-nuclear campaigner who founded Chernobyl Children's Project International.
  • Stephen Roche (born 1959)
    Cyclist who won the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and world championship in 1987.
  • Nicolas Roche (born 1984)
    Irish road racing cyclist, professional from 2005 to 2021, son of Stephen Roche.

Questions

Questions about the Roche name

Is Roche an Irish surname?

Roche is Norman in origin but has been Irish for over eight hundred years. The family came over from Pembrokeshire in the Anglo-Norman invasion and settled in several counties, most notably Cork, Limerick and Wexford. Like other Old English families they took part in Irish politics and wars, and in Irish the name became de Róiste.[1][2][3]

What is Roche in Irish?

The usual Irish form is de Róiste. Woulfe also gives Róisteach, which drops the 'de' and adds an ending meaning 'a Roche'. In older Irish usage the head of a family could be called an Róisteach, 'the Roche', and a man addressed as Mac an Róistigh, roughly 'Mr Roche'.[1][4][5]

What does the name Roche mean?

It means 'of the rock', from Norman French de la Roche, Latin de Rupe. Woulfe thought it originally described someone living by a prominent rock. For the Irish Roches, Wikipedia links the name to their castle in Pembrokeshire, built on a rocky outcrop, from which their ancestors were called 'de la Roch'.[1][2][10]

Are Roche, Roache and Roach the same name?

Usually. Woulfe lists Roche and Roache as English forms of de Róiste, and Roach is grouped with them here as a further spelling. Rochford and Rochfort, though they look similar, come from a separate Norman surname, de Rochefort or 'strong rock', and belong to a different family.[1][16]

Is there a Roche family crest or motto?

Not one for everybody named Roche. Burke records arms for the Viscounts Fermoy showing three silver roach fish on red, with the motto 'Mon Dieu est ma roche', 'My God is my rock'. Other Roche families in Limerick, Galway and Waterford had their own variations, and each belonged to that particular family.[9]

Where does the Roche family come from?

The Irish Roches came from Pembrokeshire in Wales with the Anglo-Norman invaders. The most important branch held Fermoy in north Cork, around Castletownroche, as Viscounts Fermoy. Other leading families of the name were merchants in Limerick city and gentry at Rochesland in Co. Wexford.[2][7][1]

Was Princess Diana descended from the Roches?

Yes. Her mother, Frances Shand Kydd, was a daughter of Maurice Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy. The barony was created in 1856 for Edmond Burke Roche, an MP for Cork who descended from Maurice FitzEdmund Roche, Mayor of Cork in the 16th century.[13][14]

Where in Ireland is the Roche surname most common?

In the 1911 census the largest numbers of Roches lived in Cork (1,944), Wexford (1,437), Dublin (755). Relative to population, the name was most concentrated in Wexford (140 per 10,000), Cork (50 per 10,000), Kilkenny (48 per 10,000).

How common was the Roche surname in Ireland?

8,086 people were recorded as Roche or Roache or Roach in the 1911 census of Ireland, making it the 79th most common surname. That is roughly 0.2% of the population, or 1 person in 543.

Looking for a Roche ancestor?

Search every Roche 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, De Róiste, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  2. Wikipedia, Castletownroche (2026)
  3. Wikipedia, David Roche, 7th Viscount Fermoy (2026)
  4. Patrick Woulfe, Róisteach, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  5. Patrick Woulfe, Alternative Form of Surnames, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  6. Patrick Woulfe, Irish Surnames of Females, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  7. Wikipedia, Fermoy (barony) (2026)
  8. Wikipedia, Maurice Roche, 8th Viscount Fermoy (2026)
  9. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'Roche (Viscount Fermoy)', 'Roche (Baron Fermoy)', 'Roche (Fermoy, co. Cork, bart.)' and other Roche families.
  10. Wikipedia, Roch Castle (2026)
  11. Patrick Woulfe, Ó Caoimh, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  12. Wikipedia, Roche baronets (2026)
  13. Wikipedia, Baron Fermoy (2026)
  14. Wikipedia, Edmond Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy (2026)
  15. Wikipedia, Viscount Fermoy (2026)
  16. Patrick Woulfe, De Rosfort, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
  17. 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.
  18. Irish forms cross-checked against Gaois surname data (Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU).

How we compile these figures: methodology.