<P> Names that begin with Mac or Mc include Mac Cárthaigh (MacCarthy), Mac Diarmada (MacDermott), Mac Domhnaill (MacDonnell), and Mac Mathghamhna (MacMahon) Mag Uidhir (Maguire). Mac is commonly anglicised Mc . However, "Mac" and "Mc" are not mutually exclusive, so, for example, both "MacCarthy" and "McCarthy" are used . While both "Mac" and "Ó"' prefixes are Gaelic in origin, "Mac" is more common in Scotland and in Ulster than in the rest of Ireland; furthermore, "Ó" is far less common in Scotland than it is in Ireland . The proper surname for a woman in Irish uses the feminine prefix nic (meaning daughter) in place of mac . Thus a boy may be called Mac Domhnaill whereas his sister would be called Nic Dhomhnaill or Ní Dhomhnaill--the insertion of' h' follows the female prefix in the case of most consonants (bar H, L, N, R, & T). </P> <P> A son has the same surname as his father . A female's surname replaces Ó with Ní (reduced from Iníon Uí--"daughter of the grandson of") and Mac with Nic (reduced from Iníon Mhic--"daughter of the son of"); in both cases the following name undergoes lenition . However, if the second part of the surname begins with the letter C or G, it is not lenited after Nic . Thus the daughter of a man named Ó Maolagáin has the surname Ní Mhaolagáin and the daughter of a man named Mac Gearailt has the surname Nic Gearailt . When anglicised, the name can remain O' or Mac, regardless of gender . </P> <P> There are a number of Irish surnames derived from Norse personal names, including Mac Suibhne (Sweeney) from Swein and McAuliffe from "Olaf". The name Cotter, local to County Cork, derives from the Norse personal name Ottir . The name Reynolds is an Anglicization of the Gaelic Mac Raghnaill, itself originating from the Norse names Randal or Reginald . Though these names were of Viking derivation some of the families who bear them appear to have had Gaelic origins . </P> <P> "Fitz" is an old Norman French variant of the Old French word fils (variant spellings filz, fiuz, fiz, etc .), used by the Normans, meaning son . The Normans themselves were descendants of Vikings, who had settled in Normandy and thoroughly adopted the French language and culture . With the exception of the Gaelic - Irish Fitzpatrick (Mac Giolla Phádraig) surname, all names that begin with Fitz--including FitzGerald (Mac Gearailt), Fitzsimons (Mac Síomóin / Mac an Ridire) and FitzHenry (Mac Anraí)--are descended from the initial Norman settlers . A small number of Irish families of Gaelic origin came to use a Norman form of their original surname--so that Mac Giolla Phádraig became Fitzpatrick--while some assimilated so well that the Gaelic name was dropped in favor of a new, Hiberno - Norman form . Another common Irish surname of Norman Irish origin is the' de' habitational prefix, meaning' of' and originally signifying prestige and land ownership . Examples include de Búrca (Burke), de Brún, de Barra (Barry), de Stac (Stack), de Tiúit, de Faoite (White), de Londras (Landers), de Paor (Power). The Irish surname "Walsh" (in Gaelic Breathnach) was routinely given to settlers of Welsh origin, who had come during and after the Norman invasion . The Joyce and Griffin / Griffith (Gruffydd) families are also of Welsh origin . </P>

Where did the first inhabitants of ireland come from