Murphy

The most numerous name in Ireland, Murphy is derived from Ó Murchada or Ó Murchu, meaning sea warrior. There are several septs, or clans, of Murphys. The most famous Murphy was Dermot MacMurrough, who invited the Normans to Ireland in the 12th century. The present chief of the name is David O'Morchoe, a farmer in Co. Wexford. The Irish version of Murphy was first anglicised to O'Morchoe, in the 16th century, and David O'Morchoe's grandfather changed his name to this version by deed poll in 1895.

The achievements of the Murphy clan are numerous and wide ranging. Patrick Murphy, born in Co. Down in 1832, was the tallest man in Europe, standing at 8 ft. 1in. Another Murphy of repute was William Martin Murphy. He founded the Irish Independent  newspaper in 1905, and was also the head of the company that ran the Dublin tramway system. He became notorious as the employers' leader in the great Dublin lockout of 1913.

Smith

Comparatively little is known about the history of this family name in Ireland, which is as commonplace in England as Murphy is in Ireland. Its Irish equivalent is MacGouran, which means son of the smith. It came to Ireland with the English and Scottish planters who settled in Ulster and also with the Cromwellian soldiers who came to Ireland in the mid 17th century. The name is particularly numerous in Co. Cavan.

There are few prominent locations associated with this name. Smith Hill, in Co. Roscommon, is one mile north-west of Elphin and may have been the birthplace of Oliver Goldsmith, the 18th-century dramatist. His grandfather, who had his house here, was the local curate. In the previous century Erasmus Smith (1611-1691) was a wealthy man who founded the Erasmus Smith grammar schools in Ireland, the first endowed schools of their kind.

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