O'Laithbheartaigh - "An old Gaelic name"
The origins of this name are listed in Robert Bell's "Book of Ulster Surnames". There are six Celtic nations - Breton, Cornwall, Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland, and Wales. There are two languages used by the Celts - Gaelic used by the Irish, Manx and Scots and Brythonic used by the other three nations. There were large language settlements of Laffertys in counties Antrim, Donegal, and Tyrone and smaller settlements in counties Armagh, Down and Londonderry (or Doire in the days pre 1600, when there may have been a larger settlement of Laffertys there). The settlements in counties Antrim and Donegal indicate that many Laffertys came from Scotland (the shortest sea crossing between Antrim and Scotland is about 12 miles). This however is speculation since Lafferty is predominantly an Irish Surname.
Surname Dictionary/Sloinnte na h-eireann
Lafferty - fairly numerous: Galway-Mayo, Ulster etc. an aspirated form of Flaherty, q.v. the family were important in Tyrone and Donegal in the 16th century.
Laverty - numerous: Ulster generally. Louth, Galway etc. Sept of Donegal and Tyrone. Cognate with O'Flaherty but a distinct Ulster grouping.
Lafferty/Laverty
Lafferty is an exclusively Ulster name and in 1900 was found only in the countries of Donegal, Derry, and Tyrone in Ireland. It stems mainly from O'Lafferty or O'Laverty. Both names derive from the Gaelic for "bright ruler" and are Ulster forms of the Connacht name O'Flaverty or O'Flaherty. The 'F' in Ulster was often aspirated or silent, thus O'Flynn becomes O'Lynn.
Lafferty
This name is common in Donegal, Tyronre and Derry and extends from the gaelic name, "O'Laithbheartaigh"The Lafferty's were descendants from the Lord of Aileach, famous for the great stone fortress, the Granian of Aileach. The first to bear the name was Murchadh Ua Flaithbheartaigh of the Eagle Knee, King of Tyrone, who died in 972. In the 13th. Century there were many Lafferty's living in the Finn Valley and also in the Lagan. However, they were driven from their rich lands by the O'Neill's and settled at Ardstraw, Co. Tyrone. There is a townland near there called Lislafferty.
This notable surname, chiefly found in the Province of Ulster, is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "O'(Fh)laithbheartaigh" or "MacFhlaithbheartaigh". Traditionally, Irish family names are taken from the heads of tribes, or some illustrious warrior, and are usually prefixed by "O", grandson, male descendant of, or "mac", son of. In this instance, the personal name "Flaighbheartach" is composed of the elements "flaith", prince, ruler, and "beartach", doer of valiant deeds, which points to the noble origins of the clan. The Chief of the Laverty sept was Lord of Aileach (modern Elagh, Co. Donegal), and he is described in the Annals of the Four Masters as the "Tanist of Tyrone", the term "tanist" meaning "the heir apparent of a Celtic chieftain, chosen by election during the Chief's lifetime: usually the worthiest of his kin". The ultimate origin of the word is the Gaelic (Irish) "tainiste", literally, "the second person". The modernized Gaelic spelling of the name, O'Laifeartaigh, gives rise to further Anglicized forms, such as Lafferty and Laherty. On January 27th 1744, John Laverty and Mary Currie were married in Belfast, Co. Antrim. Medina Laverty, aged 13 yrs., who embarked from Londonderry on the ship "Mary Harrington" bound for New York on June 2nd 1846, was a famine emigrant to that city. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of O'Laherty, which was dated circa 1560, in the Elizabethian "Fiant Litterae Patentes", during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1 of England, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
© Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2012
Surname Dictionary/Sloinnte na h-eireann
Lafferty - fairly numerous: Galway-Mayo, Ulster etc. an aspirated form of Flaherty, q.v. the family were important in Tyrone and Donegal in the 16th century.
Laverty - numerous: Ulster generally. Louth, Galway etc. Sept of Donegal and Tyrone. Cognate with O'Flaherty but a distinct Ulster grouping.
Lafferty/Laverty
Lafferty is an exclusively Ulster name and in 1900 was found only in the countries of Donegal, Derry, and Tyrone in Ireland. It stems mainly from O'Lafferty or O'Laverty. Both names derive from the Gaelic for "bright ruler" and are Ulster forms of the Connacht name O'Flaverty or O'Flaherty. The 'F' in Ulster was often aspirated or silent, thus O'Flynn becomes O'Lynn.
Lafferty
This name is common in Donegal, Tyronre and Derry and extends from the gaelic name, "O'Laithbheartaigh"The Lafferty's were descendants from the Lord of Aileach, famous for the great stone fortress, the Granian of Aileach. The first to bear the name was Murchadh Ua Flaithbheartaigh of the Eagle Knee, King of Tyrone, who died in 972. In the 13th. Century there were many Lafferty's living in the Finn Valley and also in the Lagan. However, they were driven from their rich lands by the O'Neill's and settled at Ardstraw, Co. Tyrone. There is a townland near there called Lislafferty.
This notable surname, chiefly found in the Province of Ulster, is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "O'(Fh)laithbheartaigh" or "MacFhlaithbheartaigh". Traditionally, Irish family names are taken from the heads of tribes, or some illustrious warrior, and are usually prefixed by "O", grandson, male descendant of, or "mac", son of. In this instance, the personal name "Flaighbheartach" is composed of the elements "flaith", prince, ruler, and "beartach", doer of valiant deeds, which points to the noble origins of the clan. The Chief of the Laverty sept was Lord of Aileach (modern Elagh, Co. Donegal), and he is described in the Annals of the Four Masters as the "Tanist of Tyrone", the term "tanist" meaning "the heir apparent of a Celtic chieftain, chosen by election during the Chief's lifetime: usually the worthiest of his kin". The ultimate origin of the word is the Gaelic (Irish) "tainiste", literally, "the second person". The modernized Gaelic spelling of the name, O'Laifeartaigh, gives rise to further Anglicized forms, such as Lafferty and Laherty. On January 27th 1744, John Laverty and Mary Currie were married in Belfast, Co. Antrim. Medina Laverty, aged 13 yrs., who embarked from Londonderry on the ship "Mary Harrington" bound for New York on June 2nd 1846, was a famine emigrant to that city. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of O'Laherty, which was dated circa 1560, in the Elizabethian "Fiant Litterae Patentes", during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1 of England, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
© Copyright: Name Origin Research www.surnamedb.com 1980 - 2012