Looking for the origin of my surname, Darragh,?

Question

I have been told Northern Ireland, and a possible connection to Scotland. Supposedly, a great great grandfather was the mayor of Pittsburg in the 1800's

Answer 1

Looks Irish to me.  A lot of people in northern Ireland was Scots-Irish, so there could be a Scottish connection.  If I feel like it later I might do a bit of research.

Answer 2

I think Darragh is from Scotland, Pittsburg is filled with Scottish names. I find it as Darroch in old texts. In 1797 the name is recorded in Gourock, a burgh in Inverclyde, Scotland.

Answer 3

www.ancestry.com

Darragh Name Meaning and History

Northern Irish: reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó O'Dhubhdarach or Mac Dhubhdarach ‘"descendant (or son)" of Dubhdarach’, a personal name meaning ‘"black one of the oak tree"’. For this reason it has sometimes been Anglicized as Oakes.

www.familysearch.org has these varied spellings:  DURIG ; DERRY ; DERRIE ; DEROUGH; DEREE ; DARRAH ; DERRAGH; DERROUGH ; DERUE; DARRA; DARAGH; DERYEA; DEROY; DEREUX; DURRING;  & DERIEUX.

    It is found in USA (various states); France; Scotland; Ireland;Canada; New Zealand;Australia; Uruguay; Norway;

India; England;Philippines; Burma;  Switzerland; &  North Ireland.

     An early listing is ABRAHAM DARRA, b.  25 JUL 1634   Walloon Or Strangers Church, Canterbury, Kent, England .

Most unusual first name-- ACKLESS with the DURIG spelling.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_may...

John Darragh (1772–May 13, 1828) was a U.S. politician. He served as the Mayor of Pittsburgh from 1817 to 1825.

     Darragh was born in Ireland and early in life immigrated to Pittsburgh. He began his career as a merchant on Fourth Avenue between Wood Street and Smithfield Street in the city. Darragh eventually parlayed his success as merchant into becoming the president of the Bank of Pittsburgh.

     Darragh became mayor of Pittsburgh on January 14, 1817 on the sudden retirement of Ebenezer Denny because of health concerns. His tenure as mayor saw the construction of sidewalks and street drainage systems. The start of a city wide water system also took root during his service.

     John Darragh also hosted world leaders for the first time in Pittsburgh's history. U.S. President James Monroe visited Pittsburgh on September 5, 1817 touring military installations around the area including the Allegheny Arsenal.

   French statesmen and general Marquis de Lafayette also visited Pittsburgh with John Darragh as host on May 30, 1825.

     On Wednesday May 13, 1828, Darragh died after a long fight with consumption (aka tuberculosis).

     Darragh Street near the University of Pittsburgh is named for John Darragh.

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Answer 4

It's an Irish name, it comes from the Irish word for the oak tree, and the name symbolises strength.  Have a look at the text down the left hand side of the following page:

http://www.treecouncil.ie/irish_county_c...

Answer 5

This interesting surname is a variant of Darragh, for which there are two likely origins. The most probable origin is as a patronymic name from the Scottish Gaelic MacDara, "son of oak". The Stirling Darrochs derived their name from a placename Darroch, near Falkirk. Mariote Darrach appears as a nurse of Lady Margaret, second daughter of James 11 in 1462. Varying spellings of the name include Darrocht 1550, Darroycht 1553, and Darroche 1561. Darragh is also an Irish name occasionally found with the prefix mac, mainly associated with north-east Ulster, and is Anglicized as "Oakes", as "dair" is gaelic for oak. Maclysaght in his "More Irish Families" says that the name was in Ireland before the immigration of the Scottish during the Plantation of Ulster and equates the early MacDwdara with MacDubhdare which is the gaelic form of MacDarragh. The name appears as Dorrageh or Dorah in the Hearth Money Rolls of Tyrone (1664) and Antrim (1669). James Darragh was one of the Fenian prisoners transported to Australia escaping to New York in 1876. A.S. Darragh, a mechanic is recorded as immigrating from Belfast to New York with two sons and a daughter on the ship "Prince- de-Joinville" on June 28th 1847. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Darach, which was dated 1406, in the "Exchequer Rolls of Scotland" (1264 - 1600), during the reign of King James 1,of England and V1 of Scotland, 1603 - 1625.