Muircheartaigh
The Gaelic origin of MacMurtrie is
Muircheartaigh (variants: Muirchertaigh, Muirchertach or
Muircheartach).
Pronounced: Mir-art-ach
(listen to the
pronunciation)
Meaning: sea navigator or sea ruler or expert seaman or simply
mariner
Scotland and Ulster: 'Mac' (son of)
= MacMuircheartaigh
Ireland: 'O' (son of) = O'Muircheartaigh
Latin: Murchertachus
Muirchertach
and its variants are names seen
through hundreds of years of Irish and Scottish history with a
number of Irish kings bearing this as their given name.
-
Muirchertach Mac Ercae, great-grandson of Niall of the Nine
Hostages and High King of Ireland
-
Muirchertach mac Néill aka Muirchetaich "of the Leather
Cloaks", 10th century king of
Cenél nEógain
-
Muirchertach Ua Briain,
12th
century
High
King
of
Ireland
-
Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, 12 century king of Cenél nEógain
-
Flaithbertach m. Muirchertaigh, Abbot of Dunkeld (873 AD)
Muircheartaigh eventually
became a surname and was anglicized as Moriarty in Co.
Kerry, Murtagh near Kells in Co. Meath, McBrearty in Co. Donegal, McCurdy
in Co. Antrim / Scotland, as well as Murdoch in Scotland.
Muirchertach is
one of the most popular male Irish names in early and medieval
Ireland, and even until the 19th century among some northern
families.