U.S. PLACENAMES

Irish Names Upon Our Land

The Irish were active in settling this country and pushing it westward from the days of the earliest English colonies. So it's not surprising that Irish family- and place-names are common throughout the United States.

In 1914, for example, two scholars estimated that there were 65 places in the United States named after people whose names began with the Irish prefix "O," and more than 1,000 that commemorated the "Mc's."

They claimed they had found 253 counties and about 7,000 other places apparently named after Irish places or family names. Among these were 24 Dublins, 21 Waterfords, 18 Belfasts, 16 Tyrones, 10 Limericks, 9 Antrims, 8 Sligos, 7 Derrys, 6 Corks, and 5 Kildares. (Many of these seem to have been swallowed up by other communities since then; only some 13 Dublins remain today, for example.)

Places named for prominent Irishmen and Irish-Americans as well as lesser-known countrymen are beyond counting. The Carrolls of Maryland, for example, live on in the names of many communities, as so the famous Irish-American generals Philip Kearny and Philip Sheridan. Irish patriots are likewise remembered, as Charles Stewart Parnell is in the name of an Arkansas town.

For good measure, New York claims a community named Erin and Missouri's towns include one called St. Patrick. Towns named Shamrock can be found in North Carolina and Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania has a Shamrock Station.

The following is an alphabetical listing of 39 states with places that bear the names of places in Ireland. We have not attempted to enumerate the places that bear Irish (family) surnames, in that they are so many and are sometimes difficult to distinguish:

Alabama -- Ardmore, Carlowville, Shannon
Arkansas -- Avoca, Belfast, Shandon, Shannon
California -- Boyle, Dublin, Shandon, Waterford
Colorado -- Sligo, Tyrone
Florida -- Killarney, Mayo, Ormond Beach
Georgia -- Auburn, Dublin, Shannon, Tyrone
Idaho -- Dingle, Mullan, Rathdrum
Illinois -- Auburn, Munster, Shannon
Indiana -- Avoca, Bandon, Clare, Dublin, Greencastle, Munster
Iowa -- Avoca, Brandon, Clare, Curlew, Shannon City
Dansas -- Boyle, Longford
Kentucky -- Boyle County, Dublin
Louisiana -- Antrim, Clare, Derry, Sligo
Maine -- Belfast, Carlow Island, Clontarf, Limerick
Maryland -- Ardmore, Baltimore, Dublin, Dundalk, Mayo
Massachusetts -- Auburn
Michigan -- Antrim, Boyne City, Clare, Darragh, Dublin, New Baltimore, Roscommon, Wexford County.
Minnesota -- Avoca, Clontarf, Kilkenny, Lismore
Mississippi -- Boyle, Brandon, Dublin, Shannon
Montana -- Ennis
New Hampshire -- Antrim, Derry, Dublin, Londonderry
New Mexico -- Derry, Tyrone
New York -- Auburn, Avoca, Belfast, Galway, Tyrone, Ulster County
North Carolina -- Colrain, Dublin, Mayo River, Shannon, Sligo
North Dakota -- Bantry, Donnybrook, Kenmare
Ohio -- Belfast, Dublin, Londonderry
Oklahoma -- Ardmore, Bray Kildare, Tyrone
Oregon -- Bandon
Pennsylvania -- Antrim, Ardara, Ardmore, Armagh, Avoca, Castle Shannon, Colrain (township), Derry Donegal, Dublin, Dunmore, Fermanagh (township), Limerick, New Derry, Sligo, Tyrone
South Carolina -- Mayo, Shannontown
South Dakota -- Ardmore
Tennessee -- Ardmore, Belfast
Texas -- Donnybrook Place, Dublin, Ennis, Ireland, Kildare, Monahan, Shannon
Vermont -- Londonderry
Virginia -- Dublin, Dungannon, Dunmore County, Kinsale, Mayo, Stormont
Washington -- Curlew, Lake Shannon
West Virginia -- Dunmore, Ireland, Killarney, Tralee
Wisconsin -- Kildare, New Munster
Wyoming -- Tipperary