"In traditional Irish society surnames were rarely used and single names were actually more common. This changed around the eleventh century as the population grew and it became necessary to have a second name, a surname
. Often these names had one of two prefixes at the beginning - an ‘O' meaning ‘grandson of', or ‘Mac' meaning ‘son of'.
The importance of ancestry in Irish society is demonstrated by the fact that surnames were used as a way of identifying that you were descended from your forefathers. "
(Irish Expressions.com)
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