Larkin
Ó Lorcáin · descendant of Lorcán
Larkin is Ó Lorcáin in Irish, said oh LUR-kawn, and means descendant of Lorcán.
Lorcán means fierce, and it is the Irish name of Saint Laurence O’Toole. James Larkin led the 1913 Lockout and stands in bronze on O’Connell Street with his arms up.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Lorcáin
- His daughter: Ní Lorcáin
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Lorcáin
- The family together: Uí Lorcáin
Where it comes from
Wexford, Galway and Armagh
Also spelt
Larkin, O’Larkin, Lorcan
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.