Irish Family Name

Moore

Ó Mórdha — “descendant of Mórdha, 'the majestic or proud one'”

Provincial colours of Leinster — this name has no clan tartan tradition and no single agreed coat of arms

Irish formÓ Mórdha

Historic titleChief of Laois

HeartlandLaois — the old kingdom of Loígis

RegionLeinster

Chiefs of Laois and the leading one of the Seven Septs, who resisted the Tudor plantation of the midlands for decades. Note that Moore is also a common English planter surname in Ireland, borne by the Earls of Drogheda.

Ancestral seats

Rock of Dunamase, Co. Laois

Where to walk in their footsteps

Access, opening hours and admission change. We confirm every site before it goes into an itinerary.

Rock of Dunamase, Co. Laois

Dramatic rock fortress contested by the O'Mores for centuries.

Moore Hall, Lough Carra, Co. Mayo

Burnt shell of a Moore house in a forest park with lakeside walks; the Mayo Moores are the English family, not Ó Mórdha.

Also recorded as

O'MoreO'MooreMore

Travelling to Moore country

Cashel Travel has arranged clan gatherings and heritage tours across Scotland and Ireland since the 1990s, including full gatherings for Clan Gordon, Hay, Keith, Lindsay, Hunter, Dunbar, Graham, Sutherland and MacLaren. We research the family history, build the itinerary around it, and arrange access to places that are not normally open to the public.

Plan a heritage tour