Clans and Families of Ireland: The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families [Hardcover]

John Grenham (Author), Donal Begley (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994

An account of the origins of the Irish people discusses their customs, daily life, surnames, coats of arms, and clan tartans from prehistoric times to the present and includes full-color photographs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Grenham is a professional genealogist. He was formerly attached to the Genealogical Office in Dublin, Ireland. At present he develops and markets his own genealogical software packages worldwide. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 188 pages
• Publisher: The Wellfleet Press / Book Sales, Inc. (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555218873
• ISBN-13: 978-1555218874
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 9.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,048,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential guide to the origins of 200 Irish Families, September 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Clans and Families of Ireland: The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families (Hardcover)

A beautifully illustrated and well written guide to the origins of the 200 most popular surnames in Ireland.

Also included is history of the Irish race in all it's forms, this alone is worth the price of the book as it will allow anyone to form a clear understanding of Irish history, cutting away all the myths and confusions that surround the Irish and their origins.

This book is an essential read for anyone with Irish ancestry or any one with an interest in Irish History and you will find yourself dipping into it again and again.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good and clear guide to the irish and their origins, February 28, 2000

By 

moonstealer (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clans and Families of Ireland: The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families (Hardcover)

i got this as a gift for my husband (a Reilly) and congratulate myself on the purchase! The historical background is EXCELLENT - enabled me to understand the different ethnic roots of the Irish and also the complexity of the Catholics vs Protestants, etc. In addition, the description of the mass exodus of the Irish to foreign lands was great, the author detailing the emotional background exquisitely. Finally, it was a lot of fun looking up the origins of Irish last names. The crests of each clan is shown in colour.

If I have a complaint, it would be that the significance of the crest of each clan was not discussed along with the origin and history of each clan. If that was included, this book would be 100% perfect, instead of 95% perfect.

5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice book., December 30, 2011

By 

M. E. O'Malley (Urbandale, IA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Clans and Families of Ireland: The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families (Hardcover)

The book is a nice, medium sized hard bound copy filled with superb illustrations and makes for fascinating reading. My only complaint is how did the O'Malley (Ó Máille) family didn't make it into the book. Sure, maybe I'm biased, but the O'Malley's certainly are big enough and popular enough to rate a place within. Grace O'Malley would be shocked.