McDonough

McDonough is an Irish surname.

The surname is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "Mac Donnchadha", which means son of Donnchadh or son of Donagh. The name itself consists of elements meaning "brown (donn)" or Donn “the dark one”, plus "battle (chatha)".

Originally, two separate clans existed in Ireland, the first in Connacht, and these MacDonnchadha's were a branch of the MacDermots, the 8th Century Kings of Connacht.

The second clan in Munster, whose chiefs held the Castle of Kanturk in County Cork, and who were known as the bards of Duhallow, were a branch of the MacCarthys. The name is now rare in Cork, original name holders, it is believed, changing their name to MacCarthy.[3][4]

One explanation for the many spelling variations is that scribes and church officials frequently spelled the name as it sounded: an imprecise method at best. Understandably then, various spellings of the surname McDonough were found in the many archives researched including MacDonough, McDonogh, and many more.