Missouri Irish Name
Great-grandmother Sue Gerard has a nice piece in the Colombia Daily Tribune about a community in the middle of Missouri, called Harg
Granny Sue says that the crossroads there gradually got the name Harg, from the two large Irish McHarg families of brothers named Tom and Archibald.
You get asked all the time about names being Irish. Well okay, in truth people tell you all the time that their name is Irish. Very often the name told to you is one you’ve never heard before in your life. Or maybe you have, but in a Scottish or even English context. Or sometimes only in America.
Irish names are a bit of minefield of sorts, with the anglicization of the names in Ireland from the original Gaelic. That said, in Ireland the variations of each name are reasonably limited and fairly well known.
However in America, Irish, and would-be Irish names, often underwent further changes and morphings into names to make them easier to say, to spell, or just to be considered more Irish. Or because your ancestors had something to hide - like a body.
I’ve never heard the name McHarg before in Ireland which only means that there might not be very many of them. I have heard of McHarg in Scotland. And Archibald is a popular name in Scotland, so I’m guessing that the families in question were Scots-Irish, if not actually just Scottish. But what do I know?
See Also:
• Stage Irish Woman Shows Mexicans The Way
• Green, White, and Red Apples
• Irish Immigrants & Bad Birds
• More Irish Than You Think?
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
I am a novice at geneology, but am fast becoming a fanatic. My mother was Floy McHarg (daughter of Lilly Blanche and Robert McHarg). I remember her talking about Sue Gerard and the Columbia Tribune when I was a child (I am 69 now). I think a lot of my ancestors are buried in the Olivet christian Church cemetary in Harg. I think they did come from Ireland in the first place (Meghara). Anyway, I enjoyed your piece on Harg.
John Miller
I want to find what the Irish call their Great Grandmother. Please. Help
Wanda, I’d go with Sin-seanmháthair - if what you’re asking is about the Irish language.
Seanmháthair is grandmother, and a typical pet name when talking with a grandmother is Mamó like the way some people use granny in English; though in my family we use Nana.
I’m not familiar with a pet name in English for a great-grandmother.