Surname distribution in Ireland

John Grenham's most recent Irish Roots column Localised 19th-century Irish surnames was posted just as I was looking at the distribution of my ancestral surname Marmon. Recent progress with the family in Wales and England, thanks to help from James F.S. Thomson, is motivating renewed effort on my part.

Grenham focuses on Irish General Register Office births between 1864 and 1913 mapped at irishtimes.com/ancestor . Griffith's Valuation (1847-64) mapped at the same site is earlier but still post-dates my lot leaving Ireland, possibly in the early 1840s.

Surname distribution are said to be reasonably stable over centuries. The maps below for Marmon and the variant Marmion suggest the questionable evidence from a Welsh census that my Marmon line came from Killkeel, County Down may be credible.

Marmon GRO Births

Marmon Griffith's Valuation

Marmion Griffith's Valuation

Marmion GRO Births