O'Rourke

O'Rourke
Ó Ruairc
O'Rourke arms
Parent houseUí Briúin Bréifne
CountryKingdom of Connacht
Foundedca. 960 AD
FounderFergal ua Ruairc
Current headGeoffrey Philip Columb O'Rorke
Final rulerTadhg Ó Ruairc
MottoServiendo guberno
Dissolution1605
Cadet branches
  • MacLoughlin
  • MacRannell
  • MacNeill
  • MacKiernan
Branches
  • O’Rourke of Dromahair
  • O’Rourke of Kilnagarn
  • O’Rourke of Leitrim Castle
  • O’Rourke of Inishmagrath
  • O’Rourke of Castlerourke
  • O’Rourke of Carrha
  • O’Rourke of Aughavas
  • O’Rourke of Carrigallen
  • O’Rourke of Cloncorick
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A defaced O'Rourke crest adorns the coat of arms of County Leitrim, their historic patrimony

O'Rourke (Irish: Ó Ruairc)[1] is an Irish Gaelic clan based most prominently in what is today County Leitrim. The family were the historic rulers of Breifne and later West Breifne until the 17th century. The O'Rourke Clan Chief was at odds with the O'Reilly Chief because both clans contested each other for the title Prince of Breifne.[2]

  1. ^ "Ruarc — Database of Irish-language Surnames". Gaois. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  2. ^ Newerkla, Stefan Michael (2020), Das irische Geschlecht O'Reilly und seine Verbindungen zu Österreich und Russland [The Irish O'Reilly family and their connections to Austria and Russia]. In: Diachronie – Ethnos – Tradition: Studien zur slawischen Sprachgeschichte [Diachrony – Ethnos – Tradition: Studies in Slavic Language History]. Eds. Jasmina Grković-Major, Natalia B. Korina, Stefan M. Newerkla, Fedor B. Poljakov, Svetlana M. Tolstaja. Brno, Tribun EU, pp. 259–279 (accessible online), here pp. 263–265.