O'Hare is the

anglicised Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

form of the

Irish name A formal Irish name consists of a given name and a surname. In the Irish language, most surnames are patronymic surnames (distinct from patronyms, which are seen in Icelandic names for example). The form of a surname varies according to whethe ...

''Ó hÍr''. It is an Irish

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

(or sept) surname. The earliest reference to the clan Ó Haichir (now O'Hare) is to be found in the ''

Annals of the Four Masters The ''Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland'' () or the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' () are chronicles of Middle Ages, medieval Irish history. The entries span from the Genesis flood narrative, Deluge, dated as 2,242 Anno Mundi, years after crea ...

''. The great majority of O'Hares, were descendants of the Oriel family of Ohir or Oheir, who were kin to the O'Hanlons and seated in the Barony of Orier,

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

in Ireland, where, with the adjacent counties of Antrim and

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, the O'Hares are still found. The O'Hare name was spelled: O'Heir, O'Hire, O'Heere, O'Hear, O'Hare and O'Haire. It is the name of an Oriel family who were chiefs of Oirtheara, now the baronies of Orier, in the east of County Armagh. According to the traditional Irish pedigree, the family is descended from Slioch Ir, who was the son of Ior and the grandson of Cathal Ruadh, who was killed in 1401. O'Hare is one of the few surnames which resisted the general tendency in the 18th century to discard the "Ó" in their name. Generally, the distinctive mark of an Irish surname is "Mac" or "Ó", according to the Latin: , which has been translated: By Mac and O
You'll always know
True Irishmen, they say;
But if they lack
Both O and Mac,
No Irishmen are they. Since before the

Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land in Ireland over which the List of English monarchs, monarchs of England then claimed sovere ...

, the names in use in Ireland were in the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

; however, the English forced the Irish to adopt English surnames. Accordingly, it was enacted by the statute of the English king,

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

(1465), that every Irishman dwelling within

the Pale The Pale ( Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast s ...

– which comprised the counties of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Kildare Kildare () is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. , its population was 10,302, making it the 7th largest town in County Kildare. It is home to Kildare Cathedral, historically the site of an important abbey said to have been founded by Saint ...

Louth Louth may refer to: Australia *Hundred of Louth, a cadastral unit in South Australia * Louth, New South Wales, a town * Louth Bay, a bay in South Australia ** Louth Bay, South Australia, a town and locality Canada * Louth, Ontario Ireland * Cou ...

, and

Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

– should take an English surname. The Irish people were forced into adopting an English surname, or at least an English version of their Irish surname, therefore many removed the "Mac" or "Ó" from their surname. However, the O'Hehir and O'Hare families did not drop the "Ó", nor did they adopt an English version of their surnames. As a result, they had to endure extreme hardship and suffering because of such opposition. (The creation of societies such as the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it eme ...

in the late 19th century resulted in the widespread resumption of the "Mac" and "Ó" prefixes to many Irish surnames.)

People with the surname O'Hare

Brendan O'Hare Brendan O'Hare (born 16 January 1970) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist musician, primarily known for being the drummer in the rock band Teenage Fanclub from 1989 until early 1994, and a member of and collaborator with Mogwai. Career O'Hare ...

, Scottish musician * Christopher O'Hare, American artist, sculptor and inventor *

Damian O'Hare Damian O'Hare (born 13 August 1977) is an Irish actor. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Gillette in ''Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' and ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''. Career O'Hare start ...

, Irish actor *

David O'Hare David O'Hare (born 1 June 1990) is an Irish professional tennis player and coach. On 24 August 2015 he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of 1438 and on 3 April 2017 reached his highest doubles ranking of 117. Despite being inactive in to ...

, Irish tennis player * Davy O'Hare, Irish footballer *

Denis O'Hare Denis Patrick Seamus O'Hare (born January 17, 1962) is an American actor noted for his award-winning performances in the plays '' Take Me Out'' and '' Sweet Charity'', as well as portraying vampire king Russell Edgington on the HBO fantasy serie ...

, American actor * Dessie O'Hare, Irish republican paramilitary fighter *

Edward O'Hare Lieutenant commander (United States), Lieutenant Commander Edward Henry O'Hare (March 13, 1914 – November 26, 1943) was an American naval aviator of the United States Navy, who on February 20, 1942, became the Navy's first fighter ace of the w ...

, U.S. Navy pilot * Edward J. O'Hare, American lawyer *

Hefin O'Hare Hefin O'Hare (born 2 June 1979) is a Welsh former professional rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Scotland national rugby sevens team, Scotland 7 ...

, Irish rugby union player * James Haldane O'Hare, Scottish Theatrical

scenic Scenic may refer to: * Scenic design * Scenic painting * Scenic overlook * Scenic railroad (disambiguation) * Scenic route * Scenic, South Dakota, United States * Scenic (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse Aviation * Airwave Scenic, an Austrian ...

and

costume design Costume design is the process of selecting or creating clothing for a performers. A costume may be designed from scratch or may be designed by combining existing garments. "Costume" may also refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a ...

er. *

John O'Hare John O'Hare (born 24 September 1946) is a Scottish former footballer. O'Hare's clubs included Sunderland, Derby County, Leeds United and also Nottingham Forest and was part of their European Cup victory in 1980, coming on as a substitute in th ...

, Australian actor, director, teacher *

, Scottish footballer *

Joseph A. O'Hare Joseph Aloysius O'Hare (February 12, 1931 – March 29, 2020) was a Jesuit priest, New York City civic leader and editor. He was president of Fordham University from 1984 to 2003 and chaired New York City's Campaign Finance Board for its first fi ...

, Jesuit priest *

Kate Richards O'Hare Carrie Katherine "Kate" Richards O'Hare (March 26, 1876 – January 10, 1948) was an American Socialist Party activist, editor, and orator best known for her controversial imprisonment during World War I. Biography Early years Carrie Katheri ...

, American activist *

Kevin O'Hare Kevin Patrick O'Hare, CBE, (born 14 September 1965) is a British retired ballet dancer and current Director of The Royal Ballet. He succeeded Monica Mason in the role in 2012. Early life O’Hare was born in Kingston upon Hull to Northern Iris ...

, British ballet dancer, the Royal Ballet director from 2012 *

Majella O'Hare Majella O'Hare ( – 14 August 1976) was a 12-year-old schoolgirl who was shot in the back by a British paratrooper while walking to church in Whitecross, in August 1976. Killing On 14 August, 1976, Majella, along with some friends, was goin ...

, Irish school girl, who was killed by a British soldier *

Mark O'Hare Mark Sean O'Hare (born July 18, 1968) is an American cartoonist, animator, writer and storyboard artist who created the comic strip '' Citizen Dog''. O'Hare is well known for his work on animated television shows as a writer and storyboard arti ...

, American cartoonist *

Michael O'Hare Robert Michael O'Hare Jr. (May 6, 1952 – September 28, 2012) was an American actor who performed on stage and television. He was best known for playing the lead role of space station Commander Jeffrey Sinclair in the first season of the ...

, American actor * Rita O'Hare, General Secretary of Sinn Féin *

Turlough O'Hare Turlough O'Hare (born July 16, 1969) is a former international freestyle swimmer who competed in two Summer Olympics for Canada: in 1988 in Seoul and 1992 in Barcelona. His best Olympic result was eighth place with the men's 4×200-metre free ...

, Canadian swimmer * William F. O'Hare, American Catholic bishop

Fictional Characters

*Aloysius O'Hare, the main antagonist from the animated film ''

The Lorax ''The Lorax'' is a children's literature, children's book written by Dr. Seuss and published in 1971. It chronicles the plight of the Biophysical environment, environment and the Lorax, the main character, who "speaks for the trees" and confront ...

'' *

Tulip O'Hare The following is a list of characters from the comic book series ''Preacher'', created by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, and the adaptation developed by Sam Catlin, Evan Goldberg, and Seth Rogen. Overview The following actors have been credited in ...

, fictional character from the comic book series ''Preacher'' *Bucky O'Hare, is a fictional character and the hero of an eponymous comic book series and spin-off media, including an animated TV series and various toys and video games. He was created by comic book writer Larry Hama and comic book artist Michael Golden between 1977 and 1978 and made its publishing debut in Echo of Futurepast #1 in May 1984 Continuity Comics.

People with the surname O'Hare

Fictional Characters

See also