What are the origins of the surname "Kilroy"? According to www.surnamedb.com, Kilroy is the anglicized form of the Gaelic "Mac Giolla Ruaidh". "Mac" means son of. "Giolla" means servant or youth and "Ruaidh" means red-haired. So basically, Mac Giolla Ruaidh means "son of red-haired youth". Other equivalents of this surname are Mac Elroy, McElree, Gilroy and of course, Kilroy.
According to the "Kilroy Connection" by Hugh McGough, in the 1890 birth records the most people with the surname of Kilroy were found in County Mayo (47) followed by County Roscommons (with 34), County Galway (with 25) and County Cavan (with 19).
I read recently that you can tell which county/counties a person came from in Ireland by their surname. Well, back to researching my Kilroy ancestors!
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