What does the surname Ryan mean?
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Almost universally a contracted Anglicisation of Ó Maoilriaghain, descendant of the devotee of Riaghain. (Riaghan was a 9th-century saint of Limerick whose cult survived as a personal name into the early surname era.) The fuller form Mulryan is still used in the older Tipperary register; standard usage from the 18th century onwards is Ryan. A small minority of Ryans descend instead from Ó Riain of Carlow, same Anglicised form, different Gaelic origin. Ryan is the dominant surname of north-east Tipperary, the upland districts of Owney and Arra and the Glen of Aherlow, and one of the densest single-county clusters of any Irish surname.
Where does the Ryan family come from?
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The Ryan family is rooted in Munster, in Ireland. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in Tipperary. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.
Where did the Ryan family historically hold territory?
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At its greatest historical extent, the Ryan name has been concentrated in Limerick, Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford. The atlas page distinguishes the core territory of the name from this wider historical reach with hatched silhouettes on the map.
Is Ryan a Ireland surname?
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Yes, Ryan is a Ireland surname. Its editorial home in this atlas is Ireland, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated.
How old is the Ryan surname?
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Ryan is the dominant surname of north-east Tipperary, the upland districts of Owney and Arra and the Glen of Aherlow, and one of the densest single-county clusters of any Irish surname. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Ryan name took its modern form within that long settlement.
What is the Ryan family known for?
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Of Owney and Aherlow, the densest Tipperary surname. Ryan is the dominant surname of north-east Tipperary, the upland districts of Owney and Arra and the Glen of Aherlow, and one of the densest single-county clusters of any Irish surname.
What is the Ryan motto?
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The motto of the Ryan family is "Malo mori quam foedari", which translates as "I would rather die than be disgraced". Family mottoes were registered with the chief of the name and carried on the heraldic arms and battle-banners.
What does "Malo mori quam foedari" mean in English?
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"Malo mori quam foedari" is the motto of the Ryan family. In English it means "I would rather die than be disgraced". The phrase is typically rendered in Latin, though some Highland families carry their motto in Gaelic and some Norman lines in Old French.
Who is the most famous Ryan?
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The best-known bearer of the Ryan name is Cornelius Ryan (1920–1974), historian, author of The Longest Day. Other prominent figures of the family include Tony Ryan (1936–2007), founder of Ryanair, Frank Ryan (1902–1944), republican, Spanish Civil War commander and Meg Ryan (b. 1961), actress.
Who are some famous Ryans?
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Notable bearers of the Ryan name include Cornelius Ryan (1920–1974), historian, author of The Longest Day, Tony Ryan (1936–2007), founder of Ryanair, Frank Ryan (1902–1944), republican, Spanish Civil War commander and Meg Ryan (b. 1961), actress. Each is profiled on the family page, with cross-links to the geography, stories, and historical events tied to their life.
What stories are told about the Ryan family?
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The Ryan family is associated with Tony Ryan launches Ryanair from Waterford. Each story has its own page on this site with the full account, the date, the location, and the other families involved.
What is the story of Tony Ryan launches Ryanair from Waterford?
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On the morning of Monday the eighth of July 1985, on the small commercial runway at Waterford Airport on the south-east coast of Ireland, the small fifteen-seat Embraer Bandeirante turboprop of the newly-incorporated Irish carrier Ryanair Limited took off on the inaugural commercial Waterford-to-Gatwick service, with the forty-nine-year-old Thurles-born aviation-leasing executive and majority Ryanair shareholder Tony Ryan watching from the small Waterford Airport apron. The Ryanair operation had been incorporated in November 1984 on Ryan's commercial decision (taken across the long summer-and-autumn of 1984 in his Tipperary country house outside Thurles) to challenge the Aer Lingus-and-British-Airways pooled monopoly on the Ireland-United Kingdom passenger-aviation market, on the strategic premise that the Irish-and-British regulatory framework would support a low-fare independent carrier under the 1944 Chicago Convention bilateral arrangements, and that the small under-served regional airports of the south-east of Ireland and the south-east of England could carry the foundational route network on which the operation would scale. The event is dated to 1985.
Is O'Ryan the same family as Ryan?
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Yes. O'Ryan is a historical spelling variant of the Ryan name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.
Is Ó Maoilriaghain the same family as Ryan?
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Yes. Ó Maoilriaghain is a historical spelling variant of the Ryan name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.
Is Mulryan the same family as Ryan?
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Yes. Mulryan is a historical spelling variant of the Ryan name. The two share the same lineage and family affiliation; different parishes, clerks and migration registrars recorded the same name in slightly different forms, and the variant spellings sit on the same family tree.
Where is the Ryan surname found today?
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Ireland is the primary historical home of the Ryan surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same Ireland origin recorded on this page.
What does the Clan Rising page for the Ryan family cover?
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The Clan Rising page for the Ryan family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, the family motto, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of Ireland so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.
Who is the head of the Ryan family today?
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The seat for the head of the Ryan family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.