Recorded as Faherty, and more correctly perhaps as O' Faherty, and confused with Fogarty with which it has absolutely no connection, this is an Irish surname of both antiquity and rarity. Derived from the pre 10th century Gaelic name O' Fathartaigh, and probably translating as the male descendant of the son of the wise one, it is mainly from County Galway. It has often been confused with the Kerry clan of O' Flaherty and O 'Flaverty, also recorded as Flaherty and Flaverty. This name is from the Gaelic O' Flaithbheartaigh meaning the male descendant of the bright ruler. The (O') Faherty clan was originally settled by Lake Corrib in Galway, but whilst comparativly rare, it is known that they have been recorded in that area before the 16th century, although many confirming records were destroyed when the IRA blew up the Public Records Office in Dublin in 1922. Amongst the surviving recordings is that of Bridget Farherty at Moycullen, Galway, on January 18th 1786. She was the daughter of Patt Faherty, who seems to have had three daughters all called Bridget.

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