Quote Originally Posted by auld argonian View Post
I'd suggest that your current surname might be a modified version of an earlier name...a "corruption", if you don't mind the term.

It happens...

Guard at Ellis Island: Okay, what's your name, buddy?

Immigrant: Michelangelo Buonaratti...

Guard: That's no name for an American! From now on your name is Mike Boone.

(Source: The National Lampoon Radio Hour)

Seriously, I'd look back in the family records and see if there was another spelling or if it's a corruption of something like McGarrick.

Best

AA
Tis indeed a corruption.

McGurk, anglised from MacO'Oric (Anyone seen anything like that before?)

The Oric bit itself is also beleaved to be a corruption of Orc, which was probably adopted as a family name during or shortly after the roman times and is taken from Orcus, roman god of the underword. This god himself has several names, Orcus being his vengeful/punnishing side.

This would be fitting with the ancient family history, who where not loved by their neibours (for killing and stealing cattle, nothing big.) And eventualy, everyone got together and chased them off their land in Tyrone, into the hills hopefully to die.
They (we) didnt die, but simply became harder and more bitter, comming back from the hills to take back their land...