Forrest, Wood, Mountain,
and Vail, and other names that are similarly derived, the first
thought is that they are of English origin. Yet we know that for
centuries past such names have been numerous in Ireland, and there
are many Irish families so named who are of as pure Celtic blood as
any bearing the old Gaelic patronymics. By a law passed in the second
year of the reign of Edward IV., natives of Ireland were forced to
adopt English surnames. This Act was, substantially, as follows: "An
Act that Irishmen dwelling in the Counties of, etc.... shall go
appareled like Englishmen and wear their beards in English manner,
swear allegiance and take English sirnames, which sirnames shall be
of one towne, as Sutton, Chester, Trim, Skryne, Cork, Kinsale; or
colours, as white, black, brown; or arts, or sciences, as smith or
carpenter; or office, as cook, butler, etc., and it is enacted that
he and his issue shall use his name under pain of forfeyting of his
goods yearly", etc.

This Act could be enforced only upon those Irish families who dwelt
within the reach of English law, and as emigrants from those
districts, deprived of their pure Celtic names, came to America in an
English guise and in English vessels, they were officially recorded
as "English." Moreover, numbers of Irish frequently crossed the
channel and began their voyage from English ports, where they had to
take on new names, sometimes arbitrarily, and sometimes voluntarily
for purposes of concealment, either by transforming their original
names into English or adopting names similar to those above referred
to. These names were generally retained on this side of the Atlantic
so as not to arouse the prejudice of their English neighbors. In
complying with the statute above quoted, some Irish families accepted
the rather doubtful privilege of translating their names into their
English equivalents. We have examples of this in such names as
Somers, anglicised from McGauran (presumably derived from the Gaelic
word signifying "summer"); Smith from McGowan (meaning "the son of
the smith"); Jackson and Johnson, a literal translation from MacShane
(meaning "the son of John"); and Whitcomb from Kiernan (meaning,
literally, "a white comb").

In addition to this, in the case of some of those Irish immigrants
whose family names were not changed in Ireland, their descendants
appear in a much disguised form in the colonial records. Through the
mistakes of clergymen, court clerk