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The Dorough surname is Scottish and Irish in origin
and is a derivative of the Scottish name Darroch. Darroch is a sept of the clan McDonald of the
Isles. In 1794 the Lord Lyon King of Arms officially registered
"Duncan Darroch of Gourock, chief of this ancient name, the patronymic of which is MacIliriach," showing that Iliriach was the progenitor of this
sept. The name has its meaning based in the gaelic Dubh Dara which is "Black Oak". The movement of the family to Ireland is still open to
debate. It is my opinion that it occurred as part of the plantation period of the 1660s in Northern
Ireland. However there are those who argue that the term Scotch-Irish does not apply to the McDonald Clan because the clan was in Ireland long before the
plantations. English land records for the plantations do list "Native
Irish" who were given land. Among this list were the MacDonalds. This list also contains Irish with variations of the name Dorough assigned
land. The name Dorough in Ireland has long been associated with county Antrim and Down.
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