This work has over 500 entries of the most common family names of the nine-county province of Ulster, with reference to thousands more. It gives the meaning and history of each name, its original form, where it came from – Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales or France – and why it changed to what it is today. The index provides nearly 3,000 surnames and variant spellings, cross-referenced to the main listing. The book includes notes on some famous bearers of the name and where in Ulster the name is now most common.

This new edition also includes an article by the author on the Riding Clans of the Scottish Boarders, many members of which came to Ulster during the Plantation. The result is a reference book that details much about the history of the Ulster Irish as well as the Scottish and English who arrived from the 17^th century onwards and is packed with surprising insights into the origins of a complex, turbulent people.