Dropping the Mac or the O from names-  It is well known that the Mac and O have been dropped and added at will. In Ireland, especially in the area known as the 'Pale' around Dublin, it was declared that the Irish take on names in an English form. Many a man would drop the Mac and O when doing business with the powers that be, and then add it back again when among old Irish friends. The census taker could have used either form, with or without the Gaelic 'prefix' so to speak. This means you may have to look for both forms of the name when you go back into the records ! That is in addition to looking for other ways of spelling altogether - some examples of that will be given further on in this book. Suffice it to say that the sound of the name becomes more important than the spelling of the name at times.