Agnew

Padraig Mac Giolla-Domhnaigh
1923

Agnew—The poet sept O Gnimh, chief poets to the O'Neills of Clann-Aodh-Buidhe, in Down and Antrim, have in most cases assumed the name of Agnew and Grew. The chief poet of the name in the 16th century wrote a poem entitled "The Downfall of the Gael," translated into the English language by Sir Samuel Ferguson. The Agnews proper are a sept descended from a branch of the McDonalds, written in Gaelic Mac Gneomhaighe, the surname being common in Scotland and in N.E. Ulster.

Alphabetical Index of Anglicised Surnames in Ireland

See also Woulfe’s Irish Names and Surnames
and O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees