I agree that it is one of the most fascinating directions which research is opening up. The good folk at the Crow/Crowe DNA research team kindly tested me and found that my DNA was incredibly close match for one bunch of them. See links under "Crowe" and "DNA" on www. manxroots. info.

As you may have picked up from Frances's comment on John Creer's posting, I am thinking a lot about Manx family name origins and current ideas are that more names than we previously thought might relate to status or residence, nearer to the position with English names than the Irish legendary approach.

The thought with Quirk is that it might possibly derive from Eairk meaning "horn" - i.e. Mac+Eairk son of the person residing at the horn, the latter being a feature of the landscape flanking the lower end of a high-status forecourt. A bit like the horns on either side of an entrance to a passage-grave. Perhaps as in Pairk my H'airken (said to be pasture of the lapwing.)

Crow/e is an old word meaning something round, e.g. a pig-sty. Hence Kerrow Cruin, Crow Creen

NGC