Hi, Take a look at a couple Irish surname books at your local genealogy library, see what they have to say for history, variations and distribution. Also, I posted an "ideas for research type" post at the Co. Westmeath Query (G-R) website in October, 1999, with a recent addendum. The Mormon IGI on line or at your local FHC is your best bet, as well as the Filby volumes and PERSI volumes found at genealogy libraries. URLs:

Query: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/qindex.html

Mormon: http://www.familysearch.org

IreAtlas: http://www.seanruad.com/

Cyndi's: http://www.cyndislist.com/