Is giving our children a double-barrelled surname progressive — or notions? 

"Until relatively recently, the situation in Ireland was similar to the current setup in Italy. In fact, until 1997 a child wasn’t explicitly assigned a surname in Ireland, with the presumption being that they would take their father’s name. The advent of the Registration of Births Act changed this, requiring parents to designate either the mother’s, the father’s or both surnames."

Simon Tierney with his wife Ingrid Cordeiro and their daughters Giovanna and Daniela Tiernay Cordeiro 4 and 2 years respectively Photograph Moya Nolan .

When my daughter had a short spell in hospital recently, I was curious to discover that her patient wristband used ‘Tierney’ as her surname. While this moniker likely did a fine job of identifying her to staff, it was officially incorrect, according to her birth certificate.  

People rarely call my daughters by their actual name. I don’t mean their first names…that’s the easy part. I mean their surname. This is because they have been burdened with a double-barrelled last name by their helplessly progressive parents.