This interesting surname is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Concharraige, composed of the elements "cu" meaning "hound", "dog" plus "carraig" "rock" hence "hound of the rock". The surname is found mainly in Ulster and County Roscommon. Recordings date back to the early 16th Century, (see below). Further recordings include one John McCarrick who appears in the parish records of Monaie in Scotland in 1683. Maria McCarrick married pat Kennedy on February 10th 1831, at Emlaghead, Sligo, Ireland. Bridgeta Mc Carrick was christened in the Roman Catholic Church Calry, Sligo, on May 19th 1859, and Francis McCarrick married Bryan Winifred on May 31st 1864, at Castlederg, Tyrone, Ireland. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Cuthbert McCarik, which was dated 1535, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, during the reign of King James V of Scotland, 1513 - 1542. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.