In origin, Morgan is Welsh, deriving from the Old Welsh morcant meaning "sea-bright". The majority of Irish Morgans are almost certainly of Welsh or Welsh Norman stock. The surname is common in Connacht and Leinster, but most numerous in Ulster. Here, it is possible that some are descended from the Clann Morgunn of Sutherland in Scotland, or from a separate family based in Aberdeenshire. There is also a Gaelic Irish family in Ulster, the O Murchain, who were based in Co. Monaghan, whose surname was anglicised Morgan. The writer Lady Sydney Morgan (1783-1859) had immense success with her books on the politics and society of France and Italy, and her salon in Kildare St. was the centre of Dublin literary life.