Ye know the form of names ending in -ch, what'd be the best way to have "Ó hUidhir"?
An tUidhreach?
An tOdhrach?

That's a good question. I have never seen Ó hUidhir written as a noun before. And now, we probably know why - a quick search on google gives no result for either. It is probably more correct to say An tOdhrach, as Uidhir is the genitive form of the given name Odhar 'the brown/ dark haired one'. But, if it were me, I would probably say An tUidhreach, for clarity sake, as I don't known how many people would be able to identify Odhar with Ó hUidhir?

Definitely wait for more input!

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The problem might have to do with the name's origin, but the traditional sources are not in agreement.

MacLysaght treats both Hoare and Hore as coming from the Norman-French le Hore (and not de Hore, as he pointedly remarks), although he gives the Irish forms as de Hóir and de Hóra. He also mentions that Hoare (as opposed to Hore) is generally found only in Cork.

MacLysaght treats O'Horan as a separate name, with the Irish form being Ó hOdhráin, based on odhar (dun colored). He does not include any name I can find which has as its Irish form Ó hUidhir. Perhaps someone whose family surname was originally le Hore (Irish de Hóir/Hóra) confused its origin with that of O'Horan (Irish Ó hOdhráin) and created a previously non-existent Gaelic form of Ó hUidhir.

On the other hand, Patrick Woulfe did include the surname Ó hUidhir, as reflected in this listing which I found on the Library Ireland names site:

Perhaps MacLysaght did not know of that separate name, which might have been the true reason for the separate Hoare form which he found in Cork, or the Cork form could still have been a "mistranslation" of the type mentioned above, which Woulfe missed.

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I'm not a native (or entirely fluent) speaker, so be sure to wait for confirmations/corrections, especially for tattoos.

an tOdhrach/an tUidhreach would also be a form of Mag Uidhir (Maguire), a much more frequent name than Ó hUidhir.

Thanks for all of yer input

This is gold- just saw on Gramadach na Gaeilge that an tUidhearach is recommended for Mag Uidhir. (http://nualeargais.ie/gnag/ainm.htm)

What I'm really doing is translating the surname Umber for a fantasy novel (fantasy- so none of this "names can't/shouldn't be translated" as I've seen in other places ). I need a natural name (nothing like Umbar or anything that looks vaguely foreign for inworld reasons), and I've already used Ó Doinn and Ó hOdhráin for other people, so I thought Ó hUidhir (or maybe now Mag Uidhir) was closest.

I realise that Umber may come from the Humber estuary in Northumbria, and could derive (dar le Wikipedia) from *su- + *ambri, something like so-abha today, but I'm after the meaning "Dark brown" or "Shadowy" (like French ombre and Latin umbra), or failing so, just "Brown" in general, not a translation that would indicate the surname to be of foreign origins (linguistically speaking, only want something from the Goidelic branch alone, or then again, maybe a natural calque from another language would be fine too...).

I kinda want to use an established surname, because it needs to be recognisable and definately natural in appearance for the Irish language. That's why I thought Ó hUidhir would work (even though pale/dun isn't exactly dark brown, i know )

Dye have any other ideas, or does Ó hUidhir/Mag Uidhir for Umber make sense?

Yes it does work, in the sense that that Ó hUidhir/ Mag Uidhir are established names, and both Umber and Ó hUidhir vaguely resemble a shade of of brown.

I can't really think of any alternatives; there is of course Mac Donncha(dha) 'the brown haired warrior', but I don't know how well that fits into the context of your story.

Interestingly, the name of earliest Irish Manuscript has the word odar in it, i.e. lebor na hUidre 'The Book of the Dub Cow'.

Its odd but I always thought that Ó Huidhir in English was O'Hehir , you learn something new every day.

Cian

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There's "an tUidhreach" in the (more revised) German version of gnag ...

But probably no native source either for Odh(a)rach or Uidhearach, Uidhreach exists in the literature (e.g. in the New Corpus for Ireland )

Apparently this form is avoided.
E.g.:
Seosamh Mac Grianna wrote in "Eoghan Ruadh Ó Néill":

(English: Byrnes or MacMahons or Maguires?)

He used twice a form in -igh (for Ó Broin and Mac Mathghamhna) but for the name Mag Uidhir he preferred "Clann Mhig Uidhir"

or, in the same book:

'The Book of the Dun Cow'

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

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They changed it to "The Dub Cow" when the modern re-imaging of the movie version was set in Dublin

Redwolf