Other branches of the clan: Roach, De Roche, De Rupe.
Irish Clan Name: De Róiste.

This surname is descended from the earlier form de la Roche, literally "of the rock". The rock referred to is in south-west Wales, at the site of Roche castle. The de Rupe variation is merely based on the Latin equivalent. Both forms have appeared in Ireland since the Anglo-Norman invasion. It is interesting to note that one of the family's ancestors, Richard Fitz Godebert of Roche castle, was a guest of Dermot Mc Murrough on his return to Ireland from his visit to Britain in 1167, (two years before the invasion.) Relatives of Fitz Godebert were granted lands in Wexford and it is known that some used the name de Rupe.

Kilfinnane is part of the ancestral home of the Roche and forms a stage of the Beara-Breifne Greenway which is based on the historic march of O'Sullivan Beara in 1603.