The Bowes surname in Ireland is more complex. While the historical origins of the Bowes surname itself are in England, the genetic patrilineal origins of families using this variant in Ireland can be either Ireland or England.
The Bowes surname Distribution and Frequency differs from Bowe because in the 1848-1864 Griffith's Valuation Bowes predominates equally in counties Kilkenny and Tipperary in the south and finds another concentration in Fermanagh in the north.
In the south we don't know whether this is due more to Bowe families adopting the Bowes variant there (known to have occurred frequently), and/or whether there was settlement in the area from Bowes families from England or Scotland.
Irish Genetic Origins
As indicated above, some Irish Bowe family branches–even ones that don't match genetically–adopted the Bowes variant, although in these families the Bowe name remained prominent. In some cases it appears that the branches adopted the Bowes variant upon immigration. This could have been to sound more English during a time when the Irish were heavily oppressed in America, but the reasons for Bowe families changing their name to Bowes are still unclear. Whether these branches adopted the Bowes surname before or upon emigration, the history of these branches' surname would trace to the Southern Irish Bowe Surname Origin - Laois.