Origin of the Connellan name
Woulfe: Ó Conalláin, 'descendant of Conallán', 'the name of a Roscommon family; but in the 16th century, it was found in all the provinces'. 'Its anglicised forms cannot always be distinguished from those of' Ó Caoindealbháin, a Meath family, chiefs of Cinel Laoghaire, near Trim, under whose entry Woulfe prints '(Connellan)' in brackets.[2][1]
- 18908 Connellan entries including spelling varieties recorded in Ireland (6 spelled Connellan).[3]
Connellan surname: questions
What does the surname Connellan mean?
Woulfe gives Connellan as an anglicised form of Ó Conalláin, 'descendant of Conallán', a diminutive of the personal name Conall.[2]
Where does the Connellan name come from?
Woulfe names a Roscommon family, Ó Conalláin, 'but in the 16th century, it was found in all the provinces'. He also prints '(Connellan)' in brackets under Ó Caoindealbháin, a Meath family who were chiefs of Cinel Laoghaire, near Trim, and says that name 'is still in Meath, but disguised under the anglicised forms of Connellan and Conlon'.[2][1]
Is Connellan the same name as Connolly?
Woulfe gives them under different headwords: Connellan appears under Ó Conalláin, and in brackets under Ó Caoindealbháin, while Connolly is a headword of its own. He says of Ó Conalláin that 'its anglicised forms cannot always be distinguished' from those of Ó Caoindealbháin. Matheson's 1901 lists also cross-reference the spellings: list 317 (Connellan) brackets [Conlan], [Connell] and [Connolly], and lists 316 (Connell) and 319 (Connolly) bracket [Connellan] back.[4][5][6]
Does Connellan have a coat of arms?
In Ireland a coat of arms belongs to an individual, not to everyone who shares a surname. No heraldic source is cited here for Connellan: Sir James Terry's 1690 list of Irish septs, as reproduced by Matheson, contains no entry for Connellan or Ó Conalláin.[7]