Crowley - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Cruadhlaoich
Meaning: “hard hero”
Traditional stronghold: Cork
Pronunciation: KROH-lee, in Cork often KROW-lee; Irish Ó Cruadhlaoich: oh KROO-uh-lee
History of the Crowley name
Ó Cruadhlaoich means 'descendant of the hard hero' (cruadh, 'hard', and laoch, 'warrior'). The family is generally held to have originated in Connacht as a branch of the military stock associated with the MacDermots of Moylurg, migrating south in the 13th century to west Cork, where they settled among the MacCarthys and formed a sept in their own right around Dunmanway and the valley of the Bandon. West Cork remains the name's unquestioned homeland, and Crowleys have been prominent there in farming, republican politics and traditional music; the Fenian Peter O'Neill Crowley became one of the movement's most honoured martyrs after his death in the 1867 Rising.
Variants: Crowly · O'Crowley · Croly
Famous bearers of the name
- Peter O'Neill Crowley - Fenian leader killed at Kilclooney Wood in the Rising of 1867, his funeral a huge nationalist demonstration.
- John Crowley - Cork-born director of the films Brooklyn and Boy A.
- Bob Crowley - Cork-born stage designer with a record haul of Tony Awards for Broadway design.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · O'Sullivan · McCarthy · Daly · Collins · Flynn · Healy · Casey