Delaney — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Dubhshláine
Meaning: 'of the black Slaney (dubh + Sláine)'
Traditional stronghold: Kilkenny, Laois
Pronunciation: deh-LAY-nee; Irish Ó Dubhshláine: oh doov-SLAWN-yeh
History of the Delaney name
Ó Dubhshláine combines dubh, 'black', with the river name Sláine, and the sept's homeland lay at the foot of the Slieve Bloom mountains in Co. Laois, from where they spread across the border into Kilkenny; both counties remain the name's heartland, and it is also long established in Dublin. The O prefix was dropped almost universally in the 17th century and has rarely been resumed. Delaneys took prominent parts in the land agitation and the revolutionary period, but the name's widest fame has come through sport and the arts, from Ronnie Delany's golden mile-and-a-half in Melbourne in 1956, still one of Irish athletics' greatest moments, to writers and Gaelic games stars in every generation.
Variants: Delany · Dulaney · Delane
Famous bearers of the name
- Ronnie Delany — Winner of the 1500 metres at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, one of Ireland's most celebrated gold medals.
- Patrick Delany — Dean of Down, scholar and close friend of Jonathan Swift in 18th-century Dublin.
- Shelagh Delaney — Salford-born playwright of Irish descent who wrote A Taste of Honey at nineteen.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Walsh · Moore · Dunne · Brennan · Fitzpatrick · Tobin · Purcell · Dowling