Feeney - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Fianna
Meaning: “soldier, warrior”
Traditional stronghold: Galway, Sligo
Pronunciation: FEE-nee; Irish Ó Fiannaidhe: oh FEE-a-nee
History of the Feeney name
Feeney usually represents Ó Fiannaidhe, understood to mean 'soldier' or 'warrior', a word related to fian, the roving warrior bands of early Ireland. The principal sept belonged to the Uí Fiachrach and was seated near Easkey in west Sligo, while a second family of the name was established in County Galway, where Feeney is still common around the city and in Connemara. The name has always been overwhelmingly a Connacht one. Its most famous son never used it professionally: the Hollywood director John Ford was born John Martin Feeney, child of an Irish-speaking emigrant from Spiddal, County Galway.
Variants: Feeny · Feeney · Ó Fiannaí
Famous bearers of the name
- John Ford - Born John Martin Feeney; four-time Oscar-winning director of The Quiet Man and Stagecoach.
- Chuck Feeney - Duty Free Shoppers co-founder who secretly gave away his entire fortune, much of it to Ireland.
- Brian Feeney - Belfast historian and columnist, co-author of Lost Lives.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Kelly · Lynch · Connolly · Burke · McGowan · Clarke · Hughes · Boland