Holland — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó hUallacháin
Meaning: 'proud (from uallach)'
Traditional stronghold: Clare, Cork
Pronunciation: HOL-und
History of the Holland name
Holland in Ireland rarely has anything to do with the Netherlands: it is chiefly an anglicisation of Ó hUallacháin, from uallach, 'proud', the same name that gives Houlihan and Holohan, and in Ulster it can stand for Ó Maolchalann, otherwise Mulholland. The Ó hUallacháin form rendered Holland is particularly associated with west Cork, while Clare produced the name's most famous bearer: John Philip Holland of Liscannor, the schoolteacher-engineer who emigrated to America and built the first submarine formally commissioned by the US Navy, the USS Holland, in 1900, earning him recognition as the father of the modern submarine.
Variants: Holohan · Mulholland
Famous bearers of the name
- John Philip Holland — Liscannor-born inventor of the modern submarine, designer of the USS Holland.
- Mary Holland — Journalist whose reporting explained the Northern Ireland conflict to a generation.
- Jack Holland — Belfast writer and journalist, historian of the Troubles.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · O'Brien · O'Sullivan · McCarthy · Kennedy · Quinn · Daly · Collins