O'Hanlon - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó hAnluain
Meaning: “great champion”
Traditional stronghold: Armagh
Pronunciation: oh HAN-lun; Irish Ó hAnluain: oh HAN-loo-in
History of the O'Hanlon name
Ó hAnluain derives from the personal name Anluan, combining an (an intensifier) with luan (champion or warrior hound). The O'Hanlons were the ruling sept of Oirthear, the district that survives in the Armagh barony names of Orior, and for centuries they were among the most powerful families of south Ulster, claiming the hereditary right to be standard-bearers to the kings of Ulster. Their power was broken by the Plantation of Ulster, after which many turned outlaw: the most famous, Redmond O'Hanlon, led a celebrated band of rapparees in the 1670s and was killed in 1681. The name remains strongly concentrated in Armagh, Monaghan and Louth.
Variants: Hanlon · Hanlan · O'Hanlan
Famous bearers of the name
- Redmond O'Hanlon - Legendary seventeenth-century rapparee and outlaw chief of south Ulster, killed in 1681.
- Ardal O'Hanlon - Monaghan-born comedian and actor, famous as Fr Dougal McGuire in Father Ted.
- Fergal O'Hanlon - Monaghan IRA volunteer killed in 1957 and commemorated in the song The Patriot Game.
- Rory O'Hanlon - Fianna Fáil politician who served as Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · Garvey · Larkin · Doran · Traynor · Haughey · Loughran · McCann