Spillane — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Ó Spealáin
Meaning: 'descendant of Spealán' (from speal, scythe)
Traditional stronghold: Kerry, Tipperary
Pronunciation: spil-AWN; Irish Ó Spealáin: oh SPAL-awn
History of the Spillane name
Ó Spealáin derives from a diminutive of speal, 'scythe', suggesting an ancestor named for the mower's blade. The sept originated in the Ely O'Carroll country of north Tipperary and Offaly, where the anglicisation Spollan and Spollane survived, but the name's great modern homeland is Kerry and west Cork, where Spillane became the standard form. In America the same Irish name often appears as Spellman or Spelman - Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York was of this stock - while Splaine is a Cork variant. In Ireland the name is now indissolubly linked with Kerry football through the Templenoe Spillane brothers, who gathered nineteen All-Ireland medals between them.
Variants: Spellman · Spelman · Splaine · Spollan
Famous bearers of the name
- Pat Spillane — Kerry footballer with eight All-Ireland medals and nine All-Stars, later a famously blunt pundit.
- Mickey Spillane — Irish-American crime writer whose Mike Hammer novels sold in the hundreds of millions.
- Davy Spillane — Uilleann piper and founding member of Moving Hearts.
- John Spillane — Cork singer-songwriter and Irish-language advocate.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: O'Brien · Ryan · O'Sullivan · O'Connor · McCarthy · Kennedy · O'Connell · Fitzgerald