Ó Coileáin (

Middle Irish Middle Irish, sometimes called Middle Gaelic ( ga, An Mheán-Ghaeilge, gd, Meadhan-Ghàidhlig), is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from AD; it is therefore a contemporary of late Old Engl ...

: ''Ua Cuiléin'') is a

Modern Irish Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was t ...

surname generally belonging to the descendants of the last leading family of the Uí Chonaill Gabra, a sept and small but notable overkingdom of medieval and ancient Ireland, based in western

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces of Ireland, Province , subd ...

. Throughout much of their history the Uí Chonaill Gabra were in turn the leading sept of the greater regional overkingdom of the

Uí Fidgenti The Uí Fidgenti, Fidgeinti, Fidgheinte, Fidugeinte, Fidgente, or Fidgeinte ( or ;In the pronunciation, the -d- is silent, and the -g- becomes a glide, producing what might be anglicized ''Feeyenti'' or ''Feeyenta''. "descendants of, or of the ...

, considered among the highest ranked princes or

flatha {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 A flaith ( Irish) or flath (Modern Scottish Gaelic), plural flatha, in the Gaelic world, could refer to any member in general of a powerful family enjoying a high degree of sovereignty, and so is also sometimes tr ...

in all the Province of Munster. Ó Coileáin/Ua Cuiléin is most commonly anglicized

O'Collins O'Collins is a common anglicized surname of two ancient families of Irish origin: O'Cuilleain and O'Coilean. Origin of O'Cuilleain O'Cuilleain or Cuilliaéan is an extremely ancient Irish name from Gaelic ''cuileann'' and primitive Gaelic '' ...

and O'Cullane. The surname has also long been found in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

, believed largely due to the migration there, probably in the late 12th or early 13th century, of a junior branch of the County Limerick dynasty.

Kings of Uí Chonaill Gabra

Carbery branch

It is believed that what is probably a junior branch of the Uí Chonaill kings joined their distant kin the

O'Donovan family The O'Donovans are an Irish family. Their patronymic surname derives from Irish ''Ó Donnabháin'', meaning the grandsons or descendants of Donnubán, referring to the 10th century ruler of the Uí Fidgenti, Donnubán mac Cathail. During the 1 ...

of the Uí Chairpre Áebda, another great sept of the Uí Fidgenti, in their exodus to

Carbery Carbery or Carbury may refer to: ;People: * Brian Carbury (1918–1961), New Zealand fighter ace * Douglas Carbery (1894–1959), British soldier and airman * Ethna Carbery (1864–1902), Irish writer * James Joseph Carbery (1823–1887), Irish ...

West Cork West Cork ( ga, Iarthar Chorcaí) is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownber ...

between the late 12th and early 13th centuries.

Modern

Michael Collins Michael Collins or Mike Collins most commonly refers to: * Michael Collins (Irish leader) (1890–1922), Irish revolutionary leader, soldier, and politician * Michael Collins (astronaut) (1930–2021), American astronaut, member of Apollo 11 and Ge ...

, believed his family were descendants of the Uí Chonaill Gabra.Coogan, pp. 5–6 They belonged to the minor landed gentry of Carbery, and were situated in the right place, very near to O'Donovan country, for this to be quite plausible. *

Con Collins Cornelius Collins ( ga, Conchobhar Ó Coileáin; 13 November 1881 – 23 November 1937), known as Con Collins, was an Irish Sinn Féin politician. He was born in Arranagh, Newcastle West, County Limerick. He had joined the Gaelic League by 191 ...

, County Limerick politician *

Mountcollins Mountcollins () is a village in the extreme south west of County Limerick, Ireland, barely 100 metres from the border with County Kerry and just a mile from County Cork. The River Feale runs parallel to the village and is fed by the Caher River ...

, village in the extreme southwest of County Limerick

Notes

References

* Begley, John.
The Diocese of Limerick, Ancient and Medieval
'. Dublin: Browne & Nolan. 1906. * Coogan, Tim Pat, ''Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland''. Palgrave Macmillan. 2002. *

Sir Richard Cox, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Cox, 1st Baronet PC (25 March 1650 – 3 May 1733) was an Irish lawyer and judge. He served as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland from 1701 to 1703, Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1703 to 1707 and as Lord Chief Justice ...

, ''Carberiae Notitia''. 1690. extracts published in
Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, Volume XII, Second Series
'. 1906. pp. 142–9 * Cronnelly, Richard F.,
Irish Family History
Part II: A History of the Clan Eoghan, or Eoghanachts''. Dublin: Goodwin, Son, and Nethercott. 1864. * Mac Airt, Seán (ed. & tr.). '' The Annals of Inisfallen (MS. Rawlinson B. 503)''.

Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (DIAS) ( ga, Institiúid Ard-Léinn Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a statutory independent research institute in Ireland. It was established in 1940 on the initiative of the Taoiseach, Éamon de Valera, in Dub ...

. 1951
edition
* MacCotter, Paul, ''Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions''. Dublin:

Four Courts Press Four Courts Press is an independent Irish academic publishing house, with its office at Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. Founded in 1970 by Michael Adams, who died in February 2009, its early publications were primarily theological, notably t ...

. 2008. * MacGeoghegan, Connell (trans.), Denis Murphy (ed.),
The Annals of Clonmacnoise
'. Translated 1627. Printed in Dublin by The University Press in 1896. * O'Hart, John.
Irish Pedigrees
'. Dublin: James Duffy and Co. 5th edition, 1892. * Ó hInnse, Séamus (ed. & tr.) and Florence MacCarthy, ''

Mac Carthaigh's Book ''Mac Carthaigh’s Book'' is a collection of annals of the period AD 1114–1437 inclusive. It was compiled from earlier material by Fínghin Mac Carthaigh Mór (c. 1560–1640) an Irish nobleman who was imprisoned for years in London. He was a ...

'', or
Miscellaneous Irish Annals (A.D. 1114-1437)
'.

. 1947. * Ó Murchadha, Diarmuid, ''Family Names of County Cork''. Cork: The Collins Press. 2nd edition, 1996. * Stokes, Whitley (ed. & tr.),
The Annals of Tigernach
'. ''

Revue Celtique A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own durin ...

16–18''. 1895–1897. * Taylor, Rex, ''Michael Collins''. Hutchinson. 1958. {{DEFAULTSORT:O Coileain Surnames Irish families Surnames of Irish origin Irish-language surnames