Connolly
also Conneely, Ó Conghaile, Ó Coingheallaigh
Of Connemara and the Fews — and the founder of Irish socialism.
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CoreHistoric reach
The seat of Connolly
Seat vacantChief
No chief yet. The seat awaits its first claimant — be the first to stake your name to Connolly.
Current mission
No mission proclaimed. The chief, once seated, sets the clan’s public focus — a campaign, a contest, a piece of restoration, a year of remembrance.
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Stake your name →What does the Connolly name mean?
From Ó Conghaile — descendant of Conghal. Conghal is an Old Irish personal name often glossed as 'fierce as a wolf' (cú, hound + gal, valour), though the etymology is contested. Three distinct Ó Conghaile kindreds gave rise to the modern Connollys: the Galway Connollys of Connemara (the senior line, also Anglicised as Conneely), the Monaghan Connollys of the Fews, and the Meath Connollys of Allenstown. All Anglicised as Connolly by the 18th century.
The history of Connolly
Connolly is widespread across Ireland with the heaviest concentration in the western seaboard counties of Connacht and the Ulster border counties of Monaghan and Cavan. The most consequential 18th-century Connolly was William Conolly (1662–1729) of Castletown — the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and the wealthiest man in early-Hanoverian Ireland — whose Castletown House at Celbridge in Kildare is the largest and earliest of the great Palladian country houses of Ireland.
James Connolly (1868–1916) is the most consequential bearer of the surname in Irish political history. Born in the Cowgate of Edinburgh to Monaghan-Connolly emigrant parents, he was an autodidact, trade unionist, founder of the Irish Citizen Army, signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, and one of the seven leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916. Wounded in the General Post Office during the Rising, he was executed by firing squad at Kilmainham Gaol on 12 May 1916 — tied to a chair because his wounds prevented him from standing. His execution, and the manner of it, did more than any other single act to turn Irish public opinion decisively against continued union with Britain.
Notable bearers of the Connolly name
- James Connolly (1868–1916) — socialist, signatory of the 1916 Proclamation, executed in his chair
- William Conolly (1662–1729) — Speaker of the Irish House of Commons, builder of Castletown
- Cyril Connolly (1903–1974) — English literary critic of Anglo-Irish-Connolly descent
- Billy Connolly (b. 1942) — Glaswegian comedian and actor
Frequently asked
What does the surname Connolly mean?
Where does the Connolly family come from?
Who are some famous Connollys?
Is Conneely the same family as Connolly?
Neighbouring clans
- KellySecond most common Irish surname — the Uí Maine of Galway, and six other dynasties besides.
- BurkeThe de Burgo Lords of Connacht — Hibernis ipsis Hiberniores.
- JoyceOf Iar Connacht and Galway city — one of the Tribes, and the family of James Joyce.
- LynchOf the Tribes of Galway — and, by tradition, of the phrase 'Lynch law'.