I'm looking for the Irish version of the name O' Reilly.

Thanks

O'Raghailligh is one spelling that I've seen. There may be (and probably are) many others.

Le meas,

James

This is a quick cut and paste from a google search under "O'Reilly Irish spelling" I'm sure you can get more info with a similiar search.

O'REILLY, (O'Rahilly). O'Reilly, in Irish O'Raghailligh, i.e. descendant of Raghallach, was until recently much more commonly found without the prefix O. Reilly and O'Reilly constitute one of the most numerous names in Ireland, being among the first dozen in the list. The bulk of these come from Cavan and adjoining counties, the area to which they belong by origin, for they were for centuries the most powerful sept in Breffny, their head being chief of Breffny-O'Reilly and for a long time in the middle ages his influence extended well into Meath and Westmeath. At the present time we find them very numerous still in Breffny, heading as they do the county list both in Cavan and Longford. In 1878 O'Reilly landlords possessed over 30,000 acres.

Five O'Reillys have held the Primacy as Archbishop of Armagh, notably Edmund O'Reilly (1606-1669) and Hugh O'Reilly (1580-1653); five were Bishops of Kilmore, two of Clogher and one of Derry; and another famous churchman was Edmund Joseph O'Reilly, S.J. (1811-1878). Edward O'Reilly (d. 1829) compiled a pioneer Irish-English Dictionary in 1817. In the field of patriotic endeavour we have John Boyle O'Reilly (1844-1890) the Fenian; Myels O'Reilly M.P. (1825-1880), who commanded the Irish Brigade in the Papal service; and Philip MacHugh O'Reilly (d. 1657), who, having been largely responsible for organizing the rising of 1641 in his own county of Cavan, fought under Owen Roe O'Neill and died in exile. In King James II's Irish army Col. Edmund O'Reilly's regiment of infantry included thirty-three officers and Col. Mahon's regiment sixteen officers called Reilly or O'Reilly. Many of these became Wild Geese. Count Don Alexander O'Reilly (d. 1797), after a distinguished military career in the French, Austrian and spanish service ended his days as Governor of Louisians in America. A good deal of unreliable material is to be found in print on the subject of the O'Reillys. It is therefore advisable to mention that an authoritative article on them appeared in the Irish Ecclesiastical Record Vol. 45-1935, Part 2), from the pen of Father Paul Walsh. In it that famous and almost legendary seventeenth century figure "Myles the Slasher" finds a correct place.

O'Reilly is occasionally found as a synonym of O'Rahilly, but this is merely an example of careless registration since O'Rahilly, which is O Raithile in Irish, has no connection with Breffny. It is true that the sept originated in Ulster but they have so long been associated with County Kerry and they must be regarded as Munstermen, especially as Egan O'Rahilly (1670-1726), greatest of Munster poets - by many regarded as greatest of all Gaelic poets - was of a family long established near Killarney.


Source: Irish Families-Their Names, Arms and Origins; Irish Academic Press Limited, reprinted 1991, by Edward MacLysaght


Hope this helps.

Le meas,

James

Thanks very much for all the help.

I've seen so many versions of the name and I don't know which is the correct one.

Another question on the subject of surnames.

I'm from Dublin, and still living there, I was wondering if there's anyone here who know's if I can suddenly just change my name from O' Reilly to Ó' Raghailligh without having to go through any legal process.

I was under the impression that it's my right to do this without having to go through the same process that I might have to if I was actually changing my name to something else entirely.

I mailed the 26 county government about it and they haven't gotten back to me yet.

Thanks in advance.

A chara,

I'm English and unable to answer your question on the Irish legal system, but just a quick point.... you don't need the apostrophe after the Ó.

Le meas,
Larry

Antaine,

Yeah, this is an interesting question for Irish residents out there. I have heard anecdotally that in the Republic, the Irish form of your name has the same legal status as the English form - all you have to do is start using it. So for example, you can open a bank account as Seán Ó Sé even if you are known as John Shea. I'm not sure how true this is in practice though. Presumably it would make things easier if your birth cert had been issued with both forms of the name side by side.

I do know of people who've changed to using the Irish form as teenagers and haven't had a problem. But if anyone knows the exact legal situation in Ireland, I'd be interested in hearing about it too...

Le meas,

Risteárd

Thank's for the help so far.

I used to enjoy Irish until I changed schools and the teachers were the worst and actually put me off it. Now I'm starting to get back into it and want to throw myself in at the deep end.

My main problem is with the joining up of sentences, the words I can learn - I know a good few already -, my pernounciation is alright, a bit rusty but I can sort that out with practise. I just have problems with joining sentences up and the verb endings for tenses other than past, present and future. It's been a while since I've taken a big interest in it, so I'm still dusting off the old Irish books.

I'm encouraged to see so many people using it here. Daltaí na Gaeilge is a great site.

Sláinte

Changing names as from O'Reilly to the Irish verrion is indeed an interesting point and I would guess that theory and practice are probably quite different.
For instance if you went into a Bank and asked then to open an account in your name -they wouild insist on opening it in the same version as is on your passport/' licence or birth cert.

alec

Dia daoibh, a chairde!


Does someone know of any Irish surname that means something implying hill, mountain or the like?


Is mise le meas,
Ailís ní hAllmhúráin

There is a famous Irish Poem which begins

'Mise Éamonn an cnoic atá báite fíorfluich...'

This makes reference to Éamonn 'of the hill' which was probably the name by which the family were known.

This 'an cnoic' reference-not necessarily from the poem but in general- may over time have been anglazised to 'HILL' which is a common enough Irish surname.

I'm not aware what the Irish for the name 'Hill' is-sorry but maybe someone else does?

alec

OOPS that should be -'atá báite fuar fliuch'....

I'm looking for the Irish version of the name Caley.
(Isle of Man I am told??)