The name ó Tuathaláin, its meaning, variants and distribution, and some historical references [Gen-005]

The correct way to write the name ó Tuathaláin, although this is rarely done nowadays, is with a small 'ó'. (See 'Annals of the Four Masters'.) 'ó' means 'a descendant of.'

"Tuathaláin" itself may be divided into three parts: "Tuath", "al" and "áin".

Professor Eoin Mac Neill says that "Tuath" in the older Irish Literature indicates a state ruled by a petty king. According to Dinneen's Irish Dictionary "Tuath" was a population group capable of maintaining 3,000 soldiers in an emergency. By extension it meant the land the group occupied or the king of the group.

If the king of a "Tuath" was a descendant of the dynasty of the over-king, the sub-king was free of all tribute to the over-king and it was called a "saor-tuath" (free state). The free states did not go on expeditions or hostings except for pay, and did not accompany a king into battle except for reward. For every citizen of a free state killed in battle the over-king had to pay a fixed price for his life to the dead man's relatives. A "for-tuath" was one whose chief had to pay tribute to another "tuath".

The word "al" is an old Irish one meaning "mighty'" or "brave."

The ending "án" is a diminutive: it is often used as a term of affection.

"ó Tuathaláin" may be translated, therefore, as "descendant of a well-loved, brave sub-king." Father Woulfe's translation is "descendant of 'Tuathalain' (diminutive of "Tuathal" meaning "people mighty").

Professor Mac Neill mentions in "Celtic Ireland" (1981 Edition - page 39) that Tuathal the Legitimate was King of Tara from 130 A.D. to 160 A.D., and that he holds a most prominent place in the genealogical memory ''being the grandfather of Conn to whom most of the pedigrees of the chief nobility of the Northern half of Ireland are traced".

Niall of the Nine Hostages was a descendant of Conn and it was his sons, Conall, Eogan and Enda, who founded the over-kingdom of Ailech probably about the time (429 A.D.) when their brother Loeguire became King of Ireland. Ailech corresponded closely to the present counties of Donegal, Derry, Tyrone, North Fermanagh and North Sligo. It was named after the prehistoric stone fortress of Ailech, near the foot of the Inishowen peninsula, which became the seat of Cenel nEogain. Their kings dwelt there as late as 939 A.D.

The dynastic families which sprang from the sons of Niall of the Nine Hostages -~ Cenel nEogain, Cenel Conaill and Cenel Endai - became known collectively as Uí Néill an Tuaiscirt (Niall's descendants of the North) to distinguish them from the Meath descendants of Niall, the Southern Uí Néill.

Cenel Conaill occupied firstly the southwestern portion of what is now County Donegal but over the years acquired the territory of Cenel Endai and the peninsula of Inishowen.

Of the branches of Cenel Conaill, precedence was given to the O'Donnells. Their homeland was in the barony of Tirhugh in south-western Donegal. This area was also the original homeland of the ó Tuathaláins who were apparently closely connected with the O'Donnells as they migrated to Connaught with them following the Plantation of Ulster. The fact that the ó Tuathaláins are to be found in Inishowen could, in view of the take-over of that area by Cenel Conaill, be further evidence of their membership of that branch of the Northern Uí Néill.

As members of the Uí Néill it is more than likely that in selecting a surname their first choice would be the name of an illustrious ancestor such as Tuathal, the Legitimate: the ending "an" might have been added to distinguish the original holder of the surname which appears in the Annals of Ireland as early as 742 A.D.

Mac Lysaght says in "Irish Families" (1957) that the mutilation of Irish surnames took place mostly in the 17th and to a lesser extent in the 18th centuries. This would fit in with the breakup of the Gaelic civilisation following the defeat of the Irish in the Battle of Kinsale in 1604.

Sir Robert Matheson in "Varieties and Synonymes of Surnames and Christian Names in Ireland" (1909) says 

“None but those actually engaged in registration work can have any idea of the practical difficulties which are encountered by persons searching the indexes owing to the great variations in names in Ireland.

These variations are not only in spelling and form but entirely different names are used synonymously by the same person or members of the same family. 

Many of these cases are direct translations of Irish names into English or vice versa while in others they are equivalents, modifications or corruptions of them. 

In addition to the changes attributable to the difference of language, time has a powerful effect in altering names which also have a tendency to assume different forms in different districts".

Even in comparatively recent times errors occur through the carelessness of officials resulting in a change of an anglicised version. For example, Martin Toolan's surname is spelled on his Marriage Certificate as "Tolan".

Father Woulfe in his work "Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall" mentions the following anglicised versions of the name "ó Tuathaláin":

• O'Twohillane
• O'Towlane
• O'Toolane
• O'Tolane
• Toulhan
• Toolan
• Toland
• Tolan
• Tolin
• Toolis
• Thulis

MacLysaght says "In Ulster, the province of its origin, it is now usually Toland, while in Mayo it is Tolan, although a century ago in Mayo it was Toolan". O'Tolan was a form in use in Sligo in 1594.

There is also a Cork name "Teulon" which might be a variant although it is more likely a French Hugenot name: the family were well-known silversmiths in Cork in 1795. ("Irish Times", 29th November, 1983.)

The names Tolien, Tolon, Tooland, Toughlan, Twolan, Tollon and Towland appear amongst the names of Irish immigrants arriving at New York 1846 - 1848.

In the Registrations of Deaths 1864 the names Toolehan (Roscommon) and Toolihan (Cork) appear and in 1865 the name Coolin (Castlerea) and Coolen (Ballinasloe) are recorded.

The anglicised versions of "ó Tuathaláin" are of course meaningless and for the most part result from the attempts of officials of various kinds to record the Irish name phonetically.

The anglicisation of one's surname is bad enough but some families were forced to adopt a completely new name. Sir Robert Matheson in his "Special Report on the Surnames of Ireland 1894 - 1909" says:

"In 1465 (5 Ed. 1V Cap 3) 2 law was passed enacting that every Irishman that dwells betwixt or amongst Englishmen in the Counties of Dublin, Myeth, Vriall and Kildare... shall take to him an English surname of one towne... or colour... or arte or science... or office".

The counties mentioned were the only ones in the country at the time where English law was enforceable. Vriall was an area of North Leinster.

On Page 855 of O'Hart's Irish pedigrees it is stated 

"As many of the ancient Irish sirnames (sic) are not recorded in O'Clery's or in MacFirbis's Genealogies or in "Linea Antiqua" or in the Betham Genealogical Collections we have collected from '"The Topographical Poems of O'Dugan and O'Heerin", "The Tribes and Customs of Hy-Fiachra" and other works published by Celtic and Archaelogical Societies in Ireland the following Irish Family names [...] ó Tuathaláin (sic) anglicised as Tolan, Toland, Thulis"

Father Woulfe says:

"The practice of forming surnames with Uí (or ó) had almost certainly ceased before the coming of the English (12th century) and I doubt if we have any 'ó' surname that can be shown to have arisen at a later date.”

Philip McDermott in footnotes to his translation of the "Annals of Ireland" (Published Dublin, 1846) states (Page 314):

"Many of the Danish settlers are considered to have taken Irish surnames and prefixed 'Mac' to their names as did many of the Anglo-Norman and English families in early times; but it does not appear that any of the settlers adopted the prefix 'ó' as that was confined chiefly to Milesian families of the highest rank...."

"Per 'o' atque 'Mac' veros cognoscis Hibernos." (By 'o' and 'Mac' you will know true Irishmen)"

Confirmation of the antiquity of the name 'ó Tuathaláin' is contained in the Annals of the Four Masters. The relevant entries are as follows:

742 A.D. Tuathalán [editor, 2025: sic], Abbot of Ceann Righmonaidh, died. 
(A footnote to the entry states that the monastery is called Cill Righmonaidh in "Féilire Aenguis" and O'Clery's Irish Calendar and is described as being in Alba or Scotland. It was the ancient name of St. Andrew's.)

1306 A.D. Petrus ó Tuathaláin (note the small 'o'), Vicar of Killaspugbrone, died.
(O'Donovan states that the church of Bishop Bronus (Killaspugbrone) is a very ancient church now in ruins and nearly covered in sand in the Southwest of the barony of Carbury in the Co. of Sligo.

1586 A.D.  Sir Richard Bingham, Governor of Connaught, attacked the Burkes and in the ensuing conflict the English slew women, the common inhabitants and helpless people; they hanged Theobald ó Tuathaláin, a supporter of the indigent and a man who kept a house of hospitality... (the keepers of houses of hospitality...were an order of persons... having grants of lands and other public endowments for the purpose of keeping open houses of hospitality for the entertainment of the poor and indigent and all travellers and strangers...)

In McLysaght's "Supplement to Irish Families" it is mentioned that a Fiant of 1594 includes an "o Tolan" of Sligo. (A '"Fiant" is an abbreviation of '"Fiant litterae patentes" and was a warrant to Chancery authorities for the issue of letters patent under the Great Seal. They dealt with matters ranging from commissions for appointment to high office and important government activities to grants of English liberty and pardons to the native Irish).

Father Woulfe says that the ó Tuathaláins were originally seated in Inishowen, Co. Donegal and that in the 17th century (McLysaght gives the date as 1602) a branch of the family migrated to Mayo with some of the O'Donnells. The migration is also mentioned by O'Donovan in an editorial note in the Annals of the Four Masters. McLysaght in his "Supplement to Irish Families" gives the homeland of the ó Tuathaláins as the Barony of Tirhugh, Co. Donegal.

In "A Census of Ireland, circa 1659" (Edited by Seumas Pender: published by the Stationery Office, Dublin, 1939) the name ó Tuathaláin appears in two of its anglicised forms:

• Page 45: Donegal County, Tirhugh Barony.
  Principall (sic) Irish names and their number.
  O'Toolan - 06
• Page 64: Donegal County, Enishowen Barony
  O'Towlan - 14

These are the only likely family names mentioned. ó Tuathaláin does not of course appear as Irish names were outlawed, but strangely neither does Toland although it is the common form in Co. Donegal to-day.

On the [ Editor, 2025: 3rd 30th] November, 1670 Janus Junius ó Tuathaláin was born. (A biographical note is included here). He anglicised his name (or had it anglicised for him) to John Toland.

ó Tuathaláin (or Toolan or any other anglicised form) is not included in the list of Irish septs as given in the Book of Arms compiled by Sir James Terry, Athlone Herald (1690) at the Court of King James in France. (British Museum Harlein Mss. No 4039-40). This is not surprising as the ó Tuathaláins do not seem to have been very numerous and their homeland in Donegal was remote. Furthermore, the Plantation of Ulster by King James 1607 - 1612 was one of the most thorough. In Owen Connellan's translation of the Annals of the Four Masters (with annotations by Philip McDermott) the following appears:

"....After the flight and attainder of the earls, their extensive possessions became forfeited to the Crown and not only the lands of the earls, but those of all the Irish chiefs and proprietors in Ulster were confiscated. The tenants and people of Irish descent were deprived of their lands and the swordsmen, according; to Pynner, 'were transported into the waste lands of Connaught and Munster, where they were dispersed and not planted together in one place...'"

In a manuscript entitled "Numbers in the Diocese of Elphin, 1749" (Elphin Diocesan Numbers Book), five families named Tolan, four named Towlan and two named Toolan are mentioned. All these are stated to be "papists". (Details of these families are given later.)

Thirteen individuals using various anglicised forms of the name are mentioned in the "List of Irish Immigrants arriving in the Port of New York, 1846-1848.

In a "Special Report on Surnames in Ireland" (published 1894 and 1909) Sir Robert E. Matheson examines the distribution of Irish surnames having regard to the births registered in the year 1890. Only family names for which five or more births were registered were taken into account. Regarding Toolan and its variants he provides the following information:

However, a summary of the births registered under the name Toolan ( or Toolin or Toolen) from 1864 to 1900 (inclusive) gives a better picture of the distribution of the surname. The table does not necessarily give the complete picture as it refers to Births only.

Father Woulfe in "Sloinnte Gaedheal is Gall" (1923) gives the impression that the Toolans were most numerous in Co. Mayo. It is clear from the above, however, that Mayo is a very poor second to Roscommon - or that the Roscommon group were much more prolific.

It is interesting to note that the Roscommon Toolans are mainly concentrated in a comparatively small area represented by the Unions of Boyle (100), Strokestown (71) and Castlerea (34). The five births in Offaly were the children of Martin Toolan and Bridget Codd who later moved to Dublin,

In the Belfast and Northern Ireland Directory, 1958, three Toolans and one Tolan (all in Belfast) are mentioned, together with six Tolands and six Tollands.

Some indication of the distribution of the name at present, although not necessarily an accurate one, is given by recent Telephone Directories.

Part 2 of the 1982 Telephone Directory which excludes Dublin and the Six Counties in Northern Ireland lists

Part 1 of the 1983 Telephone Directory which excludes most of Ireland outside the Dublin City area (and certain areas included in the Dublin area for Directory purposes) gives the following listings:

Michael Toolan of Greystones mentioned that he met Toolans in Chicago and in Arizona, U.S.A. The Arizona man's antecedents came from Tipperary and "he had facial features similar to my cousin Walter (Toolan) from Ballinamore (Co. Leitrim)."

When Patrick V. Toolan was in the U.S.A. at the end of 1983 he met an Edward Toolan who was employed at Miami International Airport. His mother was from Sligo and he knew of, and claimed relationship with, Archbishop Toolen. He was born in Sligo.

Maureen Toolan McGinn mentioned that about 1969 she had met, and later corresponded with, two girls named "Toolan" whose parents owned a boot and shoe shop at 74, Falls Road, Belfast. Apparently they claimed to be related but no details of the relationship are known.
[Editor, 2025: The Belfast Street Directory, 1960 as cited here, has the following entry for The Falls Road: 74. Toolan, Peter, & Son, shoe merchants]

Kevin T. Toolan of the Ordnance Survey, Phoenix Park, Dublin, met a man named Toolan who was connected with the Northern Ireland Ordnance Survey. He was from Belfast and claimed relationship with Archbishop Toolen. He was to consult with his sister regarding the details of the relationship and let Kevin know the result. He did not do so, however.