Mac Haol

Rev Patrick Woulfe

1923

Mac HAOL—V—M'Caele, M'Keale, M'Heale, M'Howell, MacHale, Hale, Hales, Howell, Howels, &c.; 'son of Howel' (a Welsh personal name); a surname of Welsh origin, in use in various parts of Ireland. In Co. Mayo, it is not infrequently heard, side by side with Mac Héil (which see), as the Irish for MacHale. The diphthong ao has, however, the Munster sound of ae, the final l being broad. The collective plural is also peculiar, viz., Clann tAol, pronounced Clann Tael (l broad).

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