Ó Clúmháin

Ó CLÚMHÁIN—I—O Clufwayne, O Clovane, O Clowan, Cluvane, Clovan, Cloven, (Coleman, Clifford); 'descendant of Clúmhán' (diminutive of clúmhach, hairy, from clúmh, down, feathers, Latin pluma); the name of a literary and bardic family in Co. Sligo who were poets and chroniclers to the O'Haras. Branches of the family settled early in South Leinster and West Munster, where the name is now common, but disguised under the anglicised forms of Coleman and Clifford. The fact that these forms are also in use in the original territory is a proof that the families of the name in the south of Ireland are of the Sligo stock. Coleman, as an anglicised form, seems to have arisen from confusion of the present surname with Ó Clomáin, a metathesised form current in the spoken language of Ó Colmáin.

Alphabetical Index to Irish Surnames