Ó Coileáin

Rev Patrick Woulfe

Irish Names and Surnames

1923

Ó COILEÁIN—I—O Collaine, O Collan, Collen, Collins; 'descendant of Coileán' (whelp); the name of a family of the Ui Fidhgheinte in the present Co. Limerick, who are of the same stock as the O'Donovans and were originally lords of Ui Conaill Gabhra, now the baronies of Upper and Lower Connello. In the year 1178, they were expelled from this territory and the main body of the clan settled in West Cork. Those who remained continued to be lords of Claonghlas, a district in the south-west of the county, until towards the end of the 13th century, when they were dispossessed by the Fitzgeralds. The name is now very common in the original territory of the family and throughout Munster, but is universally anglicised Collins. See Ó Cuileáin which is a variant.

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