Ó Cruadhlaoich

Rev Patrick Woulfe

Irish Names and Surnames

1923

Ó CRUADHLAOICH—I—O Crowly, O Croley, O Croly, O'Crowley, Crowley, Crawley, Croly, Crolly; 'descendant of Cruadhlaoch' (hard-hero); the name of a branch of the MacDermotts in Co. Roscommon. MacFirbis, in his Genealogies (p. 228), gives the pedigree of this family, from which it appears that they derive their name and descent from Diarmaid, 'an cruadhlaoch,' who was fourth in descent from Diarmaid, the eponymous ancestor of the MacDermotts. This family is still represented in Connacht. Ó Cruadhlaoich is also used as the surname of a family originally seated in West Cork, but now numerous throughout Munster and known in English as Crowley and Crawley. The Irish pronunciation of the surname, as I have heard it in different parts of that province, is Ó Croghallaigh, evidently a corruption of Mac Roghallaigh, which see. The family, which was once a strong one in West Cork, is probably a branch of the O'Mahonys. Croly and Crolly in the northern parts of Ireland are apparently similar corruptions.

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