Ó Maolchallann

Rev Patrick Woulfe

Irish Names and Surnames

1923

Ó MAOLCHALLANN—I—O Mulchallan, O Maghallon, O Mohallan, Mulhallen, Mulhollan, Mulholn, Mulholland, Maholland, Holland, &c; 'descendant of Maolchallann' (chief of the kalends); the name of three distinct families in Ireland: (1) of a branch of the Ui Fidhgheinte, who were chiefs of Caonraidhe, now the barony of Kenry, in the north of Co. Limerick; (2) of a Meath family who were chiefs of Dealbhna beg, now the barony of Demifore; and (3) of an ecclesiastical family in Ulster who from at least the beginning of the 12th down to the end of the 18th century were keepers of the Bell of St. Patrick, known as the Bell of the Testament, though it would appear from the Irish annals that the family of O'Meallain was at one time associated with them in the guardianship. This is apparently the only family of the name now extant. They were seated in the barony of Loghinsholin, in the present county of Derry. A branch of the family seems to have settled early in Co. Antrim. The name is common in Ulster, but is sometimes confused with Ó Maolcholuim, which see.

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