Ó Caollaidhe

Rev Patrick Woulfe

1923

Ó CAOLLAIDHE—I—O Coely, O Kuelly, O Keally, O Kealy, Kealy, Keely, (Kelly), Quealy, Queely, &c.; 'descendant of Caollaidhe' (an ancient Irish personal name); also written Ó Caollaighe; the name (1) of a Kilkenny family who were anciently chiefs of Ui Bearchon, in the present barony of Ida; (2) of a Leix family who were chiefs of Crioch O mBuidhe, in the present barony of Ballyadams; and (3) of a Tipperary family, anciently chiefs of Aolmhagh. The name appears to have been also in Ulster. It is now almost everywhere disguised under the anglicised form of Kelly, for which it is the ordinary Irish in West Limerick and Kerry. In Waterford, it is anglicised Queally. Compare with Ó Cadhla.

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