User Home Page Book: The History and Heratage of The Conley Family in America: Introduction to the Conley Clan

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Introduction to the Conley Clan

Connolly.
The Connolly's (O Conghaile) of Monaghan appear to have descended from Cu Uladh MacMahon before the year 756. By the year 1100 Connolly was one of the Dynastic Families of Ireland. They are the 3rd most common family name in Monaghan, and by most accounts, were powerful, having had their own chieftain (Ua Connalaigh ...."the Connolly" roughly translated) by the early 1500's. The Connolly's also held many important positions during the 15-17th Centuries.
(O)Connolly
Owing to the lack of precision frequently found in the anglicization of Gaelic surnames due to the fact that their English forms were often determined by the phonetic attempts of lawyers and others in the seventeenth century who were unfamiliar with the Irish language, the name Connolly has been much confused with Conneely and Killealy (q.v.). The people now called Connolly mostly derive their descent from three Gaelic septs. These were O Conghalaigh or O Conghaile of Connacht and of Monaghan, and O Coingheallaigh of Munster, for which MacCoingheallaigh was previously an alias; the other Connacht sept was of the Ui Maine and the same stock was the O'Maddens.
That sept associated with Co. Monaghan was in early times the most important, being one of the "four tribes of Tara" (See the Tara Brooch) and a branch of the southern Ui Neill, but it was forced out of its original territory by the Anglo-Norman invasion and driven northwards from Tara to Co. Monaghan . As late as 1591 Tirlogh O Connola is recorded in the Fiants relating to Co. Monaghan as Chief of the Name and late vice-marshal to MacMahon. The Munster Connollys were established in West Cork where they were subject to the paramount O'Donovans of that area. At the present time the name is most numerous in each of the aforesaid places, viz Counties Galway, Monaghan and Cork, while it is still found in and around County Meath.
O Conghalaigh - O'Connolly - Connolly
The O'Harts, the O'Regans, Connollys, and the O'Kellys formed the "Four Tribes of Tara". County Monaghan was dominated by the McMahons and their allies, the McKennas and Connollys, they maintained effective domination of the county even after the arrival of the Normans in the twelfth century

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