O'Reilly

O'Reilly (Irish: Ó Raghallaigh)[1] is a common Irish surname. The O'Reillys were historically the kings of East Bréifne in what is today County Cavan. The clan were part of the Connachta's Uí Briúin Bréifne kindred and were closely related to the Ó Ruairc (O'Rourkes) of West Bréifne. O'Reilly is ranked tenth in the top twenty list of most common Irish surnames. It is also the patronymic form of the Irish name Reilly (Irish: Raghallach).[2] The name is commonly found throughout Ireland, with the greatest concentration of the surname found in County Cavan followed by Longford, Meath, Westmeath, Fermanagh and Monaghan, and the Province of Leinster.

This article is about the surname. For other uses, see O'Reilly (disambiguation).

O'Reilly
Ó Raghallaigh
O'Reilly arms
Parent houseUí Briúin Bréifne
CountryKingdom of Connacht
FounderRagheallach mac Cathalan
Final rulerMaelmordha O'Reilly
Titles
  • King of East Bréifne
  • King of Muintir Maelmórdha
  • Conde de O'Reilly
Dissolution1602
Cadet branchesBrady
Vesey
A defaced O'Reilly crest adorns the coat of arms of County Cavan, their historic patrimony

Naming conventions
Main article: Irish personal naming system
Male Daughter Wife (Long) Wife (Short)
Ó Raghallaigh[3] Ní Raghallaigh Bean Uí Raghallaigh Uí Raghallaigh

Overview

Usually anglicised as Reilly, O'Reilly or Riley, the original form of the name, Ó Raghallaigh, denotes "from/of Raghallach", the name Raghallach thought to be derived from the compounds ragh (meaning "race") and ceallach (meaning "sociable").

The Ó Raghallaigh family were part of the Connachta, with the eponymous Raghallach said to have died at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The family became the kings of East Breifne, modern-day County Cavan and County Longford.

The name is common and widespread throughout Ireland, ranked 11th most common in 1890[4] and in 1997.[5]

A self-proclaimed and disputed O'Reilly Clan Chieftain to this day is at odds with the O'Rourke Clan Chieftain because he contests the recognised O'Rourke claim on the title Prince of Breifne.[6] This was settled in 1994 when the Chief Herald of Ireland made the O'Rourke Chief the Prince of Breifne, but the Office of the Chief Herald stopped granting courtesy titles to Gaelic Chiefs in 2003 (see O'Rourke).

People

O'Reilly

People with the surname O'Reilly include:[7] [8]

O'Riley
  • Bunny Wailer (1947–2021), Jamaican reggae musician sometimes known as Bunny O'Riley
  • Christopher O'Riley (born 1956), American classical pianist and public radio show host
  • Don O'Riley (1945–1997), American Major League Baseball pitcher
  • Jon Riley (1824–1879), US army deserter also known as John O'Riley
  • Matt O'Riley (born 2000), English footballer at Celtic F.C.

Riley
Main article: Riley (surname)

Fictional character

Other uses

See also

References
  1. "Raghallach — Database of Irish-language Surnames". Gaois. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  2. "Ó Raghailligh - Irish Names and Surnames". www.libraryireland.com. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  3. "Ó Raghallaigh". Sloinne. 5 December 2015.
  4. Matheson, Robert E. (1894), Special report on surnames in Ireland, with notes as to numerical strength, derivation, ethnology, and distribution; based on information extracted from the indexes of the General register office. Appendix to the Twenty-Ninth Detailed Annual Report of the Registrar-General of Marriages, Births, and Deaths in Ireland, Dublin: For Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Alexander Thom & Co. (Limited), p. 9 (accessible online)
  5. Murphy, Sean J. (2014), A Survey of Irish Surnames 1992–97. In: Studies in Irish Genealogy and Heraldry, Windgates, County Wicklow, pp. 14–29 (first published 2008, last revision 2014), here p. 27 (accessible online)
  6. Newerkla, Stefan Michael (2020), Das irische Geschlecht O'Reilly und seine Verbindungen zu Österreich und Russland [The Irish O'Reilly family and their connections to Austria and Russia]. In: Diachronie – Ethnos – Tradition: Studien zur slawischen Sprachgeschichte [Diachrony – Ethnos – Tradition: Studies in Slavic Language History]. Eds. Jasmina Grković-Major, Natalia B. Korina, Stefan M. Newerkla, Fedor B. Poljakov, Svetlana M. Tolstaja. Brno, Tribun EU, pp. 259–279, here 263–265 (accessible online).
  7. Newerkla, Stefan Michael (2020), Das irische Geschlecht O'Reilly und seine Verbindungen zu Österreich und Russland [The Irish O'Reilly family and their connections to Austria and Russia]. In: Diachronie – Ethnos – Tradition: Studien zur slawischen Sprachgeschichte [Diachrony – Ethnos – Tradition: Studies in Slavic Language History]. Eds. Jasmina Grković-Major, Natalia B. Korina, Stefan M. Newerkla, Fedor B. Poljakov, Svetlana M. Tolstaja. Brno, Tribun EU, pp. 259–279 (accessible online).
  8. "O'Reilly coat of arms, family crest and O'Reilly family history". irishsurnames.com. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
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