o'toole family name

chughes1964

my great grandfather name was james o'toole although he was born in bootle liverpool my ancestors must have come from ireland, his father was denis o'toole, but i dont know anything about him, my great grandfather married mary ellen redmond, her father came from dublin with his mother marcella, can anyone give any information on the name of o'toole and its history,

thanks

chris

pinkypinky

Well, MacLysaght says that O'Toole is a Leinster name, mainly in Wicklow but originally in Kildare. There's also a Mayo branch.

DaveCol

Any ideas on dates?

P. Breathnach

DaveCol wrote: »

Any ideas on dates?

Just a point in time: Lorcan O'Toole, now regarded by Christians as a saint, was Archbishop of Dublin in the twelfth century.

pinkypinky

Better known as St Laurence O'Toole - there is a Catholic church named after him in north inner city docklands area.

chughes1964

thats very interesting, so i could have a saint in my ancestry, is there anything else you could tell me about st laurence, i have found the old gaelic for the name O'Tuathail, am i right in thinking that the o in the name means son of or decedent of.

regards

chris

pinkypinky

The O' part of the surname usually came from a grandfather, so Brian Boru's grandchildren became Ó Briain, O'Brien in modern English.

You can't presume that all the O'Tooles are related though. If you have more details about your own ancestors, give us the details and we can put our collective minds to work to see what can be dug up. The main things you need to work with Irish ancestry are: location in Ireland and religion because prior to 1864, we rely on church records, which are not complete.

chughes1964

the only information i have is my great gandfather was born about 1877, his fathers name was denis, i am waiting for his birth cert to establish his mother,

thanks

chris

shanew

It would be work following up the family on the English census returns to check what they give as place of birth over the years. If you are going to research parish records you need to where in Ireland they came from.


Shane

chughes1964

that is were i have hit a wall, i have checked the census but i cant find denis o'toole anywhere, on my g grandparents marriage cert father of groom denis o'toole deceased timekeeper, they were married around 1893 in liverpool, so i am going to have try and his birth cert to find the mothers name, my greatgrandfather was born in bootle about 1872, as was my greatgrandmother, her father james redmond was born in dublin about 1836, came over with his mother marcella born about 1808,

thanks

chris

dubhthach

Ó TUATHAIL

From Irish Names and Surnames 1923 (Woulfe)

Ó TUATHAIL—I—O Toughill, O Touhill, O Twohill, O Tuale, O Towell, O'Toole, Toughill, Tuohill, Twohill, Toohill, Tohall, Tohill, Towell, Toole, Toal, Toale, &c.; 'descendant of Tuathal' (people-mighty); also written Ó Tuathghail and Ó Tuathghaile; the name of at least two distinct families in Ireland, viz.: (1) Ó Tuathail of Leinster, and (2) Ó Tuathail of Ulster. The O'Tooles of Leinster, who are one of the most illustrious families of that province, derive their name and descent from Tuathal, son of Ughaire, King of Leinster, who died in the year 956. Their clan-name was Ui Muireadhaigh. This afterwards became the designation of their territory, which originally comprised the southern half of the present Co. Kildare. Driven thence soon after the Anglo-Norman invasion by Walter de Riddlesford, they settled in the mountain fastnesses of Wicklow, first in Ui Mail and afterwards in Feara Cualann, where in alliance with their kinsmen, the O'Byrnes, they carried on incessant warfare with the English for a period of four hundred years, and preserved their independence as a clan down to the close of the reign of Elizabeth. In the reign of James I, the whole of 'Fercuolen' was confiscated and granted to Sir Richard Wingfield. The O'Tooles, however, retained considerable property down to the Cromwellian and Williamite confiscations. A branch of the family settled at an early period in West Connacht, and are still numerous in Mayo and Galway. The Ulster family of the name is, according to MacFirbis, a branch of the Cinel Eoghain.

http://www.libraryireland.com/names/ot/o-tuathail.php

chughes1964

thanks for that, so it is an old name with links to irish royalty