Ó Máille

Rev Patrick Woulfe

Irish Names and Surnames

1923

Ó MÁILLE—I—O Mailie, O Mallie, O Mally, O Maely, O'Malley, O'Meally, O'Mealy, Malley, Meally, Mealley, Melly, Melia, &c.; 'descendant of Máille' (perhaps Old Celtic Maglios, chief); the name (1) of a Connacht family who were chiefs of the two Umhalls, now the baronies of Burrishoole and Murresk, in the west of Co. Mayo, and were particularly celebrated as naval commanders, being called the Manannans, or sea-gods, of the western ocean, and having a considerable fleet always under their command; and (2) of a Thomond family who were chiefs of Tuath Luimnigh, a district in the neighbourhood of the city of Limerick. Ó Máille is often strangely anglicised Melia in Connacht, which may be explained on the supposition that Ó Maele was formerly a popular variant. Ó Maele was in use in the 10th century in Conmaicne.

Alphabetical Index to Irish Surnames

SEARCH FOR NAMES »

Featured Books

An American widow’s account of her travels in Ireland in 1844–45 on the eve of the Great Famine:

Ireland’s Welcome to the Stranger

Sailing from New York, she set out to determine the condition of the Irish poor and discover why so many were emigrating to her home country.

Mrs Nicholson’s recollections of her tour among the peasantry are still revealing and gripping today.

The author returned to Ireland in 1847–49 to help with famine relief and recorded those experiences in the rather harrowing: Annals of the Famine in Ireland.

See more of our books »

The Ocean Plague: or, A Voyage to Quebec in an Irish Emigrant Vessel is based upon the diary of Robert Whyte who, in 1847, crossed the Atlantic from Dublin to Quebec in an Irish emigrant ship. His account of the journey provides invaluable eyewitness testimony to the trauma and tragedy that many emigrants had to face en route to their new lives in Canada and America. The book is also available in Kindle.

The Irish in America by John F. Maguire provides a substantial and invaluable account of the extreme difficulties faced by pioneer Irish immigrants in North America during the 19th Century. The book is also available in Kindle.

The Scotch-Irish in America tells the story of how the hardy breed of men and women, who in America came to be known as the ‘Scotch-Irish’, was forged in the north of Ireland during the seventeenth century. It relates the circumstances under which the great exodus to the New World began, the trials and tribulations faced by these tough American pioneers and the enduring influence they came to exert on the politics, education and religion of the country.

Show fewer titles