O'Reilly

O'Reilly
Ó Raghallaigh
Country Kingdom of Connacht
Parent house Uí Briúin Bréifne
Titles
  • King of East Bréifne
  • King of Muintir Maelmórdha
  • Conde de O'Reilly
Founder Ragheallach mac Cathalan
Cadet branches Brady
Vesey

O'Reilly (Irish: Ó Raghallaigh)[1] is a group of families, ultimately all of Irish Gaelic origin, who 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 Irish surnames.

It is also the patronymic form of the Irish name Reilly (Irish Gaelic: Uí Raghaile).[2] It 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.

Naming conventions

Male Daughter Wife (Long) Wife (Short)
Ó Raghallaigh[3] Ní Raghallaigh Bean Uí Raghallaigh Uí Raghallaigh

Overview

It is usually anglicised as Reilly, Riley and O'Reilly. 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 8th most common in 1890 and 11th in 1996.

People

O'Reilly

People with the surname O'Reilly include:[4]

O'Riley

Riley

Fictional people

Other entities

See also

References

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