O'Neill is a surname of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

origin. It is derived from the Gaelic ''Ó Néill'' meaning "descendant (or grandson) of

Niall Niall is a male given name of Irish origin. The original meaning of the name is unknown, but popular modern sources have suggested that it means "champion" (derived from the Old Irish word ''niadh''),. According to John Ryan, Professor of Early an ...

". The Uí Néill dynasty were the foremost dynasty of Ulster, and all Ireland, from the 5th century throughout the medieval period, until 1607 - the

Flight of the Earls The Flight of the Earls ( ir, Imeacht na nIarlaí)In Irish, the neutral term ''Imeacht'' is usually used i.e. the ''Departure of the Earls''. The term 'Flight' is translated 'Teitheadh na nIarlaí' and is sometimes seen. took place in Se ...

saw the end of Gaelic Ireland. ''O'Neill'' is one of the most common

Irish surnames A formal Irish name consists of a given name and a surname. In the Irish language, surnames are generally patronymic in etymology but are no longer literal patronyms as, for example, most Icelandic names still are. The form of a surname varies a ...

Origins

The surname O'Neill is an Anglicization of the original

''Ua Néill'', composed of the elements ''ua'', meaning "grandson" or "descendant," and of the Irish name ''Niall''. Niall is a male given name of Irish origin, to mean "champion" (derived from the Old Irish word niadh meaning warrior or champion). The progenitor of the family is said to be Niall Glúndub of the

Cenél nEógain Cenél is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Cenél Conaill, the name of the "kindred" or descendants of Conall Gulban, son of Niall Noígiallach defined by oral and recorded history * Cenél nEógain (in English, Cenel Eogan) i ...

; however, his great-grandsons, who lived in the tenth century, would have been the first to use the surname. It is due to the Anglicization of the original

that the several spelling variations have emerged, during the transcribing of the name into English. As well, all variations upon the O'Neill spelling are incorrect. This is mainly due to the lack of literacy and ability to spell (common at the time), and people wishing to associate themselves with the O'Neill royalty. Irish and Scottish variants also exist and include MacNeal, MacNiel and MacNeill, which arose when the ''ua'' element in the name was replaced with ''mac'', meaning "son of." Ó has replaced Ua since the end of a standard Irish and its gradual evolution into Scottish, Manx and

. O'Neill is also occasionally found used as a given name.

Coats of arms

It is a mistake to state that the Irish

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

system follows a feudal system wherein a coat of arms is property passed through direct lineage. This means that the right to use the arms is not restricted to a given individual, as in the English feudal system, but is open to all within the extended "

sept A sept is a division of a family, especially of a Scottish or Irish family. The term is used in both Scotland and Ireland, where it may be translated as ''sliocht'', meaning "progeny" or "seed", which may indicate the descendants of a person ...

" or " clan" of the Gaelic culture. The coat of arms of the Uí Néill (plural of Ó Néill) of Ulster was white with a red left hand cut off below the

wrist In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as (1) the carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand; "The wrist contains eight bones, roughly aligned in two rows, known as the carp ...

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

facing down with the

finger A finger is a limb of the body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of most of the Tetrapods, so also with humans and other primates. Most land vertebrates have five fingers ( Pentadactyly). Chambers ...

s spread. Today, it is more common to see the right hand, palm side up and with the fingers touching rather than the left, as the coat of arms was changed under British rule. It has also become a symbol of Ireland, Ulster, Tyrone, and other places associated with the ruling family of Uí Néills. The symbol is frequently used by Protestant inhabitants since the 1920s in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. As other related family branches and clans loyal to the O'Neills were often granted or assumed a heraldic achievement, this red hand has been incorporated into the new coat of arms to the point of being a cliché. The red hand is explained by several slightly differing legends, most of which tend to have a common theme beginning with a promise of land to the first man able to sail or swim across the sea and touch the shores of Ireland. Many contenders arrive, including a man named O'Neill, who begins to fall behind the others. Using his cunning, O'Neill cuts off his left hand and throws it onto the beach before the other challengers are able to reach shore, thus technically becoming the first of them to touch land and wins all of Ireland as his prize. However, the legends seem to originate in the seventeenth century, several many centuries after the red hand was already used by the O'Neill families.

People with the surname

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill Anglicised Irish-language surnames Irish families Surnames of Irish origin English-language surnames ga:Ó Néill

Origins

Coats of arms

People with the surname

See also

References