Welcome to the Skeatra Connolly Family Tree website. The is very much a work in progress and many parts are still unfinished. Please bear with us as we strive to complete the site. Also please Contact Us and send your information and photos to us and we will upload your information.
Skeatra Connolly Family Tree News
- Terry Connolly from NY. Son of John Sweeney Connolly and Margaret (nee Connolly, also) Connolly from Maghery near Smithboro has sent us a fantastic collection of images with excellent background information. These are the featured images in the Family Album section.
- We have put together a short movie showing the original Connolly homestead in Skeatera, Co. Monaghan - See Below.
A number of distinct and unrelated families bore the surname in Ireland with a number of spelling variants. They included:
- Ó Conghalaigh of Iar Connacht (now County Galway);
- Ó Coingheallaigh in the Kingdom of Desmond (now west County Cork);
- Ó Conghalaigh of Derrygonnelly, Fear Manach (now County Fermanagh);
- Ó Conghalaigh of Airgíalla (now County Monaghan).
- O Conghaile Muirthemne from County Louth
In 1890 the surname was the twenty-third most common in Ireland, with three hundred and eighty-one births of the name, mostly in Ulster. By 1996, the ranking had slipped to thirty-third.
The variant Conneely was found exclusively in Connacht in 1890, with most occurrences in County Galway, giving Ballyconneely its name.
Connolly Name Meaning Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Conghaile ‘descendant of Conghal’, a name meaning ‘hound valiant’ or of Ó Conghalaigh ‘descendant of Conghalach’, a derivative of Conghal; the two surnames have long been confused. Another possible origin is the West Cork name Mac Coingheallaigh (or Ó Coingheallaigh) ‘son (or ‘descendant’) of Coingheallach’, a personal name meaning ‘faithful to pledges’.
County Monaghan
The Ó Conghalaigh's of Airgíalla were either a branch of the Southern Uí Néill who removed to Airgíalla, or a branch of the Mac Mathghamna, kings of Airgíalla from the mid-13th century to 1590. John Grenham says of them "They are first noted as coming to prominence in the fifteenth century and are recorded as having "Chiefs of the Name" up to the seventeenth century. They were instrumental in organising the native Irish rebellion of 1641 and, following its failure, lost their power and possessions." Descendants of this family included William Conolly (1662–1729), James Connolly (1870–1916) and Paudge Connolly (born 1953).
The Ó Conghalaigh's of Airgíalla were either a branch of the Southern Uí Néill who removed to Airgíalla, or a branch of the Mac Mathghamna, kings of Airgíalla from the mid-13th century to 1590. John Grenham says of them "They are first noted as coming to prominence in the fifteenth century and are recorded as having "Chiefs of the Name" up to the seventeenth century. They were instrumental in organising the native Irish rebellion of 1641 and, following its failure, lost their power and possessions." Descendants of this family included William Conolly (1662–1729), James Connolly (1870–1916) and Paudge Connolly (born 1953).