The surname Folan is most numerous inCounty Galway, particularly in the area betweenGalway City andClifden, inConnacht, Ireland.[1] In the Irish-speakingGaeltacht of Galway the Irish languageGaelic spelling Ó Cualáin is frequently used.
There was aBrehon family called O'Folan in County Galway in the sixteenth century.[2]
Servreagh O'Folan, Gentleman, signed afiant in 1585, called "Indentures of Composition, The Country of the O'Flaherty's of Eyre Connacht, A.D. 1585", which referenced him as a landowner in Moyrus in the Barony ofBallynahinch, County Galway.[3]
Nehemias Folan of the Newtone, Gentleman, was listed as a landowner inLoughrea, County Galway, in a fiant dated 1585. In a fiant dated 1594 he is described in Latin as "in Christo Nehemian Ffolan, generosum, meum attornatum".[3] In a 1615 trial concerningSir Roger O'Shaughnessy in Loughrea, he was noted as "Nehemias Folan, of Balladowgan, County Galway, Esquire, 60 years old".[4]
Soyrbrehagh Og Folan, in an indenture dated May 1606, is noted as "Soyrbrehagh Og Folan of Ierconnaght in the Co. of Galway, atornie for seisin".[5][6]
Feargananim Folan, in a deed for the O'Flahertys in 1614, entitled "Donogh McMoyler et al., is dede A.D. 1614", is described as "our true and lawfull attorney", and signs as Forinan Folan.[3]
Several O'Folans are mentioned inElizabethan era fiants as being pardoned for rebel activities.
In fiants dated 1590, "Sirwrehagh Folain,of Moiris, Gentleman, Nehemiah Folain of Moyris, Boetius Folain, Mackragh Folain, Fernand Folain and Connor McSerally of Moyris", and "Nehenas Folone of Newtown, Co Galway", were all given Royal Pardons.[7]
Ferdinando Follin, (Feargananim Folan), of Moyrus,Carna, County Galway, was registered as owner of lands consisting of 3,678 acres (14.88 km2), and 193 acres (0.78 km2). Following theCromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1651, his lands were confiscated.[9]
Tony Folan was an Irish footballer during the 1990s and 2000s. He represented Ireland at every level up to Under-21 and "B".
Lilias Folan,Cincinnati, Ohio, was a yoga pioneer in the US, and hosted the PBS television showLilias, Yoga and You. The show was carried on the US TV StationPBS from 1972 until 1992. Named one of Yoga Journals 4 most influential figures in American Yoga over the past 100 years she is often referred to as "The First lady of Yoga" or "The Julia Child of Yoga". She still teaches in the USA.[15][16]
Seán Ó Cualáin andEamonn Ó Cualáin are brothers and award-winning documentary producers and directors, they directed the award winning documentaryMen at Lunch about an iconic photograph of construction workers on a New York skyscraper taken in 1932.[17][18][19]
Patrick Folan was killed in action in theGallipoli Campaign on 27 August 1915, his brotherJohn Folan was Killed in Action in France in 1918, andJoseph Folan died inMesopotamia in 1918. All were serving with the Connaught Rangers duringWorld War I.[27]
Peter Folan died while serving with theRoyal Navy in 1919.[27]
Patrick Folan,Carna, Galway, was one of four members of the West Connemara Brigade of theIRA who were drowned on their way to a Brigade Battalion Meeting inRoundstone, Galway on 6 February 1920 during theIrish War of Independence .[33][34]
James Folan, Woodquay, Galway, was the Battalion Quarter-master of the Galway Brigade of theIRA during theIrish War of Independence.[35]
^"The Surnames of Ireland"Edward Mac Lysaght, Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 1985
^abc"A History of West or H-Iar Connacht"Roderick O'Flaherty, Irish Archeological Society, Dublin, 1846
^The Tribes, Customs and Genealogies of the Hy Fiachrach.John O'Donovan, Irish Archaeological society, Dublin, 1844
^The Lynch Blosse Papers. K. W. Nicholls Analecta Hibernica, Page 161, The Irish Manuscripts Commission Ltd, 1980
^K. W. Nicholls (1980). "The Lynch Blosse Papers".Analecta Hibernica (29). The Irish Manuscripts Commission Ltd.: 113,115–218.JSTOR25511960.
^The Sixteenth Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records of Ireland,Calendar of Fiants of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth 1586–95, Alex Thom., Dublin, 1884
^Deposition of Salamon Folan, 1641 Depositions Project, MS 830 281r, Trinity College, Dublin, 1653
This page lists people with thesurnameFolan. If aninternal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change thatlink by adding the person'sgiven name(s) to the link.
