History of the surname:    

The name O'Carroll is derived from Cearbhaill, (Irish "Warrior Champion" or, more accurately rendered, "Slaughter"), and Son of Aedh, who was Chief of the Cianachta and King of Eile. Prince Cearbhaill led the Eilians for King Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf 1014. Since 1983, Eile F.J. O'Carroll, has become the recognized Chief of Name, and is a member on the Standing Council of Irish Chiefs and Chieftains.

After the Norman invasion, the Butler family, originally known as Fitz-Walter, gained control of much of Ormond. The O'Carrolls maintained dominion of a area of about 300,000 acres, today known as the Eile O'Carroll Territory, up until the Cromwellian Invasion and the collapse of the Gaelic Order in the 1600's. It consisted of eight tuathas or baronies, each ruled by a chief subordinate to the Eile O'Carroll sept. It is centred around the towns of Birr in County Offaly and Roscrea in County Tipperary, extending north to above Banagher and south-west along Lough Derg to below Nenagh, then east to the Slieve Bloom Mountains. This is the very Heart of Ireland.

Prior to the Gaelic resurgence, at the end of the last century, under the influence of the Gaelic League, and later of the Rising of 1916, a minor result of which was the resumption of the prefixes O and Mac so widely discarded two or three centuries earlier, the simple form Carroll was almost universally used. As MacCarroll, an entirely distinct surname is also often shorn of its prefix Mac, confusion may well arise in the case of the name Carroll. However, undoubtedly, the great majority of people called Carroll are, in fact, O'Carrolls. Before the Anglo-Norman invasion, there were six distinct septs of O'Carroll, the two most important of which were O'Carroll of Ely O'Carroll (Tipperary and Offaly) and O'Carroll of Oriel (Monaghan and Louth). The others disappeared, except as individuals, before the end of the thirteenth century and need not be considered here - O'Carroll of Oriel lost his status of chief and his sept disintegrated as a result of the Anglo-Norman invasion (they cease to appear in the Annals after 1193), but the clansmen themselves were not dispersed, and a fair number have remained in their territory to this day. The very large and well-known tobacco firm Carroll's of Dundalk, have their factory in this area, though it may be mentioned that, curiously enough, the head of it has substantiated a claim to be descended from the O'Carrolls of Ely O'Carroll. That sept retained its Gaelic way of life and its distinct independence until the end of the sixteenth century, and its activities are frequently recorded throughout the Annals. They derive their name O Cearbhaill from Cearbhal, lord of Ely, who was one of the leaders of the victorious army at Clontarf (1014), and thus descend from King Oilioll Olum. Before the advent of the powerful Norman Butlers they possessed a very extensive territory in Co. Tipperary, but they were later restricted to the district around Birr, Co. Offaly. Carroll has a high position in the list of most numerous surnames in Ireland, taking twenty-second place with an estimated population at the present time of approximately 16,000, the majority of whom belong to the four counties stretching from Cork to Kilkenny. Many noteworthy O'Carrolls figure in the "Annals of the Four Masters". Maolsuthain O'Carroll (d. 1031) confessor of Brian Boru and contributor to the "Book of Armagh", was of the Kerry sept; Margaret O'Carroll (d. 1451), famous for hospitality, encouragement of learning, and as builder of churches, roads and bridges, belonged to the Ely O'Carroll sept, as did Charles Carroll (1737-1832), who is remembered as an Irish signatory of the American Declaration of Independence. It is with America rather than with the home country, that notable Carroll's have been associated during the past two centuries: the Dictionary of American Biography includes four others closely related to the Carrollton family, for so their place in Maryland was called (not to be confused with Carrollton, a town in Georgia U.S.A.), the most distinguished of them being Most Rev. John Carroll (1735-1815), the first Catholic Bishop in USA, and the first Archbishop of Baltimore. Rev. Anthony Carroll, S.J. (1722-1794) who was robbed and murdered in a London street, was a cousin of the Archbishop. Three members of the Ely O'Carroll sept distinguished themselves in the armies of James II and of France. The best known of these was Brigadier Daniel O'Carroll (d. 1712). As we have seen there is a distinct sept of MacCarroll: the Irish MacCearbhaill is now more usually anglicized as MacCarvill in Ulster where its medieval territory is indicated by the place name Ballymaccarroll. One of these, Donslevy MacCarroll (d.1357), is described by the Four Masters as "A noble master of music and melody, the best of his time", and another, Mulrory MacCarroll (d. 1328), was called Chief Ministrel of Ireland and Scotland: indeed the family was noted for its musicians. James MacCarroll (1814-1892), who emigrated to USA at the age of 17, was a well-known American poet, dramatist and inventor. A Bishop of Cork and three Archbishops of Cashel, in the Thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, were MacCarrolls: it appears that its members sometimes used the prefix Mac instead of O during that period: Fr. Aubrey Gwynn, Proceedings of the Royal Historical Society (Vol. X), referring to the four notable archbishops of Cashel named MacCarroll says that the evidence he has found suggests that they did not belong to the sept of O'Carroll of Ely, as has been thought hitherto, but to a distinct sept of MacCarroll, located in some parts of the territory covered by the present counties of Carlow, Kilkenny or the eastern part of Co. Tipperary. John O'Donovan, in his notes to O'Heerin's Topographical Poem makes it clear that there was a distinct O'Carroll sept whose chief was lord of a territory extending from Kilkenny city northwards to the boundary of the present county of Leix. The name Lewis Carroll, famous as the author of Alice in Wonderland, is a nom de plume and has no connexion with O'Carroll or MacCarroll.

The Irish were one of the first people to have a system of surnames. They came into use generally in the 10th century in Ireland, however even back to the 2nd century the system had emerged among the Ernans. The surnames had specific meanings, such as identifying a person with their clan, or as an individual within that clan.

The surname Carroll has a very old history, and when translated from the Irish , Cearbhaill, (pronounced just like Carroll) means slaughter, or preferably, warlike champion. The name Carroll is distinctly Irish. There are no other forms of it found anywhere. If you hold the name of Carroll, you have Irish ancestry within you somewhere. The family coat of arms shown here at the top of my page, basically represents all Carroll's worldwide, however most all Carroll's now associate themselves with the Carroll's of Ely, and their coat of arms. The inscription Flecti Non Frangi, means something along the lines of "Bent, but not broken". The O'Carrolls descend from Milesius, king of Galacia in Spain, by way of Heber, his son. Heber was the first Milesian king of Ireland, about 1699 BC. His reign lasted but a year, when he died. His brother Eremon succeeded him and ruled Ireland for the next 14 years. The O'Carrolls also descend from Kian, the grandson of Owen the Great, who was victorious over Conn, the 110th High King of Ireland who ruled during the second century.

In 1014, after two hundred years of constant war and invasion by the Vikings, High King Brian Boru of Ireland enlisted a great army to meet the Danes, and Norwegians at Clontarf in battle. The centre division of Boru's army was led by the Cianachts, or race of Carroll. They fought bravely and fiercely at Clontarf, commanding the centre division, where there was much blood shed, against the Danes. . It should be mentioned that Brian Boru's principal confessor throughout his reign was Maolsuthain O'Carroll, who almost never left his side. Maoniugh, who was slain in 1022, was the first in the line of Carroll's to assume that surname. Another prominent Carroll who is often overlooked in American history, was Charles Carroll of Carrolton. Charles was the fire behind the American Revolution, inciting the other "Founding Fathers" to act against Britain. As such, Charles was to become one of the most wanted men in the world by the king of England. Charles was the only signer of the Declaration of Independence that was fearless enough to sign his address along side of his name. In 1822, Charles Carroll, the last living signer of the Declaration of Independence died.

There were many septs of the Carroll family, however, only six were of any significance. Of those, I will mention only two here. In what is now called County Tipperary, and Offaly, the ancient clan of Carroll's headed by Ely O'Carroll occupied most of those areas. In Counties Monaghan and Louth, the Carroll's of Oriel owned much of that territory. As the Normans, a nation of mercenaries who were previously Vikings from Norway, began expanding and invading Ireland, the Carroll's of Oriel were scattered. In fact, many remained in their areas, however their dynasty ceased. One important note needs to be mentioned about these Carroll's, and that is the fact that the Carroll's of Oriel were responsible for the founding of many famous monasteries in Ireland. Like those princes of Oriel, the sept of Ely was also scattered by the Normans towards the end of the twelfth century. Today, Carroll's are found all over Ireland, and number around 16,000 accounting for the twenty second most prominent surname in Ireland. In the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries, the Irish were noted for their educational, and religious achievements. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the British Isles were left to find their own coarse through history. While the rest of Europe lapsed into the Dark Ages, where the protection of a lord's castle was the only safety from the roaming bands of militant German tribes, the Irish remained in a fair state.

The Irish love for the spoken word became very important. In fact, the Irish prided themselves on learning to speak not only their own language, but Latin, and other European languages as well. The power of the spoken word the Irish believed, applied with meaning could literally kill a man. As this learning emerged and spread across Ireland, then so did Christianity. The Irish took the religion extremely serious, and the love of the spoken word turned to love of the written word. The Irish were the first people after the fall of the Roman Empire to begin recording events on paper. They wrote in what is called a Celtic style, or the Irish Gaelic which is today considered an art form. Perhaps the most famous example may be found in the Book of Kells. (By the way, the correct pronunciation of Celtic, is like Keltic, not like Seltic.) Soon, if a person travelled anywhere in Europe and could not only speak fluently, but write as well, they were instantly thought to be Irish by the locals. This was perhaps the brightest period in Ireland's history. So, what happened? Why didn't Ireland rise to some additional historical significance? The answer, according to some, is found in one of the favourite Irish activities. Social drinking. Ever heard the saying, "Liquor was invented to stop the Irish from taking over the world?" I am of coarse kidding.

The Carroll history however, is not filled with family unity. In fact throughout most of their history, they were very busy fighting one another for control of the principalities. They became known throughout Ireland for their savage and brutal war-like activities.

Earlier, I mentioned Teigue Carroll. Teague was a son of Donough (died 1377). Teague married the daughter of the O'Brien Clan, Sara. The O'Brien Clan were rulers of Thormond. Teague was a powerful chieftain who was good friends with King Richard II, of England. After returning home from a pilgrimage from Rome, Teigue stayed with Richard, but a disagreement occurred over the politics of Ireland. Teigue returned home to defend his territory against Richard, and the English armies. He died in 1407 along with 800 of his men.

Even after the Norman Invasions and partial conquests of Ireland under Strongbow in 1169 and King Henry II in 1172, and despite considerable colonization by the English during the next two centuries, the interior areas of the island remained independent of English rule. In 1318, the English Butlers were defeated in battle by the O'Carrolls, one of many such defeats to come at the hands of the Princes of Eile. By 1530, the power of the O'Carrolls was such that they were exacting tribute from the English-held cities of Kilkenny, and Tipperary, and controlling the land in between and up to Kings County in central Ireland.  In time however, King Henry VIII began a re-conquest of Ireland and as he and succeeding English monarchs pressed westward, the authority of the Catholic Irish Chiefs declined. As lands were confiscated, and Catholics persecuted, some influential Carroll's left Ireland for the colonies in America.

Sometime during the early 18th century, many O'Carrolls dropped the O from their names. Traditionally, the prefix O implied a title of grandson of, and the prefix Mac, implied the title of son of. As Ireland basically stagnated under British rule, while the rest of Europe dealt with advancements, many Irish, and Carroll's left for the "New World." For those of you researching your family who came to America, it is quite possible that your family left for one of three main reasons. They are religious persecution, famine, or economic despair. The 1840's saw a tremendous emigrant population leaving Ireland. This exodus was later magnified when the great famine of the 1840's hit Ireland particularly hard. Although history records some of the northern areas, such as County Louth did not suffer as greatly, it is probable that the effects were far reaching and many families made the decision to emigrate nonetheless. Prior to the Great Famine, there were some Irish families that emigrated out of Ireland. As a general rule, emigrations during this period of time were those of mainly wealthy, land owning families. In the years leading up to the Famine, Ireland was experiencing an enormous population growth, and her natural resources were being strained. As a result many of the wealthier families were the ones to emigrate.

One should also be aware while studying the Carroll history, or genealogy of the chiefs, there were many connections to the royal houses of Europe. For example, O'Carrolls married into the families of Robert the Bruce, King Duncan  who was killed by Macbeth, Alfred the Great, the first king of England, and many barons, and nobles of England. Today, in name, the direct-line descendent of the O'Carroll Chiefs remains a leader.

by Dave Carroll