Collins
Ó Coileáin · descendant of Coileán
Collins is Ó Coileáin in Irish, said oh KIL-awn, and means descendant of Coileán.
Coileán means a young hound or a whelp. Michael Collins came from Clonakilty, and the Cork branch of the family had been there since they were pushed out of Limerick in the twelfth century.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Coileáin
- His daughter: Ní Choileáin
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Choileáin
- The family together: Uí Choileáin
Where it comes from
Limerick, then west Cork
Also spelt
Collins, O’Collins, Cullane
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.