Molloy
Ó Maolmhuaidh · descendant of Maolmhuadh
Molloy is Ó Maolmhuaidh in Irish, said oh MWAY-lwee, and means descendant of Maolmhuadh.
Maol muadh is read as the proud chieftain. Kings of Fir Cheall in Offaly, and a separate Connacht family of the same name has long been impossible to tell apart.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Maolmhuaidh
- His daughter: Ní Mhaolmhuaidh
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Mhaolmhuaidh
- The family together: Uí Mhaolmhuaidh
Where it comes from
Offaly, Roscommon and Mayo
Also spelt
Molloy, Mulloy, Miley, Slowey
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.