Whelan
Ó Faoláin · descendant of Faolán
Whelan is Ó Faoláin in Irish, said oh FWAY-lawn, and means descendant of Faolán.
Faol means a wolf, so Faolán is the little wolf. The same name is Phelan in Kilkenny and Whelan in Waterford, and the family were kings of the Déise before the Normans.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Faoláin
- His daughter: Ní Fhaoláin
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Fhaoláin
- The family together: Uí Fhaoláin
Where it comes from
Waterford and the southeast
Also spelt
Whelan, Phelan, Felan, Hyland
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.