This book follows the Carrolls from Ireland to Virginia. O'Cearbhaill was a descendant of Cearbhaill and his son MacCearbhaill. The Gaelic surname was anglicized to O'Carroll or MacCarroll. The name means "warlike champion." Before the invasion of Ireland (795-1014) there were six distinct septs of O'Carroll, and the two most important ones were the O'Carrolls of Ely (counties Tipperary and Offaly) and the O'Carrolls of Oriel (counties Monaghan and Louth). It is these septs that the author traces. The "O" and "Mac" were dropped for Carroll several centuries back, only to pop up again near the end of the 19th century and later during the Easter Rebellion. Carroll is used now almost universally. Variations of the Carroll surname include: O'Carroll, MacCarroll, MacCarvill and MacCarrill, though most are O'Carroll. Chapters include a brief history of Ireland, a sketch of the colony of Virginia into statehood (1585-1800), some land patents and grants. Also the author provides a list of Virginia Carrolls having recorded wills or inventories, some marriages without dates and locations, Revolutionary War Pension applicants, soldiers in the Civil War, the war with Spain and the Philippine insurrection, and those found on Virginia records, 1618-1850s and beyond. This work is meant to assist research on Virginia Carrolls; however, the text and index contain hundreds of associated names, making it a valuable resource for locating ancestral names in colonial Virginia. Maps add a delightful touch to this book.
Elizabeth Carroll Foster
(1999), 2008, 5.5" x 8.5", paper, index, 264 pp.
ISBN: 9780788410970
101-F1097
