From Ó Fearghail, ‘man of valour’ — chiefs of Annaly, the old territory that became County Longford.
Gaelic Origin · Root meaning ‘man of valour’
Farrell descends from Fearghal, built from fear (‘man’) and gal (‘valour’). The Ó Fearghail were the ruling family of Annaly, a lordship that gave its shape to modern County Longford, and held that ground under their own chiefs well into the sixteenth century.
A name that still means exactly what it always did — a whole county once answered to it as a title, not just a surname.
Irish form: Ó Fearghail
