From Ó Grálaigh, ‘descendant of Raoghallach’ — a County Mayo name sharing its root personal name, unexpectedly, with O'Reilly.
The Grealy certificate.
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Gaelic Origin · Root name Raoghallach
Grealy anglicises Ó Grálaigh, built on Raoghallach — a variant of the same personal name, Raghallach, that gives Ireland the surname O'Reilly. The family were rooted in County Mayo and the wider province of Connacht, quite apart from the Ó Raghallaigh lordship in Cavan that carries the more famous version of the name.
Two surnames that sound nothing alike today, both descending from the same Gaelic name, three hundred miles apart — proof of how differently one root can be heard depending on which county did the anglicising.
Irish form: Ó Grálaigh
