Kindlon — Of Beautiful Form

Kindlon anglicises Ó Caoindealbháin, joining caoin (‘gentle’ or ‘beautiful’) with dealbh (‘shape’ or ‘form’). The family belonged to the southern Uí Néill, descending from the Cinéal Lóegaire in County Meath, though the Kindlon spelling itself is historically rare and most often found today in Louth and Monaghan.

The same root gave Ireland the far more common Quinlan in Munster, and Kindellan and Kinlan elsewhere — one compliment, anglicised a half-dozen different ways depending on which county was doing the spelling.

Irish form: Ó Caoindealbháin