Sheehan — The Peaceful One

Sheehan comes from Ó Síodhacháin, built on síodhach, ‘peaceful’ — likely a personal nickname that became a family name in its own right. Unlike many Munster septs, the Sheehans never held a single defined lordship, and the name grew instead evenly across Cork, Kerry and Limerick.

A name with no single seat and no single chief — spread wide instead of ruled from one place, and none the less Irish for it.

Irish form: Ó Síodhacháin