Appendix 3: The Phelan Name

Johanna's family name Phelan is a very old Irish name, deeply rooted in the area of South Kilkenny and Waterford. It has several variations – Phelan, O’Phelan, Whelan, O’Felan, O’Faolain (the Gaelic version). Today Phelan is still predominantly found in the Waterford and Kilkenny area.

A little bit of background history first, from a book[4] in the possession of the author. The main sources for early Irish history are manuscript documents from the seventeenth century known as the “Annals of the Four Masters”. The annals are mainly a compilation of earlier annals, although there is some original work. The chief compiler of the annals was Brother Mícheál Ó Cléirigh, a Franciscan friar, with several others assisting. The compilers became known as “The Four Friars” or in the original Irish, “Na Ceithre Máistrí”. The Anglicized version of this was “The Four Masters”, the name that has become associated with the annals themselves. The annals were written in Irish. They were translated by a distinguished Irish scholar, John O’Donovan, and published in seven volumes in 1856[5].

The Annals include historical information about Irish families before the Norman invasion in the twelfth century. O’Donovan also translated a fifteenth century poem by O’Heerin with information about the Phelans[6].

Before the Anglo-Norman invasion the Phelans (O’Faolain) were the princes of the ancient territory of Desi, which comprised most of Waterford, and part of Tipperary and south Kilkenny. The name survives as “Decies” in two baronies in Waterford. After the invasion their lands and titles were transferred to the Le Poers (Powers) and other Anglo-Norman families. A branch of the Phelans settled in southwest Kilkenny, mainly in the barony of Iverk. Piltown (Johanna’s home) is located in the barony of Iverk.

In O’Heerin’s fifteenth century poem we find the following lines:

“Two gentle chiefs whose names I tell
Rule the Desi, I affirm it,
O’Bric, the extractor of tributes,
With him the wise and fair O’Felan

In Moylacha of the fertile slopes,
Rules O’Felan for the benefit of his tribe,
Great is the allotted territory
Of which O’Felan holds possession”

The O’Felan family has a coat of arms verified by Burke’s “General Armory”[3] :

O'Felan Coat of Arms

The O'Felan Coat of Arms

So the name has a rich history. Apparently the Phelan name has died out in the Piltown area, but I feel sure I will find Phelan relatives in the wider area as my research progresses.