Kelly Irish Family Gifts & Heritage

Kelly comes from the Irish Ó Ceallaigh, “descendant of Ceallach,” an old personal name Patrick Woulfe glosses as “war” or “contention.” Several separate families took the surname, in Meath and north Dublin, Derry, Laois, Wicklow, Sligo and Cork, but the greatest were the O’Kellys of Uí Maine, whose lordship spanned east Galway and south Roscommon for centuries. Kelly and O’Kelly are two English forms of that same Irish name, and families have used both.

The Uí Maine chiefs were warriors and famous hosts. Tadhg Mór Ó Ceallaigh fell fighting at Clontarf in 1014, and at Christmas 1351 Uiliam Buidhe O’Kelly invited the poets and learned men of Ireland to a great feast at Knockcroghery in County Roscommon, remembered in the poem Fáilte Uí Cheallaigh, “O’Kelly’s welcome.”

That spirit of welcome suits a Kelly gift. The woven blanket, garden flag, ceramic Christmas ornament and tartan coffee mug are set on the Irish National Tartan, and the range adds a cork coaster set, a wall pennant for a den or reunion hall, crest and harp T-shirts, and a novelty license plate. Discover the dynasty’s full story in our Kelly surname history.