Sean Driscoll's Irish page
HISTORY:
The surename Driscoll (or O'Driscoll) is an anglicization of the Gaelic name of
O hEidersceoil
. This is derived from the word "eidersceol" which meant "intermediary" of "interpreter". The name later became O Drisceoil of which a form of the name is O Driscoll. The eponymous ancestor of the sept was one Eidersceoil, who was born in 910 AD, and his descendant, Sir Fingheen O hEdidersceoil Mor, was the founder of the Franciscan Abbey on Iniskeen Island. The O hEdiersceoil were a powerful sept of the Corca Laoighdhe, that is of the race of Laoghdhe, who were Erainnian Celts. The Erainn, whose ancestor-deity was Oengus Bolg, "God of Lightning" and "Maker of Lug's Spear", had come to Ireland from the Continent between the Years 500 and 100 BC.
The surname Driscoll is mainly found in Cork and recent figures show that 120 out of 121 Driscoll births were recorded in Munster. At first, the sept was based in Kerry, but they were driven out of their territory by the O'Sullivans. They then settled in Cork where they were an important sept. In 1414, O'Driscoll was slain by the crew of a merchant vessel in Cork. Many prominent men in the army of James I were members of this sept. Cornelius O'Driscoll distinguished himself and the family name during the battle of Ondara in 1707. During the period of Gaelic suppression, many bearers of the name dropped the prefix "O", but in more modern times, the name is once again, commonly preceded by the letter "O" and indeed is more often so found in its native Ireland."
ŠThe Historical Cesearch Center