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Norman Conquest of Ireland
Coat of Arms
Posted March 7, 2002
The, O`LALOR, LAWLOR, LAWLER Crest From Edward MacLysaght's book IRISH FAMILIES Their names Arms and Origins O'LALOR, Lawlor, Lawler. This name in modern times is spelt in three different ways_Lawlor, Lalor,Lawler _the first of these being slightly more numerous than the others In Irish it is O' Leathlobhair, which would appear to denote descendant of the half leper, no doubt a nickname arising from some physical defect and not to be taken literally. The prefix O', it may be noted,which was discarded during the period of Gaelic submergence, has not been resumed in modern times. The 0'Lalors, like their kinsmen the 0'Mores, were one of the Seven Septs of Leix. They were located near the famous Rock of Dunamase inCo. Leix, but were driven from this territory by the English invaders under Queen Elizabeth I. The scene of the making of the treaty, as a result of which the leading men of the Seven Septs were transplanted to Co. Kerry in 1609, is still called Lalor's Mills. The peasants and workers of the 0'Lalor sept remained in their old territory, a fact which is borne out by the prevalence of the name there to_day: nearly all the Lalors, Lawlors and Lawlers in Ireland are to be found in Leinster, either in Leix or in the counties lying to the east of it. The name of one Harry Lalor is traditionally preserved as the hero of the massacre of Mullaghmast in 1577 in which many innocent and unsuspecting Lalors, 0'Mores and other.inhabitants of Leix were treacherously done to death by the 0'Dempseys in con_junction with the English planters of the district. The fall of the 0'Dempseys as a great family was,.according to John 0'Donovan, locally attributed to this disgraceful event. Rev. James O'Lalor (or Lawler), a Co. Kilkenny Parish Priest, wrote in 1764 a notable elegy in Irish on one of the Kavanaghs, which was published by John 0'Donovan some 90 years later The editor in his introduction mentions several distinguished Lalors all of Leix or Kilkenny. He does not, however, refer to the most remarkable man of the name, the revolutionary James Fintan Lalor (1807_1849), son of Patrick Lalor a strong Leix farmer and sometime M.P. for that county ; his brother Peter Lalor (1823_1889),led the insurgent miners at Eureka, Australia, in 1854 and subsequently became a minister and speaker of the Legislative Council of Victoria. John Lawlor (I820~I901) , the sculptor, is remembered by his statues in London, Cork and Limerick. Alice Lalor (I766~I846), better known as: Mother Teresa, was a prominent figure in the religious life of America. Arms illustrated on Plate XVIII.