The Hannon - Hannan Name

Although there are many substantial families of Hannon in Munster and Connacht, the Annals and other sources of information regarding the septs of mediaeval Ireland seldom mention the name O'Hannon^[1]. The death of Maelisa O'Hannon (O'hAnain), Prior of Roscommon, is one the few such. According to the census of 1659 the name of was then numerous in the barony of Athlone, Co. Roscommon; while Haneens were found in considerable numbers in the barony of Bunratty, Co. Clare. The prefix O, dropped in the submergence of Gaelic Ireland, has not been resumed.

Strictly speaking Hannon is the Anglicized form of the Gaelic O hAnnain. This name is chiefly associated with Co. Limerick. Another Gaelic surname O hAinchin, that of a family of Siol Anmchadha, belonging to south east Galway, normally anglicized Hanneen, has, by attraction, become Hannon in most cases, though Hanneens are also found in western counties. It is of interest to note that older people in Clare and Galway call this name Hanheen thus keeping close to the Irish pronunciation of O' n Aininchin. Further there is O hAnnachain which is called Hannon rather than Hanahan in Co, Limerick. The name Hannon today is principally found in Co. Limerick and in Counties Galway and Roscommon.

The first known Hannon ancestor in the Hart/Lally line is Thomas Hannon, a County Galway farmer, who married Bride Egan ca. 1780. His daughter, Bridget, married Eammon Harte of Luggawannia, Cargin Parish, Co. Galway, The couple left the port of Galway City on 24 May 1848 on the sailing ship The Messenger bound for New York City, leaving the daughter Mary with his mother. Bridget gave birth to her second child, Honor Anne Hart, less than three months later in Wilmington, Delaware.

^1. The heraldic achievements are shown as a matter of interest, and are not intended to suggest that members of the families discussed here have any right to bear them. Arms are personal property, and can be borne heraldically--for example, on a shield, banner, monument, dwelling, vehicle, china and silver, visiting card, stationery, or servants' livery by only a single individual at a time, since the purpose of another’s arms is to distinguish that person from all others. To use coat of arms in a way that implies relationship to the owner or entitlement to bear the arms in one's own right can only bring embarrassment.