Toolan History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

A massive amount of Ireland's native population left the island in the 19th century for North America and Australia in hopes of finding more opportunities and an escape from discrimination and oppression. A great portion of these migrants arrived on the eastern shores of the North American continent. Although they were generally poor and destitute, and, therefore, again discriminated against, these Irish people were heartily welcomed for the hard labor involved in the construction of railroads, canals, roadways, and buildings. Many others were put to work in the newly established factories or agricultural projects that were so essential to the development of what would become two of the wealthiest nations in the world. The Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s initiated the largest wave of Iris immigration. Early North American immigration and passenger lists have revealed a number of people bearing the name Toolan or a variant listed above:

Toolan Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

• Mr. Michael Toolan, aged 21 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "James Moran" departing from the port of Liverpool, England but died on Grosse Isle in July 1847 1

• Paul Toolan, American actor, known for The Death of Socrates, Hamlet (2005) and The Dunwich Horror (2010)
• Rebecca Toolan, American television actress best known for playing Teena Mulder, Fox Mulder's mother, on The X-Files
• Eoin Toolan (b. 1982), Irish professional rugby union football coach
• Michael Toolan MA, D.Phil, GDL, English Professor of English Language at the University of Birmingham
• John A. Toolan Jr. (b. 1954), retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general, Commanding General, United States Marine Corps Forces, Pacific