First found in Tuitre (now Antrim,) where according to O'Hart, they were Lords of Tuitre. However, the O'Flynn surname arose independently in several parts of Ireland. Perhaps the oldest line were a Sept of O Floin in Armagh, Ulster, where they were a senior branch of Clanna Rury of Ulidia, claiming descent from King Colla Uais, the famed 4th century Irish King, who in turn was descended from the Heremon royal line.

During the 19th century thousands of impoverished Irish Families made the long journey to British North America and the United States. These people were leaving a land that had become beset with poverty, lack of opportunity, and hunger. In North America, they hoped to find land, work, and political and religious freedoms. Although the majority of the immigrants that survived the long sea passage did make these discoveries, it was not without much preseverence and hard work: by the mid-19th century land suitable for agriculture was short supply, especially in British North America, in the east; the work available was generally low paying and physically taxing construction or factory work; and the English stereotypes concerning the Irish, although less frequent and vehement, were, nevertheless, present in the land of freedom, liberty, and equality for all men. The largest influx of Irish settlers occurred with Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s. Research into passenger and immigration lists has brought forth evidence of the early members of the O'Flynn family in North America: Barnard Flinn who settled in America in 1762; Andrew Flinn settled in New York State in 1803; the Flinns also settled in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, and in Canada in 1847. The Flynns also settled in the above states from 1772 to 1876..

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