O'Carlent History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

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• Ireland

Early Origins of the O'Carlent family

Early History of the O'Carlent family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Carlent research. Another 130 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1535, 1568, 1670, 1738 and 1799 are included under the topic Early O'Carlent History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

O'Carlent Spelling Variations

The Middle Ages saw a great number of spelling variations for surnames common to the Irish landscape. One reason for these variations is the fact that surnames were not rigidly fixed by this period. The following variations for the name O'Carlent were encountered in the archives: Carlin, Carling, O'Carolan, Carline, Karlin, Kerling, Kerline, Carlind, Carlynde, Carlyne, Carlyn, Carrlin, Carrling, Kerlynd, Kerlynde, Karlynd, Karline, Kearlin, Kearline, Kearlynd, Carolan, Carrolan, Carolyn, Carolyne, Caroline, Carolynde, Caraline, Carroline, Carlan, Carland, Carlon, Carlone, Karolin, Karolan, Karrolin and many more.

Early Notables of the O'Carlent family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Hugh O'Carolan, Bishop of Clogher from 1535-1568. Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738) was a blind early Irish harper, composer and singer, known for his gift for melodic composition. Born in Nobber, County Meath, his father took a job with the MacDermott Roe family of Alderford House, thereby giving Turlough an education. By the time he was eighteen, he was blinded by smallpox and by the age of twenty-one, he was given a horse and...
Another 81 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early O'Carlent Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the O'Carlent family

In the 19th century, thousands of Irish left their English-occupied homeland for North America. Like most new world settlers, the Irish initially settled on the eastern shores of the continent but began to move westward with the promise of owning land. The height of this Irish migration came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. With apparently nothing to lose, Irish people left on ships bound for North America and Australia. Unfortunately a great many of these passengers lost their lives - the only thing many had left - to disease, starvation, and accidents during the long and dangerous journey. Those who did safely arrive in "the land of opportunities" were often used for the hard labor of building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. The Irish were critical to the quick development of the infrastructure of the United States and Canada. Passenger and immigration lists indicate that members of the O'Carlent family came to North America quite early: John Carlin, his wife and their two children who arrived in South Carolina in 1752; Jean Carlin, who came to Halifax, N.S. in 1752; Phillip Carling, who was on record in New York State in 1811.