Throughout history, very few Irish surnames have exclusively maintained their original forms. Before being translated into English, Nolin appeared as O Nuallain, which is derived from the Irish Gaelic word "nuall," meaning "shout."
The surname Nolin was first found in County Carlow (Irish: Cheatharlach) a small landlocked area located in the province of Leinster in the South East of Ireland, where they held a family seat from ancient times.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Nolin research. Another 95 words (7 lines of text) covering the year 1172 is included under the topic Early Nolin History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Names from the Middle Ages demonstrate many spelling variations. This is because the recording scribe or church official often decided as to how a person's name was spelt and in what language. Research into the name Nolin revealed many variations, including Nolan, O'Nolan, Nowlan, O'Nowlan, O'Nowland, Knowlan, Noland and many more.
More information is included under the topic Early Nolin Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish families leaving Ireland for the distant shores of North America and Australia. These families often left their homeland hungry, penniless, and destitute due to the policies of England. Those Irish immigrants that survived the long sea passage initially settled on the eastern seaboard of the continent. Some, however, moved north to a then infant Canada as United Empire Loyalists after ironically serving with the English in the American War of Independence. Others that remained in America later joined the westward migration in search of land. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, though, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America, and those who arrived were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. In fact, the foundations of today's powerful nations of the United States and Canada were to a larger degree built by the Irish. Archival documents indicate that members of the Nolin family relocated to North American shores quite early: