Céad míle fáilte

"A Thousand Welcomes"

Raghailligh, Raghallaigh - Raghallach - Riley - O’Reilly - O'Riley's, History

Spelling variations include: Riley, O'Reilly, O'Reilley, O'Reily, O'Rielly, O'Riely, O'Riley, Rylee, and many more.
First found in county Cavan. They were known as the Princes of East Breffny, descended from Raghallaigh, Prince of Breffny in 981.

Coat of Arms, the color Green in this coat of arms symbolizes Hope, Joy and Loyalty in Love. It also reflects the hopes, ambitions and aspirations of its original bearer.

Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were: the families who settled in Newfoundland - in St. John's, Tilton Harbour, Placientia, Tickle Bay, Tilt Cove, and many more, between 1805 and 1871; James O'Reiley settled in New York in 1823; Alexander, Bernard, Christopher, James, Patrick, Terence, Thomas O'Reilly arrived in Philadelphia, and others.

Re: The Legend of the Fighting Lions For years (Raghallach is the original spelling of our name) Riley's, O'Riley's, Reilly's, etc. have ruled Breffni and today we still do. The two lions have made blood drip from the hand of Ulster, which symbolizes that the O Reilly's rule Ulster.

Re: The Legend of the Bleeding Hand O'Reilly The Legend of the Bleeding Hand Once upon a time, the King had a very beautiful daughter of marriageable age who had many eligible suitors. The King wanted the strongest and boldest for his daughter so he established a contest. It was to be a race in full armor with weapons culminating in a swim across the moat to the castle. The one who touched the castle wall first, would win the daughter's hand in marriage and inherit the King's lands and riches. One of the eligible suitors was O'Reilly. He was a very fast runner, but could not swim. When he reached the edge of the moat, only shortly in the lead, he realized that he couldn't cross the moat in time to touch the castle wall. He desperately wanted to win the daughter's hand in marriage, so he took his sword and cut off his hand and threw it across the moat and touched the castle wall. The King declared him the winner and heir to the kingdom. Another Legend is: The red hand of the O'Neil's graces the center of the flag of Ulster. Legend has it that this symbol dates from times when two Norse brothers argued for control of Ireland. Their father, the king offered the isle to who ever first laid hand on it. The brothers then raced for shore in two longboats. As one brother pulled ahead, the other brother then cut off his own hand and threw it ashore ahead of his brother. Thus the red hand not only became a symbol of Ulster, but often of Ireland as well.

MOTTO: Fortitudine et Prudentia