Howell

An Irish surname of Cork. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 112,041 people, the 272nd most common surname in the country.

Howell is the anglicised form of three distinct Irish names. Some you can hear in the English name; others look and sound nothing like it, and were simply swapped for it.

Haol, son of Howel (a Welsh personal name)

Mac Cathmhaoil. This family stood in the barony of Clogher in Co. Tyrone, Co. Down, Co. Fermanagh, and Co. Wicklow.

Mac Haol, son of Howel (a Welsh personal name). This family stood in Co. Mayo.

Where the name comes from

Haol is son of Howel, a Welsh personal name, and it belonged to a Welsh family which came into Ireland as early as the 13th century. Mac Haol is the same name with a prefix, and gives MacHale as well.

Mac Cathmhaoil, son of the battle-chief, is a quite different family that ends up here too. They descend from Eoghan, son of Niall of the Nine Hostages, were for many centuries powerful chiefs in Tyrone, and are famous for their learning and the many dignitaries they supplied to the church. Their patrimony (the land a family held by inheritance) was Kinel Farry, now the barony (an old land division, several parishes across) of Clogher. A branch who settled in Co. Wicklow changed the name to Caulfield. This fine old name is now often sadly disguised.

Rugged Atlantic coastline at Allihies, Cork, Ireland, with layered slate cliffs, fine art landscape photograph by Peter Cox
Allihies Coast, Cork

Cork, photographed

Photographs made in Cork.

Cork

Cork is the largest county in Ireland. Three peninsulas run west into the Atlantic: Beara, Sheep's Head and Mizen, with the population thinning the further out you go. My gallery is in Glengarriff at the head of Bantry Bay, so it's the ground I photograph most.

Sunset over Dun an Oir ruins and sea stacks on Cape Clear Island, Cork, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún an Óir, Cape Clear Island, Cork Co. Cork The Fastnet Lighthouse standing proud on a calm summer evening off West Cork in black and white panoramic viewThe Fastnet Lighthouse, Co. Cork Co. Cork Aerial view of the Fastnet Lighthouse surrounded by angry seas off West Cork with Cape Clear Island on the horizonThe Fastnet from the Air Co. Cork Inside the rotating lantern of the Fastnet Lighthouse with Fresnel lenses, ladder, and a rainbow projected on a poleInside the Lantern, the Fastnet Lighthouse, Co. Cork Co. Cork The winding Healy Pass road climbing through the Caha Mountains on the Beara Peninsula, Cork on a cloudy dayThe Healy Pass, Co. Cork Co. Cork Long exposure of a small pier extending into a bay at sunset under heavy cloud, Lehanbeg, CorkLehanbeg Pier, Co. Cork Co. Cork Sunrise over Gougane Barra lake with mountains reflected in still water, County Cork, Ireland — fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxA Morning at the Office, Gougane Barra, Co. Cork Co. Cork Long exposure of waves crashing against rocks at the Old Head of Kinsale lighthouse at dusk with its lantern shiningOld Head of Kinsale Lighthouse, Co. Cork Co. Cork Morning mist rising over the calm lake at Gougane Barra with St. Finbar's Oratory and surrounding mountains, CorkSt. Finbar's Oratory, Gougane Barra, Co. Cork Co. Cork Gannet hovering in flight over Bull Rock cliffs, Co. Cork, fine art wildlife photograph by Peter CoxGannet, Bull Rock, Co. Cork Co. Cork Black and white view from the Priest's Leap mountain pass looking south to Bantry Bay with a cross silhouetted against cloudThe Priest's Leap, Co. Cork Co. Cork

All Cork prints

Notable bearers

C. Thomas Howell (born 1966), actor, screenwriter, and film director.

Daniel Howell (born 1991), television producer, comedian, and radio personality.

Dara Howell (born 1994), freestyle skier.

Leonard Howell (1898-1981).

Kirby Howell-Baptiste (born 1987), actor and film director.

About this page

The counties on this page are where the name was thickest on the ground in Ireland a century and a half ago, not a claim about any one family. Names moved around inside the country as much as they left it. The photographs are mine, made in the counties named.

More Irish surnames: Johnson · Collins · Murphy · Howard · Coleman · Hayes · Mason · Palmer · Warren · Ryan · Lane · Franklin

How common the name was

In 1890, 8 births were registered under Howell in Ireland, most of them in Cork.

Munster 4
Leinster 3
Ulster 1
Connacht 0
Ireland 8