This name is of Irish origin, and is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic name "O'Lanluain", the prefix "O", sometimes dropped in the modern forms of the name, meaning "grandson", "male descendant of", with the personal name "Anman", derived from the intensive prefix "an-" with "man", light, radiance, or warrior. Traditionally, Irish family names are taken from the heads of tribes, or from some illustrious warrior, and are usually prefixed by "O", as above, or "Mac", denoting "son of". In Ireland the surname is always associated with County Armagh, the sept being located in the baronies of Oneilland and Orior. For Centuries their chiefs were known as lords of Orior. The O'Hanlons were saved from complete ruin at the time of the plantation (of Ulster by the English) by a policy of conciliation, but later in the 17th Century they suffered the normal fate of the Gaelic Catholic aristocracy, and were totally dispossessed. Probably the best known bearer of the surname was Rev. John O'Hanlon (1821 - 1905), the author of "Lives of the Irish Saints". Recordings from Church Registers include the marriage of Margaret Hanlon and James Garner in London in 1789. The family Coat of Arms is a green shield, on a mount in base proper a boar passant ermine, the Crest being a lizard displayed green. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of O'Hanlon, Chief of East Ulster, which was dated 1493, in "Records of the English Expeditionary Forces in Ireland", during the reign of King Henry V11 of England, known as "Henry Tudor", 1485 - 1509. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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