As you will see I have managed, so far, to trace the O'Neill roots back to  Patrick (Neill) O'Neill born in Carlow in 1858 where he married Anne Fanning and had  one daughter, Mary.  After the death of Anne he moved to Dublin with his daughter  where he met and married Mary Ann Russell.  I have also managed to trace the Leonard  family back to Martin Leonard born in 1841. I hope you all find this project of  interest and if any of you have any information that can aid me in my quest to  develop the family tree further and tie up loose ends, it would be great to hear from  you.

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Surname History
   
           "O'NEILL"

O'Neill is in Irish Ó Néill, from the personal name Niall, possibly  meaning "passionate" or "vehement". A clear distinction needs to be kept in  mind between the family bearing this surname and the Uí Neill, the powerful  tribal grouping claiming descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages, the fifth  century monarch supposedly responsible for kidnapping St. Patrick to Ireland.  Out of the Uí Neill came many other well-known surnames, including O'Doherty,  O'Donnell, O'Hagan and others. Within the Uí Neill the two principal sub-groups  were the Cenél Eoghain and the Cenél Conaill, claiming descent from two of the  sons of Niall, Eoghan and Conall respectively. The O'Neills were the leading  family of the Cenél Eoghain, ruling the ancient territory of Tir Eoghain,  comprising not only the modern Co. Tyrone, but also large parts of Derry and  Donegal. The first to use the name in recognizable hereditary fashion was  Donal, born c.943; the individual on whom he based his name was Niall Glun Dubh  ("Black Knee"), High King of Ireland who died in 919. In the fourteenth century  a branch of the Tir Eoghain O'Neills migrated eastwards and, under the  leadership of Aodh Buidhe ("Yellow Hugh"), wrested large areas of Antrim and  Down from Norman control. The territory at the centre of their power,  Clandeboy, took its name from them (Clann Aodh Buidhe),and they in turn became  known as the Clandeboye O'Neills. Their principal castle was at Edenduffcarrig,  northwest of Antrim town, still occupied by an O'Neill. The present titular  head of this branch of the family is Hugo O'Neill, "O'Neill of Clandeboy", a  Portuguese businessman descended from Muircheartach, chief of the family from  1548 to 1552. The descent of the original Tyrone family has also continued  unbroken, down to the present holder of the title of Ó Neill Mor, Don Carlos  O'Neill of Seville, who also holds the Spanish titles of Marques de la Granja,  Marques del Norte and Conde de Banajir. He is descended, through the O'Neills  of the Fews in Co. Armagh, from Aodh, second son of Eoghan, inaugurated as  chief of the name in 1432. Dramatist Eugene O?Neill (1888-1953) winner of the  1936 Nobel Prize for Literature, was the son of an emigrant from Co. Kilkenny.  Conflicts with his family and cultural heritage formed the basis of much of his  work. Superintendent Francis O?Neill (1848-1936) of the Chicago Police,  originally from Bantry is renowned in traditional music circles for the  enormous collection of melodies he published in 1903, Music of Ireland - 1850  Melodies: Airs, Jigs, Reels, Hornpipes, Long Dances, Marches etc. ... Terence  O'Neill (1912-90) was Prime Minister of Northern Ireland from 1963 until his  resignation in 1969. His efforts at reform failed to prevent the violence which  has continued up to the present.

        "LEONARD"

The name Leonard in Ireland is derived from the native Gaelic O'Leannain Sept  of Counties Cork, Fermanagh and Galway. These Septs also adopted Lennon,  Linane, Lunny, Gilsenan and other variants as the anglicized version of their  name. The name was also brought into the country by settlers in the seventeenth  century.