Boyle or O'Boyle is now one of the fifty most
common surnames in Ireland. In Irish the name is O'Baoghill
thought to be connected to the Irish geall
meaning pledge. In the Middle Ages the family were powerful,
sharing control of the entire northwest of the island with the
O'Donnells and the O'Dohertys and the strongest association of
the family is still with Co. Donelgal where Boyl is the third
most numerous name in the country. The
majority of those bearing the name are of Gaelic
origin but many Irish Boyles have separate Norman origins. In
Ulster a significant number are descended from the Scottish
Norman family of de Boyville whose name comes from the town
Beauville in Normandy. The most famous Irish family of the
surname were the Boyles, Earls of Cork and Shannon, descended
from Richard Boyle who arrived in Ireland from Kent in 1588.
