CONCANNON
Concannon is a surname of Gaelic origin that is principally found within the islands of Ireland. It derives from the Gaelic name Concainn, a term that has been interpreted to mean lover of hounds; the word is composed of con, meaning hound or wolf, and canon, indicating a proud and strong leader. This etymology has occasionally been rendered as “champion of the packs.” Such linguistic roots place the name firmly within the Celtic linguistic tradition, reflecting the Christian milieu of medieval Ireland.
The surname appears in its early Gaelic forms as O’Concannon and simply Concannon. It is most closely associated with County Galway, where, for many centuries, it was recorded as the exclusive residence of the name. Genealogical tradition holds that the ancestral chief was a warrior named Cuceannan, who fell in battle in 991 AD, and the clan was thereafter identified as the lords of Ui Diarmada. In the 16th century, the chiefs of the house were documented as holders of the village and castle of Kultallagh in the parish of Kilkerrin, a status that continued to be recognised in 1848 though the family’s landholdings had diminished by 1878. The earliest certain evidence of the surname is on a gravestone at Knockmoy Abbey in County Galway, where Maurice O’Concannon was buried around 1350.
In the west of Ireland, particularly in County Mayo, the surname has also been recorded in close association with the Gaelic designation O’Cuincheannaigh, which can alternately be spelt O’Coingheannaigh. The earliest census or parish record that explicitly uses the name dates to 1690 in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, a territory that later hosted well‑known figures such as the American politician Patrick J. Concannon of Pennsylvania and Dr. Teresa Concannon, who served as president of the New York Academy of Medicine. Such individuals demonstrate the surname’s reach beyond the Irish coast into the United States.
From the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, waves of emigration extended the Concannon surname across the Atlantic and into continental Europe. Large populations settled in the United Kingdom—particularly in areas of the North West of England and the Scottish Highlands—as well as in the United States and Canada, where it established a strong presence in Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. A notable instance of the name’s legacy in the New World is the Concannon Vineyard in Livermore, California, founded by James Concannon in 1883. Variations of the surname—including O’Concannon, Koncannon and Conchannon—survived the Anglicisation process that accompanied Irish migration.
The name is documented in a wide array of historical records. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it appears in land grants, ledgers and parish registers, including St. Patrick’s church records of 1630. It is also mentioned in accounts relating to the famed pirate queen Gráinne Mhaol, occasionally in the context of a term translated as “Concannon” to refer to a place. By the early 20th century, entries recording arrivals on Ellis Island in 1883 and 1909 attest to the surname’s continued migration. Throughout Ireland, and particularly in Skibbereen and County Galway, the surname remains widely spoken.
While the precise translation of Concannon is debated—some scholars suggest “fair‑headed hound” or “dog’s loving” based on the root elements—no single definitive meaning has withstood scrutiny. The record of the surname in various spellings and contexts reflects the complex linguistic history of Ireland and its diaspora, underscoring the enduring presence of the name in both its homeland and abroad.
Typical given names associated with the Concannon surname
Male
- Anthony
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Martin
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Thomas
Female
- Catherine
- Claire
- Julie
- Kathleen
- Laura
- Margaret
- Maria
- Mary
- Sarah
- Sharon
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Concannon in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 1,461 people named Concannon in the UK. That makes it roughly the 5,453rd most common surname in Britain. Around 22 in a million people in Britain are named Concannon.
Origin: Celtic
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: Ireland
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: Gaelic
Famous people named Concannon
- Don Concannon - Politician (1930 to 2003)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.