Sean Dillon was our guest on the genealogy radio show for March 7 for Raidio Corcabaiscinn.  He has been researching the Dillon surname for some years. Sean's origins are Newcastle West in Limerick and his ancestry and Dillons can be found in Wales, Ireland, Canada and the US. Sean is a student of the University of Limerick on placement with Lorna Moloney of Merriman Research and this research supports the radio show on The Dillon Surname. You can listen to the show by using the link below.

It is widely believed that the surname Dillon came to Ireland with Sir Henry de Leon (A member of a Noble Breton Family) in the year 1185. Henry was given a vast amount of land in the east of Ireland during the reign of Henry ii mainly in the counties of Westmeath and Longford. In fact, Dillons gained so much power in territory in this region that it simply became known as “Dillons Country” (1).

The exact origin of the surname Dillon is unknown, but there are many theories. One such theory is that the name Dillon comes from the Germanic word Dillo, which could come from the word “Dill” meaning to destroy. While the Norman origin of the Irish name Dillon is believed to be variant of de Lyon, from Henry de Leon, the Anglicised version of the Irish name Dillon could come from the Gaelic word Dallán, meaning “little blind one”. It is also crucial to note the Jewish origin of the surname Dillon. A possible origin of this Ashkenazi Jewish name could have derived from the Biblical region of Dilan as mentioned in Joshua 15:38 (2). One example of a famous Jew with a variation of the surname Dillon is Sadie Dellon. Sadie Dellon was tragically found dead at her father’s business in New York after being attacked by a group of thugs when she flew a Zionist flag (3).

After the defeat of the Jacobites in Ireland, many of these soldiers went to fight in foreign Catholic militaries. One of the most famous examples of this was Dillon’s Regiment of the French military set up in 1688 which was originally trained by Theobold Dillon for combat in the cause of James ii (4). Dillon’s Regiment was also involved in expeditions to Grenada in the Caribbean and Savannah during the American Revolutionary War (5). The American Revolutionary War was from 1775-1783 and was fought by mainly Britain on one side and thirteen of her colonies on the other. In order to weaken Britain, many Europeans militaries assisted the American colonies in their struggle against the British, including France from 1778 (6). As part of the French military, Dillon’s Regiment was involved in the siege of Savannah, Georgia and fought alongside Lincoln’s troops (7). In the Griffith’s Valuation of Ireland there are 8007 Dillons recorded in total for the whole country. There are 434 of these Dillons recorded in this valuation as being in Munster: 107 are in Cork, 37 are in Kerry, 133 in Limerick and 40 in Waterford, 10 in Tipperary, 40 in Tipperary North Riding and 67 in Tipperary South Riding (8). According to civil records, between the years 1864 and 1916 there were 10,326 Dillons born in Ireland. The highest number were born in Dublin with 1445, the second highest was Listowel in county Kerry with 1072 births and finally the third highest was in Dublin South with 375 births (9). The Dillon family crest consists of a white shield with three crescent moons and a lion. The white in the shield symbolises peace and sincerity, the crescent moons signify somebody who has been “Enlightened and honoured by his sovereign”, and the lion is a symbol of courage. It is also possible that the lion is a reference to the fact that the Norman Dillon’s originated in the region of Lion in France (10). There is also a latin motto on the family crest which reads “Dum Spiro Spero” which means “while I breathe I hope”. There are many variations of the surname Dillon including Delion, Dilan, Dillen, Dilon, and Dilune. However the surname Dylan spelled “D-Y-L-A-N” is not a connection. The Irish version of name Dillon could be derived from the Gaelic name O Duilleain. The O prefix in the surname and all Irish surnames for that matter means “grandson of”. As discussed earlier, Dillons were given such a great amount of land in the mid to east of Ireland mainly in the counties of Westmeath and Meath that it was given the name Dillon’s Country. It is no surprise then that Dillons built Portlick Castle in Westmeath in the late 1100s. This castle is exceptional in that it is the only medieval castle built on the island of Ireland that has never ceased being in use since the day it was built (11). Despite all the land that had been given to them under King John, King William of Orange was not so pleased with the Dillons on account of them being supporters of James ii and so he took their castle and land from them giving it to one of his loyalists (12). The Williamite War of 1689 to 1691 was fought between James ii and William of Orange. In his attempt to regain his throne that had been taken from him in the Glorious Revolution, James believed that taking control of Ireland would only be the beginning of getting back all of his power. As well as his quest to retake his throne, James was also a Roman Catholic and sought to bring Protestant England back to Roman Catholicism (13). For this reason, the Protestant King William could not risk allowing the Dillons to keep their castle and territory as they were supporters of James, and the threat of such a powerful family aiding the leader of the Jacobites had become intolerable (14).

When Oliver Cromwell invaded Ireland in 1649, many Irish surnames such as O Duilleain became anglicised. This happened for a number of reasons. Firstly, the English clerks would have spoken English and so they would have written down people’s Irish names as they were pronounced in English. This led to the variations such as Dilan and Dilion. Furthermore as the O prefix in Irish surnames was largely a Gaelic tradition, Irish people with this prefix in their surname would often drop it as it made finding work awfully difficult in what was becoming an English society. Due to the Great Famine of 1845-1852 a mass exodus occured in Ireland as people left their home country in search of better life in North America, Britain and Australia, taking their surnames with them. This means that the surname Dillon is not just found in Ireland but all over the world (15). This explains why there are so many famous people from all different nationalities and political persuasions with the surname Dillon.

Wentworth Dillon was born in Ireland circa 1633 (16). He became the 4th Earl of Roscommon following the death of his father James in 1649. In the company of Lord Cavendish, he travelled accross Europe until the Restoration in 1660 when he went to England to ensure the return of his estates in Ireland (17). The Restoration occured when King Charles reclaimed his title as King after the English Civil War of 1642-1651 which saw Oliver Cromwell lead opposition forces against him (18,19). As well as being a nobleman, Wenthworth was also famous for his poetry such as “Essay on translated verse” which he wrote in 1684, just one year before he died (20). Wentworth passed away in January {18th} 1685 and was later buried at Westminster Abbey (21).

Count Théobald Dillon, although born in Ireland in the mid 1700s, rose to the rank of Maréchal de- Camp in the French military. After France declared war on Austria in 1792, Theobold led French troops to Flanders but had orders to by no means begin a physical battle with the Austrians. Nonetheless, coming face to face with their enemies was unsettling for both sides in the conflict as this had not happened between these two countries in quite some time. Theobold’s obedience to his orders not engage the Austrians in battle ultimately led to his death. When the Austrians launched an attack Theobold retreated and the French troops, viewing this as treasonous, killed Theobold and after trailing his body through the streets and tossed him into a fire (22).

According to the Landed Estates Database housed online at NUI Galway see John Dillon was transplanted from county Westmeath to county Roscommon in the 17th century. His descendants built Mount Dillon sometime early in the 18th century. John and Teresa Dillon were living at Mount Dillon at the time of the Elphin Census in 1748. Theobald Dillon of Mount Dillon was a member of the Grand Panel of county Roscommon in 1828. At the time of Griffith's Valuation the Dillon estate was in the parish of Lissonuffy, barony and county of Roscommon. It amounted to over 4,000 acres in the parish when it was advertised for sale in June 1865. Marcella Dillon was a proprietor in the parish of Killukin, barony of Roscommon in the mid 1850s. Marcella, only child of Sir Thomas Barnewall, 6th baronet, married as her second husband Theobald Dillon of Mount Dillon. John Theobald Dillon was advertising the sale of the fee farm rent of the lands of Ballagh, parish of Kilgefin, barony of Ballintober South, in November 1863. In the 1870s John Theobald Dillon of Killeshandra, county Cavan and Mount Dillon owned an estate of 5,588 acres in county Roscommon. He advertised other property for sale in the Land Judges' court in December 1888.

Other famous Dillon’s include Brian Dillon who was leader of the Irish Republican Brotherhood founded to establish a democratic republic in Ireland (23); Lieutenant Commander C. Douglas Dillon of the United States Navy and later the 57th Secretary of the Treasury (24); Finally, perhaps the the two most famous and influential Dillon’s in Irish history were James Dillon and his father John Dillon. James Dillon who was leader of the political party Fine Gael from 1959-1965 but who had earlier resigned from the party when it accepted the policy of neutrality during World War 2 as James was adamant that Ireland should join the war on the side of the allies to defeat the evils of Nazism (25). His father John Dillon was leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party for a brief period in 1918 which fought politically for Home Rule in Ireland (26). Home Rule was the idea that Ireland should be governed from a parliament in Dublin rather than the parliament in Westminster (27).

Lorna Moloney produces and presents The Genealogy radio show and this airs weekly from wonderful Kilkee at Raidio Corcabaiscinn. Corcabaiscinn is the name for an old tribal region of county Clare. The radio show has over 100 shows podcast and all are available. You can listen to the genealogy radio show on RCB and through the archives which host over 100 shows at Archives of The Genealogy Radio Show. We also provide expert advice on genealogy tours, trips and seminars. Our research tours and website can be seen at:

Lorna Moloney Lorna is the resident genealogist of Dromoland Castle and Lorna is a professional genealogist, and Document Content Management Specialist. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogist and the Society of Genealogists UK. Lorna is the Resident Genealogist for Dromoland Castle in County Clare. Lorna acted as Project Genealogist for George Boole *200 genealogy project for University College Cork, Sunday Times University of the Year for 2016 & 2017.

Lorna produces and presents the successful show: 'The Genealogy Radio show' aired each thursday at 4p.m. from beautiful Kilkee, Co. Clare at Raidio Corcabaiscinn and Podcasts are available at http://www.clansandsurnames.com/the-genealogy-radio-show/. Series 6is titled: Clans and Surnames of Ireland.

Lorna Moloney's thesis, ‘From Gaelic Lordship to English Shire'– the Anglicisation of MacNamaras Clare ′, is being supervised by Professor Steven Ellis. Her academic profile can viewed at http://nuigalway.academia.edu/LornaMoloney . She has delivered conference papers at Oxford; Lincoln College: Exploration of the Medieval Gaelic Diet: (2012); seminar papers at the Moore Institute in NUI Galway, 'The Gaelic Lordships in Thomond, c. 1400-c.1500' and papers at Irish Conference of Medievalists on themes of Brian Boru and landscape of East Clare. Lorna has published on medieval themes and on maritime subjects. Lorna received her Certificate for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy (CAFG) in Dallas in March 2015. Her work and presentations can be viewed at academia,edu.

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