I am looking for any Keelans or Keelanes (also Clane/Clean/Killane etc) regardless of O/Mac prefix who are native to the Athboy/Rathmore area.
After doing a lot of work & research, I believe this Meath surname may have originated in this area, specifically near Kilkeelan (Coill Chaolain; "Caolain's Wood") in the parish of Athboy, and that a significant amount of this family had a Mac prefix (MacCaolain) which anglicized M'Keallayn, M'Kelane, M'Clane and later got conflated with MacLean (MacGiollaEain, a highland family from Mull) to the point of not being able to tell them apart (as there was a large family of MacLeans near Killeshandra). Traces of this MacCaolain family is evident in another townland in Cavan, Crossmakeelan (Crois Mhic Caolain; "MacCaolain's Crossroads") near which a half-dozen McKealanes/McCallanes were noted as rebels in the 1641 dispositions. The MacCaolain's may have been largely dispersed from the Athboy area after the Norman invasion, as the area was heavily planted with Anglo-Norman families.
However, the earliest reference to Kilkeelan is in the Gormanstown register in the year 1418 during a land dispute between the Lord of Athboy & Lord of Rathmore, where a jury tried the issue, led by one "Wyllam O'Cwyllane of Kylchewllane" (William O'Caolain of Coill Chaolain) in the manor of Athboy who decided which lord rightfully possessed the Balmartin Bog (Martinstown, Athboy p.). In the tudor fiants, on 16 April 1558, a "Teige M'Kelane, husbandman, of Balruntagh, Co. Meath" was pardoned for the death of James O'Corregan of Moyagher. Balruntagh was part of the Manor of Rathmore, adjoining the Manor of Athboy.
The papertrail of my own "MacKellain" ancestors emerge from the Killallon, Meath-Collinstown, W'Meath area in the early 18th century. I believe that because the Plunkett family became landowners of the manors of Rathmore and Killallon in the late 15th cent., the MacCaolains spread in the direction of Killallon as tenants.
The reason I am searching for Keelans (or similar anglicizations) near Athboy is because the larger number of "Keelan" families are on the Meath/Monaghan/Louth border area, many of which may in fact be O'CEILACHAN, a sept of Oriel which also anglicized to Keelan.
I believe a great many of MacCaolains became "McClean/McClane" just by an emphasis on the last syllable, pronouncing it "LAYN". There is also a type of anglicization called "Attraction", where a smaller lesser known family anglicizes their name the way a larger more well-known family does, a great example of this are the O'Melaghlins turning into MacLoughins. So in many cases, the actual prefix plays no part. It's also possible that once the name anglicized to "M*K*LAY*N" , a prefix drop would change it to "Lane" (as there are Lanes in the Athboy RC parish records), adding yet another anglicization to the original name.
Whether this name originally had an O-prefix and a branch of them changed to "Mac" is tenuous but it seems it is the same family. There also seems to be a point in medieval gaelic Ireland where "O" and "Mac" meant relatively the same thing as opposed to their literal meanings of descendant of vs son of.
I would love to get in touch with any members of this family and research together, as well as purchase a Y-DNA test for a male Keelan if he is willing, to see if this theory of mine holds water surrounding the (Mac)Keelans that came from Kilkeelan, Co. Meath.
