The Clan Lawlor

Name in Gaelic: O Leathlobhair (descendant of Leathlobhar, an ancient Irish (personal name)
Lawlor and its variants Lalor and Lawler were borne by two distinct ancient Irish septs.
   One family, established in Ulster, was of royal lineage. They descended from Leathlobhar,
Monarch of Ulidia, who died in 871. In the early 10th century, these Lawlors appeared in the
"Annals of the Four Masters" as Kings of Ulidia and Dalradia, a vast area which encompassed the
modern counties of Down, Antrim and part of Derry.

   By the year 1100, the sept had dispersed, and many of its members settled in Co. Managhan.

    The most prominent family of the name, like their kinsmen the O'Moores, were one of the
"Seven Septs of Laois." Seated at Dysart Enos, near the famous Rock of Dunamase, they were
driven from their lands by the Pigotts in 1609. The spot where the treaty was concluded which
resulted in the leading men of the Seven Septs being transplanted to Kerry is still known as
Lawlor's Mill.
    However, most of the family remained in or near their original territory, and today the great
majority of Lawlors reside in either Laois or the counties lying east of it.

   Harry Lalor, the best remembered of the surname, is renowned as the hero of Mullaghmast in
which innocent Lawlors and other inhabitants of Co. Laois were treacherously slain by the
O'Dempseys in conjunction with the English planters of the district in 1577. 

   Others of note include Patrick Lalor, a strong Co. Laois farmer and member of Parliament for
that County; James Fintan lalor (1807-1849), the revolutionary, and his brother Peter Lalor
(1823-1889), who led the insurgent miners at Eureka, Australia in the year 1854, subsequently
becoming Minister and Speaker of the Legislative Council for Victoria.