Ó, in Irish surnames, indicates a descendant of the person whose
given name it precedes (as in
Ó Briain:
[descendant] of Brian). Creachmhaoil is not used as a given name in Ireland, and is instead a
toponym - composed of two Irish (Gaelic) words.
Creach, which is related to
craig, and
creag, and the English word
crag, referring to a rock. Together with the word
maoil (a hill). An alternate etymology of
creach is
plunder, presumably in reference to herds of cattle, which were often targets of thefts and cattle raids amongst the Gaels. The usual Gaelic word for cattle is
crodh, often Anglicised in place-names as
crow, although the words
cro,
crocharsach, and
crò are all connected with sheep, sheep enclosures or meadows. A
maol is a round-shaped hill or mountain, bare of trees. It is anglicised as
mull, and is common in Irish and Scottish place names such as the
Mull of Kintyre. The complete toponym is used, today, to connote the village in Galway, but may have been adopted from a nearby hill. The village is too small to have been known far afield, and the surname is largely restricted in Ireland to County Galway.
Ó Creachmhaoil, therefore, is presumably a
toponymic surname adopted by villagers from Creachmhaoil (meaning "of Creachmhaoil") upon their moving to other areas. ==History==