The modern Carroll family is derived from one of two Gaelic roots, McCarroll or O’Carroll, but very predominantly from the latter. The name O’Carroll, in turn, derives from the Gaelic form O’Cearbhaill and there were several separate septs of this name, the most prominent being the O’Carrolls of Ely, who were chiefs of North Tipperary and Offaly.
The other prominent sept was the O’Carrolls of Oriel, from Monaghan and Louth. There were also several other minor septs of the same name.
The O’Carrolls of Ely were a very prominent sept up until the end of the sixteenth century. O’Carroll, one of the Lords of Ely, was one of the leaders of the Irish army at the historic Battle of Clontarf in 1014. In this battle the Irish, led by Brian Boru, finally defeated the Danish Vikings. While one O’Carroll fought on the battlefield, his kinsman Maolsuthain O’Carroll was the chaplain to Brian Boru on the day.
The O’Carrolls of Ely and their allies in Offaly were among the most rebellious of the Irish clans. In the mid-sixteenth century their continued attacks led to an English campaign to confiscate their territories and plant them with English settlers. Although this plantation was only partly successful, it did diminish the power of the O’Carrolls. The name is now most common in the southern counties of Cork, Waterford and Tipperary. The name can be truthfully said to be on the lips of every Irish smoker since the company P.J. Carroll of Dundalk, County Louth is Ireland’s major cigarette manufacturer.
Paul Vincent Carroll (1900-1968) was a prominent Irish playwright born in Dundalk, County Louth. His plays, including Things That Are Caesar’s and Shadow and Substance, were presented at Dublin’s Abbey and Peacock Theaters with great success. The latter play also won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1938 for the best foreign play, and his next work, The White Steed, won the same award the following year.
In the U.S. the Carrolls have achieved great distinction, perhaps most notably through Charles Carroll (1737-1832), a descendant of the Ely O’Carrolls, who was born in Annapolis of a wealthy family. He inherited the Carrollton estate, became a political activist, and was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. He was a U.S. Senator from 1789 to 1792 and became one of the wealthiest and most revered citizens of the new country. At his death he was the last surviving signatory of the Declaration and held almost 80,000 acres of land in Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York. Other prominent members of the Carrollton branch of the family include John Lee Carroll (1830-1911), who was the first Catholic governor of Maryland and Samuel Sprigg Carroll (1832-1893), who was a Union soldier and served with great distinction at many of the battles of the Civil War, including Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg. He rose to the rank of major general before his retirement. In the War of Independence there were 183 Carrolls among the enlisted men and five officers, including Lieutenant John Carroll of Cumberland County Militia (Pa.) and Lieutenant Jonathan Carroll of Learned’s Massachusetts Regiment.
Another Carroll who showed great bravery in the face of an enemy was James Carroll (1854-1907), a bacteriologist involved in the search for the cause and cure of yellow fever. To test a theory that the disease was transmitted by the mosquito, he allowed himself to be bitten by an infected mosquito and contracted the disease. The resulting illness almost killed him but did not stop his studies.
He was a very close associate of Walter Reed and succeeded him as professor of bacteriology and pathology at Columbia University. Howard Carroll (1854-1916), was a New York Times reporter, who also had a fascination with yellow fever. Having covered the ravages of the disease in the South for his paper, he wrote The Mississippi Incident, a very popular account of the effects of the yellow Fever.
A Carroll involved in another Mississippi incident was William Carroll (1788-1844), who was born in Pittsburgh but moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where he became a friend and political associate of Andrew Jackson. As a colonel in the Tennessee Militia he fought in the Creek War and rose to the rank of major general. When alerted to the advance of the British on Louisiana, he raised a force of volunteers and transported them downriver to assist Andrew Jackson in repulsing the British forces at the Battle of New Orleans. Later he became a very distinguished governor of Tennessee for six terms between 1821 and 1835.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the February 1991 issue of Irish America. ♦
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