by Roger Nowlan, Webmaster and Nolan Clan Member

A New Focus for the Website (Oct. 2025 update)

Reflecting upon the first incarnation of the NolanFamilies.org website back in 2004 and the many new Internet-based services which have come online since then, I see that the goal of this website needs to change from that of being a repository of information to being a focal point for Nolan researchers across the globe.

It still makes sense to store some information of Nolan-interest at this website, but only information which is not available elsewhere such as family stories or memorial inscriptions.

Family Stories

Most of the information found in this knowledge base has not made its way to other information platforms such as Wikitree.com. Given this fact, in the meantime, it would be good to add a Wikitree link, if it exists, for each family identified in this knowledge base.

Memorials in Ireland

Similarly, most of the information found in this website’s memorials knowledge base has not found its way to other online gravesite websites such as Interment.net etc. it makes sense to maintain this knowledge base and even to expand it. There are still many parts of Ireland where Nolans are buried and it would be good to add to this knowledge base pictures of tombstones and transcriptions for these areas.

Research Articles

Not all articles which appeared in past Nolan Clan Newsletters (1996-2018) have been ported to this website’s fully-searchable “Research Articles” knowledge and porting will continue as time permits.

Visitors to this website and members of the NolanFamilies Research Group are encouraged to make submissions as time permits. Just Contact Roger.

Research Links

Visitors to the website and members of the NolanFamilies Research Group are encouraged to make submissions as time permits. Just Contact Roger.

Research Tidbits

Since the advent of the new millenium many new information sources have come online not to mention advances in DNA-related genealogical research. It is now becoming increasingly apparent that individuals bearing a particular surname such as Nolan have distant cousins with other surnames dating back to the time before the adoption of surnames around 900 AD. For example, having had a Big-Y DNA test done for myself, I now know that my own Nolan line is related to the main Carlow Nolan line around 750 AD and, further back, to the Cullen and Kealey families in the Ballon Village area. Discoveries like this indicate that our identity as a people from time immemorial is not limited to just the Nolan surname.

Visitors to the website and members of the NolanFamilies Research Group are encouraged to make submissions as time permits. Just Contact Roger.

Nolan Book (October 2025 update)

The first ever published Nolan family history book was published under the auspices of the Nolan Clan in the Millenium year (2000) and is entitled “O Nolan – the History of a People”  by Art Kavanagh and Fr John Nolan.  

It is still available from Amazon and a valuable contribution to our understanding of Nolan family history. However, in my opinion, it is lacking on several fronts, most notably in its coverage of the history Nolan families living outside of Leinster province and elesewhere in the world.

Around 2018, after divesting myself of the duties of Nolan Clan Newsletter editor, having served from 2004 to 2018, I decided that it was time to tackle the task of writing an updated, more comprehensive Nolan family history book, essentially following in the footsteps of Fr. John Nolan of Kirkcubbin who wrote the original manuscripts which served as the basis for the Nolan book published in the Millenium year.

In this new book as I envisioned it, I hoped to:

• shed light on the ancient origins of all known Nolan families (O Nuallain, O hUllachain, Nolan, Nowland, Noland, Nolins,  Knollin, Naulin,  …)

• provide an improved understanding of the forces and historical events which drove many Nolan families to immigrate

• provide an improved understanding of the forces and historical events which drove many Nolan families to immigrate

• document the story of many early Nolans who left Ireland and resettled in other parts of the world.

Some 7 years later, somewhat humbled by advancing age, new information sources (e.g. old books now online, DNA), new publication practices (e.g. Wikipedia) and the growing realization that collectively we are just beginning to scratch the surface in terms of understanding the roots of the many Nolan family lines spread around the globe, I have decided to alter my approacto the writing of an updated Nolan family history book in paper form by 2025.

Instead of focusing on the writing of a close to final copy version, I am now switching my attention to writing and collecting Nolan-specific research articles until such time that I coinsider that the many deficiencies and lack of scope of the first Nolan history book have been sufficiently addressed to warrant the writing and publication in paper form of a new Nolan history book.  

Until such time I will post my research findings and those of others in the website’s “Research Articles” knowledge base. If you would like to join myself and other family researchers on this voyage of discovery I invite you to join the online NolanFamilies Research Group which I recently set up (2023) to help in this endeavour.

To inpire the writing of a new book below is a suggested cover for this eventual new book!