Kinsella is a surname of Irish Gaelic origin, developed from the original form Cinnsealach, meaning "proud".[1] The Kinsella sept is native in part of the modern County Wexford in Leinster, a district formerly called the Kinsellaghs.[1] The oldest documentary mention of the surname appears in the Ancient Records of Leinster, dated to 1170, where the son of the King of Leinster is named as Enna Cinsealach.[1] Originally pronounced /ˈkɪnsələ/KIN-səl-ə, it is also often found pronounced /kɪnˈsɛlə/kihn-SEL-lə (especially in Australia and New Zealand). This surname is most often found in Ireland, Northern Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the Kinsellas were one of the chiefly families of the Uí Ceinnselaig who in turn were a tribe from the Dumnonii or Laigin who were the third wave of Celts to settle in Ireland during the first century BC.[2] The Kinsellas as one of the chiefly families of the Uí Ceinnselaig is supported by John O'Hart in his 1892 Irish Pedigrees; or, The Origin and Stem of The Irish Nation who gives the spelling as Kinselagh.[3]
This page lists people with the surnameKinsella. If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.
