Dillon

The Dillons have always played a prominent part in Irish history. The name is of Hiberno-Norman origins, and is particularly widespread in counties Meath, Roscommon and Westmeath. In Co Westmeath, the Dillons once owned so much land that it was referred to as Dillon's County. The first person to come to Ireland with the name was Sir Henry de Leon, from a small town of the same name in Britanny, France. He arrived in 1185, immediately after the Anglo-Norman invasion, to act as secretary to Prince, later King, John of England and France. Over the years, the name has become accepted as an Irish rather than a Norman name: in Irish it is Ó Duilleáin. The present representative of the Viscomtes Dillon, a title created in 1622, is Henry, 22nd Viscount of Costello-Galen and Count of France. He was born in 1973 and lives in London.

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