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Anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic 'O Suilleabhain', meaning 'descendant of Suileabhan', where 'Suileabhan' is composed of 'suil' (eye) and 'dubhan' (dark, little dark one) — giving the literal sense of 'dark-eyed one'. The O'Sullivans were the dominant Gaelic lords of southwest Munster, ruling over large territories in Counties Kerry and Cork, and after the collapse of Gaelic power in the seventeenth century they dispersed throughout Ireland and the Irish diaspora. The name remains overwhelmingly concentrated in County Cork and County Kerry.