Conly has been widely used as a variant of Connolly in the Oriel counties and to a less extent in Munster but when found in Offaly it is the name of a Sept belonging to that midland area. There it is Mac Connla.Today it is rare there, but in the sixteenth century it was prominent among the followers of O'Caherney (The Fox). The name is also connected to Ulster: Patrick O'Connley of Dublin, merchant, acquired lands in Co. Donegal in 1626 and Thomas Conley was one of the signatories of the "thanksgiving" manifesto issued at the conclusion of the Siege of Derry in 1688; and in 1632 John Conly obtained grants in Counties Donegal and Fermanagh,