The surname Lawless is formed from the old English word Laghles, meaning an outlaw. When the army of King Henry II landed at Waterford in 1171, amongst his knights was Sir Hugh de Laighleis of Hoddesdon, Herefordshire. Mac Firbhis records Sir William Lawless, son of Robert, son of William, son of Nicholas, was the chief of the Lawless, whom William de Burgh granted lands from Fearsaid Treise to Tráigh Mhurbhaigh, that is, from Lacken to Rathfran, in County Mayo, with the seat of the Lawless estate being Castlenageeha.
Ancient Territory: By the mid-fourteenth century, the Lawless had been ejected from Connacht, after which the name appears frequently in medieval records up to the end of the sixteenth century throughout Leinster and Munster, particularly in County Kilkenny. In due course, they became one of the 'Ten Tribes of Kilkenny'.