Killelea is an Irish

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 surname

Surname

A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...

 found originally in County Galway

Galway

Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...

, documented from Elizabethan times at least. The current spelling is an Anglicization of an older Irish Gaelic form, probably Mac Giolla Leigh or Mac Giolla Leith. Variant spellings include Killilea, Killalea, Killela, Kilalea and Kellelea.

There are approximately 1000 Killeleas in the US and a similar number in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, with smaller numbers in Ireland, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. The Australian Killeleas are mostly the descendants of Edward Killelea the convict, one of the "Kiltormer

Kiltormer

Kiltormer is a village about 8 miles from Ballinasloe and situated in county Galway.-Sport:Kiltormer is best known for winning the All-Ireland Hurling Championship title in 1992, in a 2nd replay at Croke Park on St Patrick's day. Kiltormer were captained by Aidan Staunton.-See also:* List of towns...

 Four" who murdered two brothers in western Ireland in the mid-19th century.

There is an Australian state park named for Edward Killelea.

See also

• Steve Killelea
  Steve Killelea
  Stephen Killelea AM is an Australian IT entrepreneur. He began his career, after doing a crash course in computing and working for a computer manufacturer, by developing a product for computer systems management that became internationally successful and led him to set up a US company, Software...
  
  
• Killelea State Park
• Niamh Kilalea