Dowling (surname)

Dowling is an Irish surname. It is an anglicised form representing two unrelated clans:
1 – Ó Dúnlaing, noted as one of the seven septs of County Laois, the ancestral home called "Fearann ua n-Dúnlaing" (O'Dowling's Country). The Irish form of the name is Ní Dhúnlaing (unmarried female), Ó Dúnlaing (male) or [Bean] Uí Dhúnlaing (married female).
2 – Ó Dubhlainn, a minor family of County Galway, represented by Richard William Dowling (1838–1867), American Confederate officer.