The Anglo-Norman surname Saint John, almost always rendered St John, though sometimes Singen, is not in The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Mac Lysaght's The Surnames of Ire- land says it has been in Co Tipperary since the 13th century and had to a considerable extent become hibernicised, and Sean de Bhulbh's Sloinnte na hEireann - Surnames of Ireland gives Suingean as its Irish. Of the 43 St John entries in the telephone directories, 24 are in Munster, half of which are in Co Tipperary, with eight of these in the Thurles area.
In 1377 the Wexford branch of the St Johns, the descendants of John St John, bishop of Ferns 1223-53, was in possession of Tilladavin in the Co Wexford parish of Tomhaggard. Geoffrey St John succeeded John as bishop, and Nicholas de St John was archdeacon of Ferns. Successive members were on land at Tacumshin and Bally more, and John de St John was constable of Wexford Castle and sheriff of Wexford in 1322. In 1472 David de St John brought a plea before parliament that he had been ousted from a house and 100 acres of land in Taghmohaggyr and a house and three ploughlands in Monsyn. (Taghmohaggyr is an earlier form of Tomhaggard).
The Ormond Deeds list John Sentjohn alias Fitzjohn of Skadanstown/Scaddanstown in 1542, at which time William St John was among the listed noblemen, gentlemen, and freeholders of the Liberty of Tipperary. From 1548 onwards St Johns were listed at Carrigeen, Cloghmon, Roan and Lismoynan in the Co Tipperary parish of St Johnstown. The Irish Fiants of the Tudor Sovereigns (1521-1603), list this surname 30 times from 1566 to 1603. They were variously described as horsemen, gentlemen, yeomen, and labourers, from Lysnevyn, Cuolaghe, Ballynennan, Kyldenale, Lisemoynan, Mocklerstown, Drummonie and Culebagegh, but most frequently from Scaddanstown and Mortlestown (Baile an Mhoirtealaigh, from the surname Mortell).
The 1659 Census of Ireland lists St John among the principal Irish names in the Co Tipperary baronies of Slievardagh and Middlethird, and Griffith's Primary Valuation (1852) for Co Tipperary shows this surname to be still most numerous in those two baronies, particularly in the parishes of Ballingarry, Boulick and Graystown.
A Mrs St John was guardian of Ellen Meagher, a young orphan girl in Fethard, Co Tipperary, for some period prior to 1680, in which year Ellen met Robert Jolley, a private in an English regiment stationed at Fethard. The young pair soon entered into a promise of marriage but unhappily he was ordered off on foreign service. Ellen, seeking a change of scene, went to London accompanied by a young English lady, where she met and married an old Jew of fabulous wealth. He died a couple of days after making her sole heiress and executrix of his princely fortune. (Fethard, its Abbey & c.: J. A. Knowles, 1903). "Passing one day by a barracks in London, she noticed a soldier on guard, whom her quick eye readily recognised as her quondam lover." She purchased his discharge from the army, married him, and both returned to Ireland with their riches to reside in Knockelly Castle, near Fethard. Their three daughters married into some of the "best" families in the county. Robert died in 1709 and was interred in "the Jolly monument" in the Protestant church of Fethard. Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) notes the ruined castle of Knockelly.
The surname Joll(e)y or Joly is on record in Ireland since the 16th century, it being derived from the French jolliffe, festive. Possibly the first to come to Ireland was Henry Jolly, gent of Dublin, who was granted the office of master gunner in 1595. This name also occurred among Huguenots in 18th century Dublin, and it is likely the land-owing Jolys noted in Owners of Land of One Acre and Upwards (1876) were Huguenots. They had good-sized holdings in Cos Kildare, Offaly, Meath and Clare. The single St John holding was the 697 acres at the Hermitage, Co Kilkenny.
In 1733 one Robert Martin, when passing a Galway coffee-house cum billiard-room was hit by an expectoration emanating with velocity from within. Believing it to be a deliberate insult, despite an apology from the culprit, one Captain Southwell, he demanded "further satisfaction", in the form of a duel. While Southwell went to fetch his sword, Lieut Henry Jolly, his billiard opponent, made some smart remarks and was attacked by Martin. He attempted to defend himself by holding up a chair, which Martin repeatedly pierced the chair and fatally wounded Jolly.
Current telephone directories entries list Jolly 14 (Leinster and Munster), Jolley 31, mainly in Dublin, and four Jolys in Dublin.