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.

...
Wikipedia