On my father's side, the name Hyland comes from the native Gaelic O'hAoileáin Sept, which is usually a form of O Faoláin, from the Irish word faol, meaning wolf. Other anglicisations of this same name are Whelan and Phelan. These Septs were located mainly in the provinces of Munster and Connaught.

On my mother's side is the Deegan family, I am currentley researching the origins of the name.

My own family come from the Dublin area. Both my mother and father were economically displaced from their country in search of employment as there wasn't much in the way of work home in Ireland. They were married and returned to Ireland to my mother's family, and tried to make a go of it, but the employment situation at that time was bleak. We set sail for South Africa at some point around ''62 or '63 and my dad tried to make a life for us there. Being Irish, he was virtually unaware of the prejudicial situation there, and after two eye-opening years we returned to England and then Ireland, to try once again. The Irish economy was still suffering the country's past and work and finances were bleak. The family emigrated to Canada in 1966 I was raised and educated there.