Genealogy Chat

Surname: Reilly
This famous clan surname is Irish. The twelth most numerous name in Ireland, it originates from Raghailligh, the grandson of Conchobhar, king of Connacht in the 10th century, and founder of the clan O'Connor. As such the O'Reillys are kinsmen of the O'Connor's. Traditionally, Irish family names are taken from the heads of tribes or as in this case from some illustrious warrior. They are usually prefixed by O' meaning grandson or male descendant of, or Mac denoting "son of". The O'Reilly territory was around Lough Oughter in County Cavan and as they increased their strength, they extended their territory to County Westmeath and Longford. The Franciscan Abbey of Cavan was founded by Giolla Iosa O'Reilly, and over the centuries there have been no less than thirty nine O'Reilly abbots, whilst five have been as Archbishops of Armagh, primates of All Ireland. The celebrated Count Alexander O'Reilly from County Meath distinguished himself first in the Austrian service and then in the Spanish army, and finally as Governor of the French colony of Louisiana where he died in 1797. The O'Reillys have a reputation as astute financiers. In the 15th Century, they devised their own coinage, and a "Reilly" came to signify a coin of useful value. The Coat of Arms most associated with the family is a green shield with two gold lions rampant combatant, supporting a dexter hand couped at the wrist erect and apaumee bloody proper. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Cathal O'Reilly, Prince of Breffny, which was dated 1237, in the records of Lough Oughter Monastery, County Cavan.

Surname: Conway
This interesting surname has at least four possible different ational origins, and is almost certainly, for most nameholders, not what its seems. That it is often locational is unarguable, but it is not usually, as is generally believed from the town of Conwy on the north coast of Wales. The first recording from that source is in 1406, one hundred and fifty years after the first 'English' recording, see below. However in a sense the nameholders of English and Welsh origins do have a shared ancestry in that they both derive from the Olde English pre 7th century 'Cam yea' meaning crooked river, various streams being so named in the English West Country in medieval times. The Scottish name holders probably derive from the hamlet of Conway in the parish of Beautly. This place was recorded as "Coneway" in the 1215 rolls. In this case the name is a claimed anglicisation of the Gaelic "Coinmheadh" which translates as "free quarter", implying a district in which troops were billeted on the local inhabitants. This is an interesting observation, although its accuracy must be open to doubt. It was the normal practise to billet troops by 'free quarter' at anytime. In Ireland "Conway" is often an anglicized form of several Irish names, such as Mac Connmhaigh, a byname meaning "Head Smasher"(!) or Mac Connbhuidhe, - the "Yellow Hound", another interesting nickname. The (Mac) Conway sept belonged to counties Clare, Limerick and Tipperary. In 1360, the Annals of the Four Masters record the death of one Gillangnaer O' Connmhaigh. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de Conweye. which was dated 1268, in the "Chartulary of Glastonbury", Somerset. during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Surname: Campion
This interesting name, with variant spellings Campion, Campione, Champion, Champain and Championnet, has two distinct possible origins, the first and most likely being an occupational name for a professional Champion, deriving from the Old Norman-French "campiun" or "campion" (Old French "champiun"), a champion or professional fighter employed to represent one of the parties to a suit in a trial by combat. (In an ordeal by battle the accuser and the accused took the field themselves). The surname is believed to have been introduced into England by followers of William the Conqueror after the Norman Invasion of 1066. Early recordings of the surname include: Herbert Campion (Hampshire, 1148); Geoffrey Champiun (Northamptonshire, 1154); Roger le Campion (Oxfordshire, 1197); and William le Champiun (Suffolk, 1220). The second possibility is that the name is locational from a place in Picardy (Northern France), called Compiegne. A family of the name in Witham, Essex, claim descent from the noble recorded below who accompanied Robert 11, Duke of Normandy, on the First Crusade. One member of this family was Edmund Campion (1540 - 1581), the Jesuit Martyr. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Nicole de Campion, which was dated 1096 - 1099, in "Records of the First Crusade", during the reign of King William 11, known as "Rufus", 1087 - 1100. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Surname: Ruane
This notable Irish surname is an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic "O'Ruadhain", which translates as "the descendant of the red one". It is not proven whether "Ruadhan" (red) refers to complexion or hair, or to some notable event relating to the prowess of a warrior, but either way it is a descriptive nickname from the pre-medieval period. The clan originated in the two ancient areas known as Ui Maine and Ui Fiachrach, in Counties Mayo and Galway respectively, and even today, with some exceptions, these remain the principle places associated with Ruane. The 16th Century Elizabethan land Registers and the 1659 Petty's "census" of Ireland give the then spelling as mainly "O'Rowane" and "O'Rowghan", although there are many forms including O'Rowan, Rown, Roan and Rowan. An early example was Morietagh O'Rowane of Ballinvalle, County Wexford, who received a royal pardon on June 10th 1584; he was described as a "Gentleman". The O'Rowans of County Mayo were also described as "persons of property" in 1659, although this description would probably not have been given to Timothy Ruane, aged 22 yrs., of County Galway, who was one of the famine emigrants leaving on the ship "Barlow" of Liverpool, bound for New York in April 1847. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Felix O'Ruadhain, Archbishop of Tuam, County Galway, which was dated 1215, in the "Register of the Irish Prelates in the Vatican", Rome, during the reign of King John of England, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

check before you ask - Hogan and Keane/Caine have been done I'm pretty sure - trawl back through

Ann

Dorothy - this is not a Trying to Find thread, it's a surname origins thread - best put yours on Trying to Find - it will get lost in amongst this thread

Ann X

HI TERESA I HAVE KEANE,REILLY AND CONWAY ANYTHING WOULD BE HELPFULL MANY THANKS

any info on patrick o'melia born somewhere in ireland d o b 1830 also patrick 1839

hi ther i have
callaghan
keane/caine
hart
cawley
tulley
ruane
thank you

I have a few Irish names so any info would be helpful:

Clinton
Hogan
Campion
O'Hallowin (not sure if this is spelt correctly by my ancestor!)

Many thanks

Jill

Thanks Ann of Green Gables for the info on Comer, very interesting. I will go into the web site.

somerset man

McKEOWN and LYNN can both be found on here.

http://www.surnamedb.com/index.aspx

no worries - I enjoy it!!

Ann.....Thanks for keeping this thread going.

Sorry I haven't been on here for a while, but my computer was 'capput' for over a week and I've been busy down loading everything on to CD's before it goes 'capput' again. Looks like I will have to fork out for a new one as my hard drive is the problem and its getting old now. Not just me using my computer but the whole family..what a nightmare.
Hope to be back on here later.

Teresa

Hennessey

Ir. surname, from O'(h)Aonghusa "descendant of Aonghus" ("one-choice").

Surname: Hennessey
Sorry we have yet to research the origin of the surname Hennessey

But don't despair :-) We still endeavour to research about 10 surnames a month. To make sure that we can serve as many people as possible we have a scheme for researching the names with the most interest.

We measure this by the number of people watching a surname, we will research the names from the top of this list. So register with us and add the surnames your interested in to your watch list, and we will email you when these names get updated.

Surname: Deveraux
Recorded in many spellings forms (see below) and including the anglicised versions of Deverick(s) and Deverock, this very interesting surname is of Norman-French origin. Introduced into England at the Conquest of 1066, it is a locational name from the town of Evreux, in the department of Eure, Normandy. The place is so called from having apparently been the capital of the "Eburovices", a Gaulish tribe of the pre 7th century, whilst the tribal name which gave rise to the later surname derives from the river name "Ebura" (now the Eure), meaninmg the yew trees. Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, or in this case another country, and were most easily identified by the name of their birthplace. The surname in England is first recorded in the latter half of the 11th Century (see below), and has many spellings ranging from Everist, Everix, Everiss and Evreux to Deveraux, Devereu, and Deverose. Early examples of the surname recording include: Walter de Eureus in the 1159 Pipe Rolls of the county of Herefordshire, and Stephen de Euereus in the Memoranda Rolls of Worcestershire for the year 1199. Later recordings of the surname from surviving church registers include: the marriage of Ellyn Everest and Edward Pullinger, at the church of St Margaret Pattens in the city of London, on September 14th 1590, Walter Devorux, who married Sara Mahama (?) at the church of St Mary Lothbury, and in the same year Gilbert Devoricke was a witness at the famous church of St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on November 29th. Other recordings include the marriage of Recherd Everest and Grace Knevet, on December 19th 1605, at St. Mary Somerset, and John Deverick at St Pancras Old Church, also city of London, on January 30th 1831. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger de Ebrois, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Norfolk. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Thank you Teresa for looking up for Comer it must be a very uncommon name Patricia

Do you have anything on Devery or Devereaux?

hello, could you look at HENNESSEY for me.
thanks
olliepolly