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Connery History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Connery History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

The name Connery has changed considerably in the time that has passed since its genesis. It originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Maolconaire, denoting a descendant of the follower of Conaire. However, this was not the only Gaelic name Anglicized Conroy; others were Ó Conraoi, Mac Conraoi, Ó Conaire, and Ó Conratha. 1

Early Origins of the Connery family

The surname Connery was first found in around Galway Bay, where counties Galway and Clare meet. The Conroys first settled in Lough Corrib and Lough Lurgan, the ancient names of two lakes which now constitute Galway Bay. In modern times, Conrys are also common in Leix and Offaly. There were several different septs whose Gaelic names were Anglicized as Conroy, the most important of which was Ó Maolconaire.

They held a family seat in the parish of Clooncraff, near Strokestown in the county of Roscommon. They used the Anglicized form O'Mulconry, which was later shortened to Conry, and were distinguished as hereditary poets and historians to the kings of Connacht. One of the most significant members of this sept was Fearfasa O'Mulconry, who, with three of the O'Clerys, compiled the "Annals of the Four Masters" in 1636.

Also belonging to this sept was Maurice O'Mulconry, who completed a magnificent copy of the Book of Fenagh in 1517. Other septs who took the name Conroy included the O Conraoisept of Ui Maine, occupying territory in east Galway and south Roscommon, and also the Mac Conraoisept of Moycullen, who were found near the lakes of Lough Corrib and Lough Lurgan, now the Bay of Galway.

The surname King was often erroneously used during the late 17th and 18th century as an Anglicized form of several of these names, due to the similarity in sound between them and the Gaelic words Mac an Righ, which means 'son of the King.' This was particularly true among the MacConroys of Moycullen, who changed the name of their ancestral seat from Ballymaconry to Kingstown.

Early History of the Connery family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Connery research. Another 188 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1560, 1561, 1616, 1620, 1629, 1641 and 1686 are included under the topic Early Connery History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Connery Spelling Variations

Individual scribes in the Ireland during the Middle Ages would often record a person's name various ways. How the name was recorded depended on what that particular scribe believed the proper spelling for the name pronounced to him was. Spelling variations revealed in the search for the origin of the Connery family name include Conroy, Conry, Conray, Conrey, O'Conroy, O'Conry, Connery, Conneray, Conneroy, Connroy, Connry and many more.

Early Notables of the Connery family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Most Rev. Florence Conry (1561-1620), Archbishop of Tuam. His name in Irish is Flathri O'Moelchonaire, and he was a native of Connaught. "After receiving a suitable education in Spain and the Netherlands he became a Franciscan friar of the Strict Observance at Salamanca, and he was for some time provincial of his order in Ireland (Sbaralea, Supplementum et Castigafio, p. 238). He was commanded by Clement VIII to return to his native country, to assist by his counsels the army which Philip II had sent to Ireland in support of the rebellious...
Another 208 words (15 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Connery Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Connery Ranking

In the United States, the name Connery is the 17,822^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Connery migration to the United States +

Irish families began to immigrate to British North America and the United States in the 18th century, but the greatest influx of Irish immigrants came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. The earlier settlers came to North America after a great deal of consideration and by paying relatively high fees for their passage. These settlers were primarily drawn by the promise of land. Those later settlers that came during the 1840's were trying to escape the conditions of poverty, starvation, disease, and death that had stricken Ireland. Due to the enormity of their numbers and the late date of their arrival, these immigrants primarily became hired laborers instead of homesteading settlers like their predecessors. An exhaustive search of immigration and passenger lists has revealed many Irish immigrants North America bearing the name Connery:

Connery Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Connery, who arrived in Maryland in 1650 3
Edward Connery, who arrived in Maryland in 1659 3

Connery Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John Connery, who landed in America in 1803 3
Edmond Connery, aged 28, who landed in Missouri in 1839 3
Michael Connery, aged 21, who landed in New York in 1854 3

Connery migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Connery Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Miss. Nelly Connery, aged 16 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Roseanne" departing from the port of Cork, Ireland but died on Grosse Isle in August 1847 4
Mr. Thomas Connery, aged 17 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "Triton" departing from the port of Liverpool, England but died on Grosse Isle in July 1847 4

Connery migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Connery Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. John Connery, (b. 1806), aged 32, Irish labourer who was convicted in Waterford, Ireland for 14 years, transported aboard the "Elphinstone" on 29th December 1838, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1851 5
Mr. Patrick Connery, (b. 1807), aged 31, Irish labourer who was convicted in Waterford, Ireland for 14 years, transported aboard the "Elphinstone" on 29th December 1838, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1880 5
Anne Connery, aged 19, a servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1854 aboard the ship "Confiance" 6

Connery migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Connery Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Patrick Connery, aged 40, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Woodlark" in 1874
Catherine Connery, aged 27, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Woodlark" in 1874
Richard Connery, aged 11, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Woodlark" in 1874
Mary Connery, aged 7, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Woodlark" in 1874
William Connery, aged 5, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Woodlark" in 1874
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Connery (post 1700) +

Sir Thomas Sean Connery (1930-2020), Scottish Academy Award, two-time BAFTA Award and three-time Golden Globe Award winning actor, perhaps best known for his roles in the James Bond movies
Lawrence Joseph Connery (1895-1941), American politician, United States Representative from Massachusetts (1937-1941)
William Patrick Connery Jr. (1888-1937), American politician, United States Representative from Massachusetts (1923-1937)
Thomas F. Connery, American Democratic Party politician, Member of New Jersey State Senate from Gloucester County, 1960-64; Defeated, 1963 7
Robert Connery Sr., American politician, Representative from Arizona 5th District, 1998 7
Paul R. Connery, American Democratic Party politician, Member of Connecticut State House of Representatives from Redding; Elected 1918; Member of Connecticut Democratic State Central Committee, 1940 7
Michael Connery, American Democratic Party politician, Member of Connecticut State House of Representatives from Redding; Defeated, 1902; Elected 1906, 1908, 1920; Defeated, 1926 7
Lawrence Joseph Connery (1895-1941), American Democratic Party politician, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts 7th District, 1937-41 7
John T. Connery, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Illinois, 1908, 1924 7
James F. Connery, American politician, Mayor of Middletown, Connecticut, 1920-22, 1941 7
... (Another 10 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Connery family +

North Sea Flood

Marie Connery, British traveler aboard the ferry "Princess Victoria" killed in the North Sea Flood, a major storm surge in 1953
Mary Connery, British traveler aboard the ferry "Princess Victoria" killed in the North Sea Flood, a major storm surge in 1953

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, Supplement to Irish Families. Baltimore: Genealogical Book Company, 1964. Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 20)
Convict Records Australia. Retrieved on 18th March 2022 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/elphinstone
South Australian Register Wednesday 13th September 1854. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Confiance 1854. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/confiance1854.shtml
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 12) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html