Show ContentsGormally History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Irish surnames are all based on the Gaelic language native to Ireland. The original Gaelic form of the name Gormally is "O Gormghaile" in Connacht, or "O Goirmleadhaigh" in Ulster.

Early Origins of the Gormally family

The surname Gormally was first found in County Donegal (Irish: Dún na nGall), northwest Ireland in the province of Ulster, sometimes referred to as County Tyrconnel, where the Gormally family held a seat from very ancient times.

Early History of the Gormally family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gormally research. Another 208 words (15 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gormally History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gormally Spelling Variations

Many spelling variations of the surname Gormally can be found in the archives. One reason for these variations is that ancient scribes and church officials recorded names as they were pronounced, often resulting in a single person being recorded under several different spellings. The different spellings that were found include Gormley, O'Gormley, Grehan, Gormleigh, Gormly, Gormlie, Grimes and many more.

Early Notables of the Gormally family

More information is included under the topic Early Gormally Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Gormally migration to the United States +

In the 19th century, thousands of Irish left their English-occupied homeland for North America. Like most new world settlers, the Irish initially settled on the eastern shores of the continent but began to move westward with the promise of owning land. The height of this Irish migration came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. With apparently nothing to lose, Irish people left on ships bound for North America and Australia. Unfortunately a great many of these passengers lost their lives - the only thing many had left - to disease, starvation, and accidents during the long and dangerous journey. Those who did safely arrive in "the land of opportunities" were often used for the hard labor of building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. The Irish were critical to the quick development of the infrastructure of the United States and Canada. Passenger and immigration lists indicate that members of the Gormally family came to North America quite early:

Gormally Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Margaret Gormally, aged 37, who landed in New York, NY in 1848 [1]
  • Mary Gormally, aged 36, who arrived in New York NY in 1848 [1]


  1. 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)


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