Show ContentsHarlihy History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Harlihy has undergone many variations in the time that has passed since its genesis. In Gaelic it appeared as Ó hUirthile.

Early Origins of the Harlihy family

The surname Harlihy was first found in County Limerick (Irish: Luimneach) located in Southwestern Ireland, in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Early History of the Harlihy family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Harlihy research. Another 84 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1562, 1570 and 1626 are included under the topic Early Harlihy History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Harlihy Spelling Variations

One explanation for the many variations is that scribes and church officials frequently spelled the name as it sounded: an imprecise method at best. Understandably then, various spellings of the surname Harlihy were found in the many archives researched. These included Herlihy, O'Herlihy, Herley, Herly, Hurley, O'Hurley, Murrily and many more.

Early Notables of the Harlihy family

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


United States Harlihy migration to the United States +

Irish immigrants began to leave the English-controlled Ireland in sizable numbers during the late 18th century. Many of these Irish immigrated to British North America or the United States in the hopes of gaining their own tract of farmland. This pattern of migration grew steadily until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine caused a great exodus of immigrants to North America. These immigrants differed from their predecessors in that they were desperately fleeing the disease and starvation that plagued their homeland, and many were entirely destitute when they arrived in North America. Although these penniless immigrants were not warmly welcomed when they arrived, they were critical to the rapid development of the United States and what would become known as Canada. Many went to populate the western frontiers and others provided the cheap labor the new manufacturing sector and the building of bridges, roads, railways, and canals required. A thorough examination of immigration and passenger lists has revealed some of the earliest people to arrive in North America with name Harlihy or one of its variants:

Harlihy Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Daniel Harlihy, who landed in New York, NY in 1827 [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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