Show ContentsShene History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

All Irish surnames have a unique and often romantic meaning. The name Shene originally appeared in Gaelic as Mac Seain, which translates as son of John.

Early Origins of the Shene family

The surname Shene was first found in County Kerry (Irish:Ciarraí) part of the former County Desmond (14th-17th centuries), located in Southwestern Ireland, in Munster province, where they were granted lands by Strongbow when he invaded Ireland in 1172.

Early History of the Shene family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shene research. Another 97 words (7 lines of text) covering the year 1750 is included under the topic Early Shene History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shene 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 Shene family name include McShane, McShain, McShaen, MacShane, MacShain, MacShaen, MacCheyne, McCheyne, McSheyne, MacSheyne, McCheine, McChain, MacCheine, MacChain, McChein, McShaney, McShanie and many more.

Early Notables of the Shene family

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


United States Shene 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 Shene:

Shene Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • George Shene, who arrived in South Carolina in 1761 [1]
Shene Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • John Shene, aged 26, who landed in New York in 1812 [1]

Contemporary Notables of the name Shene (post 1700) +

  • John Shene (1901-1968), American bobsledder who competed in the four-man event at the 1936 Winter Olympics


  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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