Douney History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland
• Scotland

Early Origins of the Douney family

Early History of the Douney family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Douney research. Another 189 words (14 lines of text) covering the year 1420 is included under the topic Early Douney History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Douney Spelling Variations

Those scribes in Ireland during the Middle Ages recorded names as they sounded. Consequently, in this era many people were recorded under different spellings each time their name was written down. Research on the Douney family name revealed numerous spelling variations, including O'Downey, Dawney, MacDowney, MacEldowney, Muldowney and many more.

Early Notables of the Douney family

Notable among the family name at this time was the O'Dunadhaigh sept found in Luchair, the old name of a region that lay on the borders of...
Another 26 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Douney Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Douney family

During the 19th century thousands of impoverished Irish families made the long journey to British North America and the United States. These people were leaving a land that had become beset with poverty, lack of opportunity, and hunger. In North America, they hoped to find land, work, and political and religious freedoms. Although the majority of the immigrants that survived the long sea passage did make these discoveries, it was not without much perseverance and hard work: by the mid-19th century land suitable for agriculture was short supply, especially in British North America, in the east; the work available was generally low paying and physically taxing construction or factory work; and the English stereotypes concerning the Irish, although less frequent and vehement, were, nevertheless, present in the land of freedom, liberty, and equality for all men. The largest influx of Irish settlers occurred with Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s. Research into passenger and immigration lists has brought forth evidence of the early members of the Douney family in North America: James Downey who went to Pennsylvania in 1711; Brian Dawney arrived in Virginia in 1722; Elizabeth Downey went to Philadelphia in 1745; William Downey settled in New York in 1777.