Shay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

To escape the religious and political discrimination they experienced primarily at the hands of the English, thousands of Irish left their homeland in the 19th century. These migrants typically settled in communities throughout the East Coast of North America, but also joined the wagon trains moving out to the Midwest. Ironically, when the American War of Independence began, many Irish settlers took the side of England, and at the war's conclusion moved north to Canada. These United Empire Loyalists, were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Other Irish immigrants settled in Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, however, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America and Australia. Many of those numbers, however, did not live through the long sea passage. These Irish settlers to North America were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name Shay or a variant listed above, including:

Shay Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

• John L Shay, aged 15, who landed in North Carolina in 1812 3
• Mary Shay, aged 20, who arrived in America in 1821 3
• Andw Shay, aged 26, who arrived in America in 1821 3
• Timothy Shay, who arrived in New York in 1850 3
• William Shay, who arrived in New York in 1851 3
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Shay Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

• James Shay, who arrived in Quebec in 1849

Shay Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

• Mr. John Shay, English convict who was convicted in Bath, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "David Clarke" on 3rd June 1841, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 4

• Gene Shay (1935-2020), born Ivan Shaner, an American radio personality
• Art Shay (1922-2018), American photographer and writer from the Bronx, New York
• Jerry Shay (b. 1944), former American NFL football player
• Ephraim Shay (1839-1916), American Inventor, entrepreneur, eponym of the Shay locomotive
• Dorothy Shay (1921-1978), American popular comedic recording artist
• Jennifer Mary Shay OC (b. 1930), Canadian academic and ecologist
• Lewis Shay McGugan (b. 1988), English footballer
• Richard Shay Whitson (b. 1986), American professional mixed martial arts fighter
• Shay Healy (1943-2021), Irish songwriter, broadcaster and journalist. He is best known for his role as host of Nighthawks, a RTÉ Television chat show of the late 1980s
• Shay Duffin (1931-2010), Irish-born American character actor of the stage and screen, known for The Departed (2006), Titanic (1997) and Raging Bull (1980)

• Shay Families with Roots in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania by Thomas P. Shay.