Feley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

Early Origins of the Feley family

Early History of the Feley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Feley research. Another 127 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1516, 1548, 1555, 1559, 1567 and 1626 are included under the topic Early Feley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Feley Spelling Variations

Before widespread literacy came to Ireland, a name was often recorded under several different variations during the life of its bearer. Accordingly, numerous spelling variations were revealed in the search for the origin of the name Feley family name. Variations found include Feeley, Fealy, Feally, Feely, Fehilly, Fehley, Feley, O'Feeley, O'Feely and many more.

Early Notables of the Feley family

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

Migration of the Feley family

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 Feley or a variant listed above, including: Margaret Fihilly, and her four children who arrived in Charleston Massachusetts in 1803; Michael Feely, whose Oath of Allegiance was recorded in Philadelphia in 1802.