MacDowney History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland
• Scotland

Early Origins of the MacDowney family

Early History of the MacDowney family

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

MacDowney Spelling Variations

Within the archives researched, many different spelling variations of the surname MacDowney were found. These included One reason for the many variations is that scribes and church officials often spelled an individual's name as it sounded. This imprecise method often led to many versions. O'Downey, Dawney, MacDowney, MacEldowney, Muldowney and many more.

Early Notables of the MacDowney 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 MacDowney Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the MacDowney family

The 19th century saw a great wave of Irish families leaving Ireland for the distant shores of North America and Australia. These families often left their homeland hungry, penniless, and destitute due to the policies of England. Those Irish immigrants that survived the long sea passage initially settled on the eastern seaboard of the continent. Some, however, moved north to a then infant Canada as United Empire Loyalists after ironically serving with the English in the American War of Independence. Others that remained in America later joined the westward migration in search of land. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, though, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America, and those who arrived were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. In fact, the foundations of today's powerful nations of the United States and Canada were to a larger degree built by the Irish. Archival documents indicate that members of the MacDowney family relocated to North American shores quite early: 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.