| ![Show Contents]() McLarry History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 Ireland The name McLarry originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Cleirigh, from the word "cleireach," which means "clerk" or "cleric." 1 The name denotes a descendant of Cleireach, who was born around 820 AD, and descended from Guaire the Hospitable, the famous king of Connacht. Early Origins of the McLarry familyThe surname McLarry was first found in County Galway. A descendent of Guaire, Cleireach, the namesake of the O'Clerys, was born around 820 AD, about two hundred years before hereditary surnames came into general use. 2 However, the name O'Clery first appeared around 950 AD, making it one of the earliest recorded hereditary surnames. The O'Clerys were the dominant sept in what is now the diocese of Kilmacduagh in the county of Galway, but declined in power until they were forced out of their original territory by the mid-13th century. The most important branch of the family settled in Counties Derry and Donegal and became prominent historians and poets. The branch that settled in County Cavan has seemingly all but vanished. However, the English surname Clarke has been widely substituted for O'Clery there, following the Plantation of Ulster, and many Irish Clarkes may actually be O'Clerys, rather than descendants of English settlers. Another branch is still fairly common in the counties of Kilkenny, Waterford, and Tipperary. The name is presently found mostly in Munster and Dublin. Early History of the McLarry familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our McLarry research. Another 96 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1450, 1507, 1636, 1781 and 1860 are included under the topic Early McLarry History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. McLarry Spelling VariationsScribes recorded people's names as they saw fit. As a result, surnames often had many spelling variations. For McLarry some of these variations included: Clery, Cleary, Claree, Clarey, Cleare, Clearey, Clerey, O'Cleary, O'Clery, Macchlery, Clerkin, Clark and many more. Early Notables of the McLarry familyAnother 42 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early McLarry Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
 McLarry migration to the United States | + |
In the 18th and 19th centuries hundreds of thousands of Irish people immigrated to North American shores. The early settlers were enticed by the promise of their own land, but they were moderately well off in Ireland when they decided to emigrate. Therefore, they were merely carrying out a long and carefully thought out decision. The 1840s saw the emergence of a very different trend: thousands of extremely desperate people crammed into passenger boats hoping to find any type of opportunity. The Irish of this decade had seen their homeland severely stricken by crop failures which resulted in widespread disease and starvation. At whatever time the Irish immigrants came to North America, they were instrumental in the rapid development of the emerging nations of the United States and what would become known as Canada. An exhaustive search of passenger and immigration lists has revealed many persons bearing the name McLarry, or one of its variants:
McLarry Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- Ment McLarry, aged 44, who settled in America, in 1893
McLarry Settlers in United States in the 20th Century- Michael McLarry, aged 21, who landed in America from County Tipperary, Ireland, in 1906
- Robert McLarry, aged 21, who immigrated to the United States from Manorhamilton, Ireland, in 1907
- James McLarry, aged 21, who immigrated to the United States from Manorhamilton, Ireland, in 1907
- John Martin McLarry, aged 28, who landed in America from Southampton, England, in 1912
- Hugh McLarry, aged 31, who landed in America from Glasgow, Scotland, in 1923
| Contemporary Notables of the name McLarry (post 1700) | + |
- Royce McLarry, Principal Violist of the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra
- MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
- MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
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McLarry migration to the United States 
