All Irish surnames have a unique and often romantic meaning. The name O'Dayw originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Deaghaidh or Ó Diaghaidh. 1
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Early Origins of the O'Dayw family
The surname O'Dayw was first found in County Clare (Irish: An Clár) located on the west coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where O'Dea was chief of Dysart-O'Dea, now the parish of Dysart, barony of Inchiquin, one of the original chiefs and clans of ancient Thomond. Today Dysert O'Dea Castle still stands near Corofin, County Clare with its Romanesque Doorway and High Cross and was the site of the Battle of Dysert O'Dea in 1318. It was here that the Irish chieftain Conor O'Dea, chief of the Cineal Fearmaic and ally of Murtough O'Brien, stood his ground only to be defeated by the invading forces from Scotland.
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Early History of the O'Dayw family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Dayw research. Another 137 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1318 and 1434 are included under the topic Early O'Dayw History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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O'Dayw Spelling Variations
The archives that survive today demonstrate the difficulty experienced by the scribes of this period in their attempts to record these names in writing. Spelling variations of the name O'Dayw dating from that time include Day, Dea, O'Dea and others.
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Early Notables of the O'Dayw family
Notable among the family name at this time was Most Rev. Thomas O'Dea; and Cornelius O'Dea (d. 1434), Archdeacon of Killaloe and later Bishop of Limerick. Three items of his have survived over the centuries: his Mitre, Crozier and a manuscript now entitled "The Black Book of Limerick." Today, they are all kept in Limerick's Hunt Museum. "According to a legend Bishop Cornelius O'Dea went to Dublin to attend a synod of bishops without his... Another 74 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early O'Dayw Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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Migration of the O'Dayw family
The 18th century saw the slow yet steady emigration of Irish families to British North America and the United States. Those early Irish settlers that left their homeland were typically moderately well off: they were enticed by the promise of a sizable plot of land. However, by the 1840s, this pattern of immigration was gone: immigrants to North America were seeking refuge from the starvation and disease that the Great Potato Famine of that decade brought. The great numbers of Irish that arrived to the United States and the soon to be Canada were instrumental in their quick development as powerful industrial nations. An examination of early immigration and passenger lists uncovered many early immigrants bearing the name O'Dayw: Stephen Day who became a prominent merchant in Virginia soon after arriving in 1638. Another Stephen Daye (1594-1668), was the first printer in New England, and produced the first book printed in the English colonies. Cambridge Massachusetts granted his three hundred acres of land for ".
Ireland
