O'Hea History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Under the rule of England, land ownership in Ireland changed dramatically, and many native Irish families found themselves renting out land to farm from absentee owners. This was one of the prime reasons that immigration to North America began in the late 18th century: Irish farmers dreamed of owning their own parcel of land to work for themselves. At this point, the immigrants were at least of modest means for the passage across the Atlantic was often quite dear. In the 1840s the Great Potato Famine created an exodus of people of quite different means. These people were most often destitute: they either sold anything they had to gain a passage or they were sponsored by philanthropic societies. Many of these immigrants were sick from disease and starvation: as a result many did not survive the long transatlantic journey. Although those settlers that did survive were often despised and discriminated against by people already established in these nations, they were critical to rapid development of the powerful industrial nations of the United States and the country that would later become known as Canada. An examination of immigration and passenger lists shows many persons bearing the name of O'Hea or one of its variants:

O'Hea Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

• Patrick O'Hea, who arrived in New York in 1804
• James H. O Hea, aged 61, originally from Derry, who arrived in New York in 1892 aboard the ship "Turnessia" from Glasgow via Moville 1
• Ellen O'Hea, aged 17, who arrived in New York in 1896 aboard the ship "Britannia" from Liverpool, England 1
• Catherine O'Hea, aged 58, originally from Clonakilty, who arrived in New York in 1898 aboard the ship "Campania" from Queenstown, Ireland 1

O'Hea Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

• Harold J. O'Hea, aged 19, who arrived in New York in 1919 aboard the ship "Sabotawan" from Gibraltar, Spain 1
• James O'Hea, aged 31, originally from Liverpool, England, who arrived in New York in 1921 aboard the ship "Imperator" from Southampton, England 1

• John Fergus O'Hea (1838-1922), Irish political cartoonist
• Patrick O'Hea (b. 1848), Irish nationalist politician and a Member of Parliament
• Father Charles Adolphus O'Hea (1814-1903), Australian Irish Catholic Priest best-known today as the man who baptised Ned Kelly
• Timothy O'Hea, Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross for a deed of bravery on June 9, 1866 in Canada, with the British army
• Matt O'Hea, professional basketball player from Moe, Victoria, Australia