O'Lerie History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland
• England

Early Origins of the O'Lerie family

Early History of the O'Lerie family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Lerie research. Another 86 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1729, 1756, 1795, 1802, 1818, 1831, 1842, 1845, 1863 and 1889 are included under the topic Early O'Lerie History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

O'Lerie Spelling Variations

During the Middle Ages, scribes recorded people's names as they saw fit. As a result, surnames often had many spelling variations. For O'Lerie some of these variations included: Leary, O'Leary, O'Leery and others.

Early Notables of the O'Lerie family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Arthur O'Leary (1729-1802), Irish priest and politician, was born in 1729 at Acres, a townland in the parish of Fanlobbus, near Dumnanway, Co. Cork, his parents being of the peasant class. Having acquired some knowledge of classical literature, he went to a monastery; of Capuchin friars at St. Malo in Brittany. There he entered the Capuchin order, and was ordained priest. In the course of the war between England and France which commenced in 1756 prisoners of war made by the French were confined at St. Malo; many of them were Irishmen...
Another 182 words (13 lines of text) are included under the topic Early O'Lerie Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the O'Lerie family

Irish families began leaving their homeland for North America in the late 18th century. These families were usually modestly well off, but they were looking forward to owning and working on a sizable tract of land of their own. This pattern of emigration continued until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine sparked a major exodus of destitute and desperate Irish people. These people were not leaving for a grant of land in North America because by this time the East Coast had reached its saturation point and free land was scarce. They were merely looking to escape the disease, starvation, and hopelessness that Ireland had fallen into. Although these unfortunate immigrants did not receive a warm welcome by the established populations in the United States and what would become Canada, they were absolutely critical to the rapid development that these two nations enjoyed. They would help populate the western lands and provide the cheap labor required for a rapid industrialization. An examination of passenger and immigration lists has revealed many early bearers of the name O'Lerie or one of its variants: Daniel, Denis, George, Jeremiah, John, Michael, Patrick, Thomas and William Leary, who all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860; other Learys arrived in the ports of Boston, New York, San Francisco, Quebec..