O'Raly History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

The O'Raly surname originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Raghailligh, which means descendant of Raghallach.

Early Origins of the O'Raly family

The surname O'Raly was first found in County Cavan. They were known as the Princes of East Breffny, descended from Raghallaigh, Prince of Breffny in 981. They maintained their territory during the Anglo/Norman invasion of Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, in 1172, but Sir John O'Reilly, Prince of Breffny surrendered the principality to Queen Elizabeth I thereby ensuring that his territories remained intact.

Early History of the O'Raly family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Raly research. Another 95 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1598, 1630, 1640, 1646, 1667, 1669, 1689, 1691, 1695 and 1703 are included under the topic Early O'Raly History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

O'Raly Spelling Variations

Many spelling variations of the surname O'Raly can be found in the archives. One reason for these variations is that ancient scribes and church officials recorded names as they were pronounced, often resulting in a single person being recorded under several different spellings. The different spellings that were found include O'Reilly, O'Reilley, O'Reily, O'Rielly, O'Riely, O'Riley, O'Rilley, Reel and many more.

Early Notables of the O'Raly family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Count John O'Reilly; Edmund O'Reilly (1598-1669), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh; Hugh Reily (Reilly or O’Reilly) (c.1630-1695) Irish Member of Parliament for Cavan Borough in the Patriot Parliament of 1689; Philip Og O’Reilly (Gaelic was Phillip Óg O’Raghallaigh)(c.1640-1703), Irish...
Another 48 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early O'Raly Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

O'Raly migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

O'Raly Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

David O'Raly, aged 21, a miner, who arrived in South Australia in 1858 aboard the ship "Storm Cloud"