Shawghnesey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

Early Origins of the Shawghnesey family

Early History of the Shawghnesey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shawghnesey research. Another 101 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1569, 1673, 1690, 1691 and 1744 are included under the topic Early Shawghnesey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shawghnesey Spelling Variations

Lacking standardized spellings, scribes and church officials recorded people's name according to how they sounded. This practice often led to the misleading result of one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname Shawghnesey are preserved in the archival documents of the period. The various spellings of the name that were found include O'Shaughnessy, Shaughnessy, O'Shanessy, Shanessy and others.

Early Notables of the Shawghnesey family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Ruaidhrí Gilla Dubh Ó Seachnasaigh (aka Sir Roger O'Shaughnessy) (died 1569), Irish Knight and Chief of the Name; Roger O'Shaughnessy, The O'Shaughnessy (d. 1690), Captain in the Irish...
Another 37 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Shawghnesey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Shawghnesey family

Suffering from poverty and racial discrimination, thousands of Irish families left the island in the 19th century for North America aboard cramped passenger ships. The early migrants became settlers of small tracts of land, and those that came later were often employed in the new cities or transitional work camps. The largest influx of Irish settlers occurred with Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s. Although the immigrants from this period were often maligned when they arrived in the United States, they provided the cheap labor that was necessary for the development of that country as an industrial power. Early immigration and passenger lists have revealed many immigrants bearing the name Shawghnesey: Thomas O'Shaughnessy settled in Philadelphia in 1854; along with Martin and James; John O'Shanessy settled in Philadelphia in 1820; Patrick, James, John, Michael Shaughnessy all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860..