Crowley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms 

Origins Available: 
  England 
  Ireland 


Irish names tend to vary widely in their spelling and overall form. The original Gaelic form of the name Crowley is "O Cruadhlaoich." This is derived from the words "cruadh," which means "hard," and "laoch," which means "hero." 1

Early Origins of the Crowley family

The surname Crowley was first found in Moylurg, in the County Roscommon, where they started as a branch of the MacDermots. It is from Teige, a Prince of Moylurg, down to Cruadhlaoch that the line of descent for the Crowleys begins. A junior branch of the Crowley family also emerged and moved to the area of Dunmanway, in the west of County Cork. They eventually became a distinct sept with their chief at Kilshallow, thriving while their parent family gradually withered. The majority of the Crowley family came to be found in the county of Cork, with three-quarters of the family being born there in modern times. 2

Early History of the Crowley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Crowley research. Another 119 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1658, 1713, 1819 and 1857 are included under the topic Early Crowley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Crowley Spelling Variations

Names from the Middle Ages demonstrate many spelling variations. This is because the recording scribe or church official often decided as to how a person's name was spelt and in what language. Research into the name Crowley revealed many variations, including Crowley, Crowly, O'Crowley, Croaley, Croawley, O'Crowly and many more.

Early Notables of the Crowley family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was

Crowley Ranking

In the United States, the name Crowley is the 1,057th most popular surname with an estimated 27,357 people with that name. 3 However, in Australia, the name Crowley is ranked the 893rd most popular surname with an estimated 4,392 people with that name. 4



Crowley migration to the United States +

To escape the religious and political discrimination they experienced primarily at the hands of the English, thousands of Irish left their homeland in the 19th century. These migrants typically settled in communities throughout the East Coast of North America, but also joined the wagon trains moving out to the Midwest. Ironically, when the American War of Independence began, many Irish settlers took the side of England, and at the war's conclusion moved north to Canada. These United Empire Loyalists, were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Other Irish immigrants settled in Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, however, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America and Australia. Many of those numbers, however, did not live through the long sea passage. These Irish settlers to North America were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name Crowley or a variant listed above, including:

Crowley Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Crowley migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Crowley Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
Crowley Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Crowley migration to Australia +

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

Crowley Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Crowley migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Crowley Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Crowley migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 11
Crowley Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Contemporary Notables of the name Crowley (post 1700) +







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