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Origins Available: |
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There are a multitude of ancient meanings and variations associated with the Irish surnames that are now common throughout the modern world. The original Gaelic form of the name Dunfey is Ó Donnchaidh, which means descendant of Donnchadh, a personal name Anglicized as Donogh.
The surname Dunfey was first found in County Kerry (Irish:Ciarraí) part of the former County Desmond (14th-17th centuries), located in Southwestern Ireland, in Munster province, where they held a family seat from very ancient times.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dunfey research. Another 188 words (13 lines of text) covering the years 1014 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Dunfey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
One explanation for the many variations is that scribes and church officials frequently spelled the name as it sounded: an imprecise method at best. Understandably then, various spellings of the surname Dunfey were found in the many archives researched. These included Dunphy, Dunfy, O'Dunphy, O'Donoghue and others.
More information is included under the topic Early Dunfey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
A great wave of Irish migration occurred during the 19th century as a direct result of English colonial rule and tight-fisted absentee landlords. Many of these Irish immigrants boarded passenger ships bound for North America. Those who migrated early enough were given land in either British North America or the United States; those who came in the late 19th century were typically employed in industrial centers as laborers. At whatever age they undertook the dangerous passage to North America, those Irish immigrants were essential to the speedy development of the two infant nations to which they arrived, whether they broke and settled land, helped build canals, bridges, and railroads, or produced products for consumer consumption. An examination of immigration and passenger lists has uncovered a large number of immigrants bearing the name Dunfey or one of its variants: Edward Dunphy in 1772; joined several previous family members who had already settled in Pennsylvania. Other Dunphys were to later join him in Pennsylvania..