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| Origins Available: |
| | Ireland |
The old Gaelic name used by the Hea family in Ireland was Ó hAodha, which means descendant of Aodha or descendant of Hugh.
The surname Hea was first found in County Cork (Irish: Corcaigh) the ancient Kingdom of Deis Muin (Desmond), located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where this distinguished Irish family descended from the ancient Kings of Munster, and their territories were in the south western part of County Cork. Their ancient family seat was Aghamilly Castle in Pobble O'Hea.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hea research. Another 81 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1205 and 1700 are included under the topic Early Hea History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
The scribes who created documents long before either the Gaelic or English language resembled their standardized versions of today recorded words as they sounded. Consequently, in the Middle Ages the names of many people were recorded under different spellings each time they were written down. Research on the Hea family name revealed numerous spelling variations, including O'Hea, Hea, Heas, Hees, O'Hear, Hayes, O'Hay, Hay and others.
Notable amongst the family name at this time was
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 Hea: