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While many Irish names are familiar, their past incarnations are often shrouded in mystery, reflecting the ancient Gaelic heritage of their bearers. The original Gaelic form of the name Hilleary is Ó Laoghaire, which was originally derived from Laoghaire, one of the most well-known personal names in ancient Ireland. 1
The surname Hilleary 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 they held a family seat from ancient times. The sept claim descent through the Heber line of Irish kings and in turn, through the O'Connell pedigree. 2
The family was ancient landholders as the Civil Survey of 1654 lists over thirty-four of the hundred and three were O'Leary. 3
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Hilleary research. Another 86 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1729, 1756, 1795, 1802, 1818, 1831, 1842, 1845, 1863 and 1889 are included under the topic Early Hilleary History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
During the Middle Ages, scribes listened to a person's name and then decided the spelling from there. Names, therefore, often had many spelling variations. The variations of the name Hilleary include: Leary, O'Leary, O'Leery and others.
Another 182 words (13 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Hilleary Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Irish immigrants began to leave the English-controlled Ireland in sizable numbers during the late 18th century. Many of these Irish immigrated to British North America or the United States in the hopes of gaining their own tract of farmland. This pattern of migration grew steadily until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine caused a great exodus of immigrants to North America. These immigrants differed from their predecessors in that they were desperately fleeing the disease and starvation that plagued their homeland, and many were entirely destitute when they arrived in North America. Although these penniless immigrants were not warmly welcomed when they arrived, they were critical to the rapid development of the United States and what would become known as Canada. Many went to populate the western frontiers and others provided the cheap labor the new manufacturing sector and the building of bridges, roads, railways, and canals required. A thorough examination of immigration and passenger lists has revealed some of the earliest people to arrive in North America with name Hilleary or one of its variants: Daniel, Denis, George, Jeremiah, John, Michael, Patrick, Thomas and William Leary, who all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860; other Learys arrived in the ports of Boston, New York, San Francisco, Quebec..