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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 Leerie is Ó Laoghaire, which was originally derived from Laoghaire, one of the most well-known personal names in ancient Ireland. 1
The surname Leerie 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 Leerie 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 Leerie History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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 Leerie are preserved in the archival documents of the period. The various spellings of the name that were found include Leary, O'Leary, O'Leery and others.
Another 182 words (13 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Leerie Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Many Irish families boarded ships bound for North America in the middle of 19th century to escape the conditions of poverty and racial discrimination at that time. Although these immigrants often arrived in a destitute state, they went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of the United States and Canada. An inquiry into many immigration and passenger lists has revealed many early immigrants to North America bearing the Leerie family name: 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..