| {{ad}} |
|
|
|
| Origins Available: |
| | Ireland |
The old Gaelic name used by the O'Hea family in Ireland was Ó hAodha, which means descendant of Aodha or descendant of Hugh.
The surname O'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 O'Hea research. Another 81 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1205 and 1700 are included under the topic Early O'Hea History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Irish names recorded during the Middle Ages are characterized by many spelling variations. This preponderance of variations for common names can be explained by the fact that the scribes and church officials that kept records during that period individually decided how to capture one's name. These recorders primarily based their decisions on how the name was pronounced or what it meant. Research into the name O'Hea revealed many variations, including O'Hea, Hea, Heas, Hees, O'Hear, Hayes, O'Hay, Hay and others.
Notable amongst the family name at this time was
Under the rule of England, land ownership in Ireland changed dramatically, and many native Irish families found themselves renting out land to farm from absentee owners. This was one of the prime reasons that immigration to North America began in the late 18th century: Irish farmers dreamed of owning their own parcel of land to work for themselves. At this point, the immigrants were at least of modest means for the passage across the Atlantic was often quite dear. In the 1840s the Great Potato Famine created an exodus of people of quite different means. These people were most often destitute: they either sold anything they had to gain a passage or they were sponsored by philanthropic societies. Many of these immigrants were sick from disease and starvation: as a result many did not survive the long transatlantic journey. Although those settlers that did survive were often despised and discriminated against by people already established in these nations, they were critical to rapid development of the powerful industrial nations of the United States and the country that would later become known as Canada. An examination of immigration and passenger lists shows many persons bearing the name of O'Hea or one of its variants: