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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 O'Lery is Ó Laoghaire, which was originally derived from Laoghaire, one of the most well-known personal names in ancient Ireland. 1
The surname O'Lery 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 O'Lery 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 O'Lery History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
During the Middle Ages, surnames were spelt by scribes solely based on how it sounded, one's name could have been recorded many different ways during the life of its bearer. Numerous spelling variations were revealed in the search for the origin of the name O'Lery family name. Variations found include Leary, O'Leary, O'Leery and others.
Another 182 words (13 lines of text) are included under the topic Early O'Lery Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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'Lery 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..