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| Origins Available: |
| | Ireland |
Many Irish names are English translations of Gaelic names. The name Sely was a translation of the Gaelic name Ó Scolaidhe, which means student.
The surname Sely was first found in county Westmeath (Irish: An Iarmhí) in the Irish Midlands, province of Leinster, where they held a family seat from very early times.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sely research. Another 75 words (5 lines of text) covering the year 1172 is included under the topic Early Sely History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Irish names were rarely spelled with much consistency during the Middle Ages. As the many spelling variations of the name Sely dating from that time attests: Scully, Scally, O'Scully and others.
More information is included under the topic Early Sely Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants landed on North American shores. Although many of them were merely looking for a free plot of land and living of their very own, many later immigrants were desperately fleeing an overcrowded land that did not have sufficient food for its inhabitants. The exodus from Ireland was greatest during the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine had stricken the island. Although this large influx of Irish was unpopular with the great majority of people already established within the major centers, these Irish were critical to the speedy development of the United States and those colonies that would eventually become known as Canada. These immigrants provided the cheap labor required to build modern roads, bridges, canals, and railways. Research of passenger and immigration lists has shown a number of immigrants to North America baring the name of Sely: