The Irish surnames in use today are underpinned by a multitude of rich histories. The name Crely originally appeared in Gaelic as Mac Raghallaigh. However, the connection of this name, which is also Anglicized as Crawley or MacCrawley, to the name Crilly is in actuality a matter of debate among scholars.
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Early Origins of the Crely family
The surname Crely was first found in County Londonderry (Irish: Doire), a Northern Irish county also known as Derry, in the province of Ulster, where they held a family seat since ancient times.
Early History of the Crely family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Crely research. Another 82 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Crely History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Crely Spelling Variations
Scribes and church officials, lacking today's standardized spelling rules, recorded names by how they were pronounced. This imprecise guide often led to the misleading result of one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname Crely are preserved in documents of the family history. The various spellings of the name that were found include Crilly, O'Crilly, Creely, Crely, Crillie, Creelie, Crelie, Crilley, Creeley, Creley and many more.
Early Notables of the Crely family
More information is included under the topic Early Crely Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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Migration of the Crely family
In the 18th and 19th centuries, thousands of Irish families fled an Ireland that was forcibly held through by England through its imperialistic policies. A large portion of these families crossed the Atlantic to the shores of North America. The fate of these families depended on when they immigrated and the political allegiances they showed after they arrived. Settlers that arrived before the American War of Independence may have moved north to Canada at the war's conclusion as United Empire Loyalists. Such Loyalists were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Those that fought for the revolution occasionally gained the land that the fleeing Loyalist vacated. After this period, free land and an agrarian lifestyle were not so easy to come by in the East. So when seemingly innumerable Irish immigrants arrived during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s, free land for all was out of the question. These settlers were instead put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Whenever they came, Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name Crely or a variant listed above, including: Thomas Crilly, who sailed to America in 1812; Bernard Crilly, age 30; Bridget Crilly, age 25; Michael Crilly, age 19; John Crilly, age 3; and Ann, age six months, who all settled in Quebec in 1834.
