Demsey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

To escape the religious and political discrimination they experienced primarily at the hands of the English, thousands of Irish left their homeland in the 19th century. These migrants typically settled in communities throughout the East Coast of North America, but also joined the wagon trains moving out to the Midwest. Ironically, when the American War of Independence began, many Irish settlers took the side of England, and at the war's conclusion moved north to Canada. These United Empire Loyalists, were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Other Irish immigrants settled in Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, however, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America and Australia. Many of those numbers, however, did not live through the long sea passage. These Irish settlers to North America were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. 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 Demsey or a variant listed above, including:

Demsey Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

• Ann Demsey, who landed in Maryland in 1679 3

Demsey Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

• Eliza Demsey, who arrived in Virginia in 1701 3
• Eliz Demsey, who landed in Virginia in 1704 3
• Elizabeth Demsey, who arrived in Virginia in 1713 3
• Eleanore Demsey, who arrived in Virginia in 1714 3
• John Demsey, who landed in Virginia in 1717 3
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Demsey Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

• Thomas Demsey, aged 26, who landed in South Carolina in 1812 3
• Thomas Demsey, who arrived in Charleston, South Carolina in 1813 3