Douley History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

Etymology of Douley

What does the name Douley mean?

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 Douley is Ó Dubhlaoich, derived from the words dubh, which means "dark featured, great, prodigious, burned" (O'Hart), and laoch, referring to a hero or champion.

Early Origins of the Douley family

The surname Douley was first found in Westmeath (Irish: An Iarmhí) in the Irish Midlands, province of Leinster, where they held a family seat from very ancient times. According to O'Hart, the family claim descent through the MacMorough family which are descendants of the Heremon Kings of Ireland and were Chiefs in the County Wicklow and Queen's County. (O'Hart)

Early History of the Douley family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Douley research. Another 86 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1172, 1622, 1702, 1787, 1801 and 1844 are included under the topic Early Douley History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Douley Spelling Variations

Official documents, crafted by early scribes and church officials, primarily contained names that were spelled according to their pronunciation. This lead to the problem of one name being recorded under several different variations, creating an illusion that a single person was many people. Among the many spelling variations of the surname Douley that are preserved in the archival documents of the time are Dooley, Dooly, O'Dooley, O'Dooly and others.

Early Notables of the Douley family

Richard Dowley (1622-1702), English nonconformist divine, son of John Dowley, vicar of Alveston, near Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. Sir James Dowling (1787-1844), was a Australian colonial judge, born in London on 25 Nov. 1787. His father, Vincent Dowling, was a native of Queen's County, Ireland, and was for many years a reporter...
Another 49 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Douley Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Douley family

In the 18th and 19th centuries hundreds of thousands of Irish people immigrated to North American shores. The early settlers were enticed by the promise of their own land, but they were moderately well off in Ireland when they decided to emigrate. Therefore, they were merely carrying out a long and carefully thought out decision. The 1840s saw the emergence of a very different trend: thousands of extremely desperate people crammed into passenger boats hoping to find any type of opportunity. The Irish of this decade had seen their homeland severely stricken by crop failures which resulted in widespread disease and starvation. At whatever time the Irish immigrants came to North America, they were instrumental in the rapid development of the emerging nations of the United States and what would become known as Canada. An exhaustive search of passenger and immigration lists has revealed many persons bearing the name Douley, or one of its variants: Lawrence Dooley settled in New England in 1774; followed by Bernard, Daniel, Henry, James, John, Martin, Michael, Steven, Thomas, William, who all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1870..