Gallwey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

When the Anglo- Normans began to settle in Ireland, they brought the tradition of local surnames to an island which already had a Gaelic naming system of hereditary surnames established. Unlike the Irish, the Anglo- Normans had an affinity for local surnames. Local surnames, such as Gallwey, were formed from the names of a place or a geographical landmark where the person lived, held land, or was born. The earliest Anglo-Norman surnames of this type came from Normandy, but as the Normans moved, they created names that referred to where they actually resided. Therefore, English places were used for names when the Normans lived in England, and then Irish places after these particular Anglo- Normans had been settled in Ireland for some time. Originally, these place names were prefixed by de, which means from in French. However, this type of prefix was eventually either made a part of the surname, if the place name began with a vowel, or it was eliminated entirely. The Gallwey family originally lived in either of two places. The Gallwey family of Ulster derives its name from the region of Galloway in southern Scotland, which lies nearby. However, the southern Gallwey family probably derives its surname from the city or county of Galway in Ireland.

Early Origins of the Gallwey family

The surname Gallwey 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 were granted land by Strongbow after the invasion of 1172.

Important Dates for the Gallwey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gallwey research. Another 78 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1361 and 1430 are included under the topic Early Gallwey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gallwey Spelling Variations

Medieval scribes and church officials often spelled the name Gallwey as it sounded to them. As a result, the name Gallwey, over the ages, has attained many spelling variations including Galwey, Galswey, Galway, Gallway, Gallwey and many more.

Early Notables of the Gallwey family (pre 1700)

More information is included under the topic Early Gallwey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Gallwey family

Ireland experienced a dramatic decrease in its population during the 19th century. This was in a great measure, a response to England's imperialistic policies. Hunger and disease took the lives of many Irish people and many more chose to leave their homeland to escape the horrific conditions. North America with its promise of work, freedom, and land was an extremely popular destination for Irish families. For those families that survived the journey, all three of these things were often attained through much hard work and perseverance. Research into early immigration and passenger lists revealed many immigrants bearing the name Gallwey: James Galway who settled in New York State in 1803; another two James Galways settled in Pennsylvania, one in 1773 and one in 1846.

Contemporary Notables of the name Gallwey (post 1700)

• Harry A. Gallwey, American Democrat politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Montana, 1916 (member, Committee on Permanent Organization) ^[1]

Citations

1. ^ The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, February 11) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html