Garah History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

Early Origins of the Garah family

Early History of the Garah family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Garah research. Another 79 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1710, 1727 and 1796 are included under the topic Early Garah History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Garah Spelling Variations

The scribes who created documents long before either the Gaelic or English language resembled their standardized versions of today recorded words as they sounded. Consequently, in the Middle Ages the names of many people were recorded under different spellings each time they were written down. Research on the Garah family name revealed numerous spelling variations, including Geary, Gara, O'Gara, O'Geary, Gearie, Gearey and many more.

Early Notables of the Garah family

Notable among the family name at this time was Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts Bay (now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts), signer of the American Declaration of Independence. Sir Francis Geary (1710?-1796),was an "admiral, of a family long settled in Cardiganshire...
Another 37 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Garah Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Garah family

Irish immigrants began to leave the English-controlled Ireland in sizable numbers during the late 18th century. Many of these Irish immigrated to British North America or the United States in the hopes of gaining their own tract of farmland. This pattern of migration grew steadily until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine caused a great exodus of immigrants to North America. These immigrants differed from their predecessors in that they were desperately fleeing the disease and starvation that plagued their homeland, and many were entirely destitute when they arrived in North America. Although these penniless immigrants were not warmly welcomed when they arrived, they were critical to the rapid development of the United States and what would become known as Canada. Many went to populate the western frontiers and others provided the cheap labor the new manufacturing sector and the building of bridges, roads, railways, and canals required. A thorough examination of immigration and passenger lists has revealed some of the earliest people to arrive in North America with name Garah or one of its variants: John Geary, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1682; Eleanor Geary, who landed in America in 1744; Mary Geary, who landed in New York State in 1822; Jeremiah, John, Michael, Patrick, who all settled in Philadelphia, Pa. between 1773 and 1858.