All Irish surnames have a long, ancient Gaelic history behind them. The original Gaelic form of the name McConway is O Conbhuidhe or O Connmhachain. The former of these names likely comes from the Gaelic word "condmach," while the latter probably comes from "cu buidhe." Conway is also an Anglicization of the names Mac Conmheadha or Mac Connmhaigh.
The surname McConway was first found in Donegal (Irish: Dún na nGall), northwest Ireland in the province of Ulster, sometimes referred to as County Tyrconnel, and Connacht.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our McConway research. Another 143 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1360, 1300, 1st , 1564, 1631, 1623, 1628, 1631, 1594, 1655, 1st , 1623, 1683, 1681, 1683, 1586, 1623, 1631, 1679, 1st , 1630, 1669, 1661 and 1669 are included under the topic Early McConway History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Numerous spelling variations of the surname McConway exist. A partial explanation for these variants is that ancient scribes and church officials recorded names as they were pronounced, often resulting in a single person being recorded under several different spellings. Different spellings that were found include Conway, Conboy, Convey, O'Conway, McConway and others.
Prominent amongst the family at this time was Edward Conway, 1st Viscount Conway PC (1564-1631), an English soldier and statesman, Secretary of State in 1623, Lord President of the Council (1628-1631); his son, Edward Conway, 2nd Viscount Conway PC (1594-1655), an English politician, military commander and peer; and his son, Edward Conway, 1st Earl of Conway PC...
Another 56 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early McConway Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Irish families began to immigrate to British North America and the United States in the 18th century, but the greatest influx of Irish immigrants came during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. The earlier settlers came to North America after a great deal of consideration and by paying relatively high fees for their passage. These settlers were primarily drawn by the promise of land. Those later settlers that came during the 1840's were trying to escape the conditions of poverty, starvation, disease, and death that had stricken Ireland. Due to the enormity of their numbers and the late date of their arrival, these immigrants primarily became hired laborers instead of homesteading settlers like their predecessors. An exhaustive search of immigration and passenger lists has revealed many Irish immigrants North America bearing the name McConway: