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![Show Contents]() O'Shee History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
- Origins Available:
 Ireland
Irish names tend to vary widely in their spelling and overall form. The original Gaelic form of the name O'Shee is Ó Seaghdha, which is modified to Ó Se. The surname is derived from the word seaghdha which means hawk like but has a secondary meaning of stately. 1 Early Origins of the O'Shee familyThe surname O'Shee was first found in County Kerry (Irish:Ciarraí) part of the former County Desmond (14th-17th centuries), located in Southwestern Ireland, in Munster province, where they held a family seat from ancient times. The O'Shee variant claims Kilkenny as their ancestral home. At one time they were one of the most important of the ruling families of Kilkenny. Robert O'Shee was sovereign of the area in 1493. This family alternated using the "O'" prefix as not, as later his son Richard Shee, the Sovereign of Kilkenny (1545-1546) and (1553-1554) was Member of Parliament for Kilkenny in 1559. Early History of the O'Shee familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Shee research. Another 98 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1172 and 1500 are included under the topic Early O'Shee History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. O'Shee Spelling VariationsThe recording of names in Ireland during the Middle Ages was an inconsistent endeavor at best. Since the general population did not know how to read or write, they could only specify how their names should be recorded orally. Research into the name O'Shee revealed spelling variations, including O'Shea, O'Shee, McShea, McShee and others. Early Notables of the O'Shee familyAnother 30 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early O'Shee Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
 O'Shee migration to the United States | + |
A great mass of Ireland's native population left the island in the 19th century, seeking relief from various forms of social, religious, and economic discrimination. This Irish exodus was primarily to North America. If the migrants survived the long ocean journey, many unfortunately would find more discrimination in the colonies of British North America and the fledgling United States of America. These newly arrived Irish were, however, wanted as a cheap source of labor for the many large agricultural and industrial projects that were essential to the development of what would become two of the wealthiest nations in the western world. Early immigration and passenger lists indicate many people bearing the O'Shee name:
O'Shee Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- Cornelius Oshee, who landed in Mobile, Ala in 1861 2
| Contemporary Notables of the name O'Shee (post 1700) | + |
- Sir Nicholas Power O'Shee, Irish owner of Shee Alms House, city of Kilkenny from Gardenmorris, Co. Waterford; he restored ownership of the house in 1756 that was founded by his family in 1582 'to accommodate twelve poor persons'
- James John "J.J." O'Shee (1866-1946), Irish nationalist politician, solicitor, labour activist and Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Richard O'Shée, Irish-born, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 3
- MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
- Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
- Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, June 16) Richard O'Shée. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
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O'Shee migration to the United States 
