O'Day History, Family Crest & Coats of ArmsAll Irish surnames have a unique and often romantic meaning. The name O'Day originally appeared in Gaelic as Ó Deaghaidh or Ó Diaghaidh. 1 Early Origins of the O'Day familyThe surname O'Day was first found in County Clare (Irish: An Clár) located on the west coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where O'Dea was chief of Dysart-O'Dea, now the parish of Dysart, barony of Inchiquin, one of the original chiefs and clans of ancient Thomond. Today Dysert O'Dea Castle still stands near Corofin, County Clare with its Romanesque Doorway and High Cross and was the site of the Battle of Dysert O'Dea in 1318. It was here that the Irish chieftain Conor O'Dea, chief of the Cineal Fearmaic and ally of Murtough O'Brien, stood his ground only to be defeated by the invading forces from Scotland. Early History of the O'Day familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Day research. Another 137 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1318 and 1434 are included under the topic Early O'Day History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. O'Day Spelling VariationsThe recording of names in Ireland in the Middle Ages was an inconsistent endeavor at best. The many regional dialects and the predominate illiteracy would have made common surnames appear unrelated to the scribes of the period. Research into the name O'Day revealed spelling variations, including Day, Dea, O'Dea and others. Early Notables of the O'Day familyNotable among the family name at this time was Most Rev. Thomas O'Dea; and Cornelius O'Dea (d. 1434), Archdeacon of Killaloe and later Bishop of Limerick. Three items of his have survived over the centuries: his Mitre, Crozier and a manuscript now entitled "The Black Book of Limerick." Today, they are all kept in Limerick's Hunt Museum. "According to a legend Bishop Cornelius O'Dea went to Dublin to attend a synod of bishops without his... O'Day RankingIn the United States, the name O'Day is the 8,624th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2
In the late 18th century, Irish families began emigrating to North America in the search of a plot of land to call their own. This pattern of emigration grew steadily until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s cause thousands of Irish to flee the death and disease that accompanied the disaster. Those that made it alive to the shores of the United States and British North America (later to become Canada) were, however, instrumental in the development of those two powerful nations. Many of these Irish immigrants proudly bore the name of O'Day: O'Day Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
O'Day Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
Some of the first settlers of this family name were: O'Day Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include: O'Day Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
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