Oreily Surname, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Oreily

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The Oreily surname originally appeared in Gaelic as O Raghailligh, which means descendant of Raghallach.

Oreily Early Origins

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The surname Oreily was first found in County Cavan. They were known as the Princes of East Breffny, descended from Raghallaigh, Prince of Breffny in 981. They maintained their territory during the Anglo/ Norman invasion of Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, in 1172, but Sir John O'Reilly, Prince of Breffny surrendered the principality to Queen Elizabeth I thereby ensuring that his territories remained intact.

Oreily Spelling Variations

Pronunciation, rather than spelling, guided scribes and church officials when recording names during the Middle Ages. This practice often resulted in one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname Oreily are preserved in these old documents. The various spellings of the name that were found include O'Reilly, O'Reilley, O'Reily, O'Rielly, O'Riely, O'Riley, O'Rilley, Reel and many more.

Oreily Early History

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Oreily research. Another 189 words (14 lines of text) covering the years 1598, 1669, 1630, 1695, 1689, 1640, 1703, 1689, 1646 and 1691 are included under the topic Early Oreily History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Oreily Early Notables (pre 1700)

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Count John O'Reilly; Edmund O'Reilly (1598-1669), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh; Hugh Reily (Reilly or O’Reilly) (c.1630-1695) Irish Member of Parliament for Cavan Borough in the Patriot...

Another 35 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Oreily Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

The Great Migration

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Oreily Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Bridget O'Reily, aged 23, a servant, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Salisbury" in 1876
Cornelius O'Reily, aged 40, a staymaker, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Rakaia" in 1878
Mary O'Reily, aged 31, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Rakaia" in 1878
Margaret O'Reily, aged 2, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "Rakaia" in 1878

Oreily Family Crest Products

Citations

Other References

Best, Hugh. Debrett's Texas Peerage. New York: Coward-McCann, 1983. Print. (ISBN 069811244X).
Harris, Ruth-Ann and B. Emer O'Keefe. The Search for Missing Friends Irish Immigrant Advertisements Placed in the Boston Pilot Volume II 1851-1853. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1991. Print.
Grehan, Ida. Dictionary of Irish Family Names. Boulder: Roberts Rinehart, 1997. Print. (ISBN 1-57098-137-X).
Shaw, William A. Knights of England A Complete Record from the Earliest Time to the Present Day of the Knights of all the Orders of Chivalry in England, Scotland, Ireland and Knights Bachelors 2 Volumes. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing. Print. (ISBN 080630443X).
Hanks, Patricia and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988. Print. (ISBN 0-19-211592-8).
Kennedy, Patrick. Kennedy's Book of Arms. Canterbury: Achievements, 1967. Print.
Colletta, John P. They Came In Ships. Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1993. Print.
Sullivan, Sir Edward. The Book of Kells 3rd Edition. New York: Crescent Books, 1986. Print. (ISBN 0-517-61987-3).
Read, Charles Anderson. The Cabinet of Irish Literature Selections from the Works of the Chief Poets, Orators and Prose Writers of Ireland 4 Volumes. London: Blackie and Son, 1884. Print.
Woodham-Smith, Cecil. The Great Hunger Ireland 1845-1849. New York: Old Town Books, 1962. Print. (ISBN 0-88029-385-3).
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The Oreily Family Crest was acquired from the Houseofnames.com archives. The Oreily Family Crest was drawn according to heraldic standards based on published blazons. We generally include the oldest published family crest once associated with each surname.

This page was last modified on 20 April 2016 at 10:13.