| ![Show Contents]() Shies 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 Shies 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 Shies familyThe surname Shies 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 Shies familyThis web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shies research. Another 98 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1172 and 1500 are included under the topic Early Shies History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Shies Spelling VariationsPronunciation, 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 Shies are preserved in these old documents. The various spellings of the name that were found include O'Shea, O'Shee, McShea, McShee and others. Early Notables of the Shies familyAnother 30 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Shies Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
 Shies migration to the United States | + |
A massive amount of Ireland's native population left the island in the 19th century for North America and Australia in hopes of finding more opportunities and an escape from discrimination and oppression. A great portion of these migrants arrived on the eastern shores of the North American continent. Although they were generally poor and destitute, and, therefore, again discriminated against, these Irish people were heartily welcomed for the hard labor involved in the construction of railroads, canals, roadways, and buildings. Many others were put to work in the newly established factories or agricultural projects that were so essential to the development of what would become two of the wealthiest nations in the world. The Great Potato Famine during the late 1840s initiated the largest wave of Iris immigration. Early North American immigration and passenger lists have revealed a number of people bearing the name Shies or a variant listed above:
Shies Settlers in United States in the 19th Century- John Shies, who arrived in Washington County, Pennsylvania in 1864 2
- 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)
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Shies migration to the United States 
