English meaning of Irish name.

Northern Ireland and Eire

Moderator: Global Moderators

Post Reply
Ina
Global Moderator
Posts: 1367
Joined: Wed Dec 08, 2004 6:46 am
Location: California,originally from Greenock.

English meaning of Irish name.

Post by Ina » Tue Nov 01, 2016 11:06 pm

Hi, I'm writing this for a friend. Can someone tell me the English meaning of the Irish surname Ohealaighthe? She has seen it indexed as Healy, Haley, Haly among many others.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Ina

WilmaM
Posts: 1870
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 10:46 am
Location: Falkirk area

Re: English meaning of Irish name.

Post by WilmaM » Wed Nov 02, 2016 12:43 pm

The very end of this page :
http://rhberg1940.tripod.com/Narrative/ ... y_Head.htm
gives an explanation:
The family name "Healy": There were two separate septs or clans of the Healys. The first of these derived their name from the Irish eilidhe, meaning claimant, and were based around Lough Arrow in County Sligo. The second and very different sept, which was centered on the barony of Muskerry in County Cork, derived their name from OhEalaighthe, meaning ingenious. Their name was sometimes anglicized as Healihy.
Wilma

Post Reply