I came across a post from March 17, 2004 regarding the surname Halley / Hally / Ally. I am actually a fourth cousin of one of the persons on the list as we are both descended from Michael Hawley and Kate English of Aughavanlomaun, County Tipperary near Newcastle whose family settled in Outagamie County, Wisconsin. I agree with the family historian Rev. Patrick Woulfe that the name is probably of Danish origin and places their original location near Templemore in Tipperary, also citing mention of merchants of the name during later centuries in Cashel and in Killamock, County Limerick. I have found this bit of information from the Clan McLeod website: "Thus Bálki became Páice (William Matheson, “The Ancestry of the MacLeods”, p. 73) and Helgi became Ailche (Alfred P. Smyth (1979) Scandinavian York and Dublin, Volume II pp. 20 & 356; Ailche is a genitive form)." See also the website for: "Old Norse Forms of Early Irish Names" by Brian M. Scott (Talan Gwynek) where "Ailche" is equivalent to the Norse "Helgi" meaning holy or blessed (Old Norse "heilagr"). There were several of the name Helgi for this time period from Norway and Denmark. I believe that the name derives from Helgi Magri (Helgi the Lean) from Norway whose life is recorded in the Laxdaela Saga. He married Rafarta, daughter of Kjarval, the Irish king of Ossory who has been identified with King Cearbhall of that time. The family later emigrated to Iceland. This Helgi had a mixed religion believing in both Christ and in the Norse god Thor. O'Hart may be correct in saying that O'hAilche is a branch of O'Kennedy of Ormond descended fron Donncuan because of the supposed location of the sept as mentioned by O'Heerin in his continuation of O'Dugan's Topographical Poem, which O'Hart takes to be in northern Tipperary and northwest Kilkenny which is in the Ormond territory of the O'Kennedy clan. They may have become part of the sept through adoption or some other means. In the Annals of Ulster there are several references to a son of Ailche, Tomar mac Ailche, who was an independent Viking chieftain of Limerick who was involved in raiding expeditions in a struggle between Dublin and Limerick, allying with the Ui Imair (descendants of Ivar) against Godfrid and Amlaib (Olafr) of Dublin. One of these raids by Ailche's son was against the monastery of Clonmacnois in 922 AD. There were also other septs anglicized Halley, Hally, and Haly. These include the O'hAinle sept of Clare with branches in Limerick and Cork (also sometimes Anglicized as O'Hanly), and the Mulhalls of Waterford are sometimes Halley in Waterford and Tipperary. According to O'Hart, the sept of O'hAilgaith in southern Galway has also been anglicized as Halley or Hally. Dan Hawley of Newcastle, County Tipperary has advised me that he believes that the O'Ailche sept originated in southern Tipperary near the present location of Newcastle where many Halley families now live, based on the fact that Geoffrey Keating grew up just west of Newcastle and supposedly was of the opinion that the location of the O'hAilche sept was in that area. This I have not been able to confirm. Michael O'Hearn ____________________________________________________________________________________ No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started. http://mobile.yahoo.com/mail

Dear Michael, You wrote: "He married Rafarta, daughter of Kjarval, the Irish king of Ossory who has been identified with King Cearbhall of that time." In some Irish dialects, Kjarval would be a nearly perfect rendition of Cearbhall. In others, Cearbhall would be pronounced Carroll. O'Carroll is the English attempt at Ó Cearbhaill. Le gach dea-ghuí / Best, - Jerry -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Michael O'Hearn Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 7:24 PM To: [email protected] Subject: ÓhAILCHE / O'HALLY There were several of the name Helgi for this time period from Norway and Denmark. I believe that the name derives from Helgi Magri (Helgi the Lean) from Norway whose life is recorded in the Laxdaela Saga. He married Rafarta, daughter of Kjarval, the Irish king of Ossory who has been identified with King Cearbhall of that time. The family later emigrated to Iceland. This Helgi had a mixed religion believing in both Christ and in the Norse god Thor. O'Hart may be correct in saying that O'hAilche is a branch of O'Kennedy of Ormond descended fron Donncuan because of the supposed location of the sept as mentioned by O'Heerin in his continuation of O'Dugan's Topographical Poem, which O'Hart takes to be in northern Tipperary and northwest Kilkenny which is in the Ormond territory of the O'Kennedy clan. They may have become part of the sept through adoption or some other means. In the Annals of Ulster there are several references to a son of Ailche, Tomar mac Ailche, who was an independent Viking chieftain of Limerick who was involved in raiding expeditions in a struggle between Dublin and Limerick, allying with the Ui Imair (descendants of Ivar) against Godfrid and Amlaib (Olafr) of Dublin. One of these raids by Ailche's son was against the monastery of Clonmacnois in 922 AD. There were also other septs anglicized Halley, Hally, and Haly. These include the O'hAinle sept of Clare with branches in Limerick and Cork (also sometimes Anglicized as O'Hanly), and the Mulhalls of Waterford are sometimes Halley in Waterford and Tipperary. According to O'Hart, the sept of O'hAilgaith in southern Galway has also been anglicized as Halley or Hally. Dan Hawley of Newcastle, County Tipperary has advised me that he believes that the O'Ailche sept originated in southern Tipperary near the present location of Newcastle where many Halley families now live, based on the fact that Geoffrey Keating grew up just west of Newcastle and supposedly was of the opinion that the location of the O'hAilche sept was in that area. This I have not been able to confirm. Michael O'Hearn ____________________________________________________________________________ ________ No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started. http://mobile.yahoo.com/mail ====Irish American Mailing List===== Add/check your surname to the Irish-American mailing list Surname Registry at: http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/IrishAmerican/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message