Quoting..... "Rodney J. Erps" <rod1960@yahoo.com> >My Great great great grandfather came from Ireland around the mid >1800's. His name was Arthur Dempsay. Not sure of what part of Ireland >he came from but do know that he was studying to be a priest. He quit >that and came over to the USA and became a medical Doctor. My question >is, Does anyone know if Dempsay with an a is a popular name in Ireland >or do they spell it with an e over there? I haven't been doing alot of >research until recently but am trying to figure out the proper spelling. >Thanks. Rodney J. Erps O'Diomasaighe was anglicized as Dempsey, and O'Dempsey. The "proper" spelling is the Irish way, but you can choose whatever English spelling you like. Everyone else did in the old days. In today's Republic phone directories there are about 1080 DEMPSEYs and no DEMPSAYs, so they have decided on how they wanted to spell their name over there. In Irish Pedigrees, by O'Hart, there are two DEMPSEY pedigrees; The Chiefs of Clanmaliere, and the Lords of Clanmaliere. That territory lay principally on both sides of the river Barrow, in King's and Queen's counties. The pedigrees start around the 10th century and go up to a James Dempsey of Liverpool, died 1847. Patrick Traynor, in California's gold-rush country. tray@jps.net TRAYNOR'S Web Page (Irish stuff) http://members.nbci.com/pattraynor/