Sheehy — Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Mac Síthigh
Meaning: 'son of Sítheach' (peaceful)
Traditional stronghold: Kerry, Limerick
Pronunciation: SHEE-hee; Irish Mac Síthigh: mock SHEE-hee
History of the Sheehy name
Mac Síthigh comes from the personal name Sítheach, from síth, meaning 'peace' (though some read it as 'otherworldly', from the same root as sí, the fairy mound). The family history is anything but peaceful: the MacSheehys were a gallowglass clan of Scottish Hebridean origin, professional axe-wielding soldiers brought to Munster in the fifteenth century by the FitzGeralds, Earls of Desmond, and settled on lands in County Limerick as their military caste. After the fall of the Desmonds the Sheehys dispersed through Limerick, Kerry and Cork, where the name remains strongly rooted. Its later bearers traded the battle-axe for politics, priesthood and Gaelic football with equal intensity.
Variants: MacSheehy · Sheehey · Shehee
Famous bearers of the name
- Fr Nicholas Sheehy — Tipperary priest judicially executed in 1766, long venerated as a martyr of the penal era.
- Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington — Suffragette and nationalist, co-founder of the Irish Women's Franchise League.
- Mikey Sheehy — Kerry forward with eight All-Ireland medals, scorer of the famous 1978 chipped goal.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: O'Brien · Ryan · O'Sullivan · O'Connor · McCarthy · O'Connell · Collins · Fitzgerald