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Sherry derives from the Irish word Searraigh, which
is the possessive |
American Sherrys of non-Irish origin |
As with other Irish surnames, there are
multiple origins of the Sherry : Sharry
: McSherry : McSharry
name. Records going back nearly 1000 years document
events that occurred in widespread areas of
the island. In most cases descendants
bearing the Based on historical records linked below and
on recent DNA
test results, there appear to be 5
principal family groups. |
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Sherrys of Monaghan and
surrounding counties |
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McSharrys of Sligo/Leitrim |
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Sherrys of Dublin/Meath |
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McSherrys of Antrim/Down |
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M(a)cSherrys of Cork |
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There are small groups of Sharrys
in Clare and Westmeath.
Foley has been suggested as an anglicized
version of the surname. A concentration
of Foleys
and away from the main Foley lands in the south.
Due to
a series of fires in castles and courtrooms, a substantial part of Ireland’s
written history has been forever lost. The links
below lead to information collected from a range of records over the
centuries, including the wide variety of ways the name has been
recorded. Clicking on the underlined
text will take you to the records. For the GoogleMaps, selecting only the boxes of interest produces
a less crowded map. |
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Annals
of Ireland (1032 - 1473) - Sherry references - (Séarraigh,
Serraich, Serraigh, Shearraigh, Sherraigh, Seiridh) -- GoogleMap --- Compiled during the 1600s,
these were transcriptions of prior documents that were annual compilations of
events by monks in several |
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Tax lists based on
fireplaces for which all, farmers to lords, were assessed 2 shillings
per. Not all counties’ records survive
and several have only partial
coverage; some individuals were
exempted while others avoided the taxman; in some cases only 50-60% paid. The key counties lacking for our purposes
are Down, Leitrim, Meath,
Dublin and most of Tyrone. Cavan transcriptions are in journals and have not been added yet. |
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Flax
Spinning Lists (1796) - Sherry, Sharry, McSharry, McSherry - parish and
county --- Lists of people engaged in the production of linen –
incomplete national coverage as some areas were not active in the trade. |
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--- Listings related to a tax to be paid to support Church
of Ireland clerics. |
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Griffiths
Valuation (1856-1861) - geographic distribution of the Sherry,
Sharry, McSharry, McSherry families in Ireland -- GoogleMap --- Listings of a survey prepared for a property tax. |
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IGI
extracted Irish births (1864-1881) - Sherry,
Sharry, McSharry, McSherry -- additional
births -- additional
marriages --- Nationwide recording of births, marriages and deaths
began in 1864, but was by no means comprehensive for decades. |
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Irish
Census, County Monaghan (1901, 1911) - Sherry, McSherry --- Sadly, previous censuses (1841-1891) were destroyed in
war and for recycling. |
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Online
Phone Listings (2005) - geographic distribution of Sherry, McSharry, McSherry in Ireland --
GoogleMap |
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Questions? Comments? |
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Click on the box in the
upper left corner of the map below for more info and to select/deselect
groups of icons. |