This Irish surname of SHEELEY and its variants Shallow, Shalvey, and Shallo were derived from the Gaelic O'Sealbhaigh meaning 'one who has possessions'. The name is familiar to County Tipperary. It is the name of a Corca Laoidhe sept, which has now spread to other parts of Munster. Shalloo is the County Clare form, and the name has been widely changed to the English Shelley. The Irish prefixes of Mac (son of) and O (grandson or descendant of) gave rise at an early date, to a set of fixed hereditary names in which the literal patronymic meaning was lost or obscured. These surnames originally signified membership of a clan, but with the passage of time, the clan system became less distinct, and surnames came to identify membership of what is called a 'sept' of people all living in the same locality, all bearing the same surname, but not necessarily descended from a common ancestor. Adoption of the name by people who did not otherwise have a surname and by their dependants was not uncommon. Later, nicknames were in some cases to supersede the original clan names. This clan originally held lands in Corca Laoidhe, and as such, along with the great O'Donovan clan, would claim descent from Eoghan, son of Oilioll Olum to which the main family of South Munster belonged. Branches of the O'Sealbhaighs were later established in other parts of the province of Munster, particularly in the region of south west Cork. References of this name in written records may by found as early as the 12th century when 'The Annals of the Four Masters' make mention of the death in 1140 of one Domhnall O'Sealbhaigh, an erenagh responsible for the administration of a monastery. Later an Augustine O'Sealbhaigh (died 1182) a celebrated prelate of the late 12th century, was appointed Bishop of Waterford. The immense influence of this family is shown by the fact there were no fewer than five medieval Bishops of Cork who came from this stock. |
