Coolay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• Ireland

Etymology of Coolay

Irish names tend to vary widely in their spelling and overall form. The original Gaelic form of the name Coolay is Mac Giolla Chuille. Cuille has been suggested to be an abbreviation of Mochuille, the name of a saint. However, other origins also exist for this name.

Early Origins of the Coolay family

Early History of the Coolay family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Coolay research. Another 119 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1618, 1667, 1743 and 1809 are included under the topic Early Coolay History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Coolay Spelling Variations

Before the first dictionaries and printing presses went into use in the last few hundred years, spelling, particularly of names, was a largely intuitive matter. Consequently, many spelling variations occur in even the simplest names from the Middle Ages. Coolay has been spelled Cooley, Cooling, Cowley, Cully, Colly, McCooley, Coaley, Coolyng, Couley, Colley, McCowley, Cooleng, McCoolay, Coolay, Collay, Cullay, Cowleigh, Culleigh and many more.

Early Notables of the Coolay family

More information is included under the topic Early Coolay Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Coolay family

The east coasts of the United States and Canada are still populated by many of the descendents of the Boernician-Scottish families who made that great crossing. They distributed themselves evenly when they first arrived, but at the time of the War of Independence those who remained loyal to England went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. This century, many of their ancestors have recovered their past heritage through highland games and other Scottish functions in North America. Many of these hardy settlers went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Investigation of the origins of family names on the North American continent has revealed that many immigrants bearing the name Coolay or a variant listed above: William, being a mariner of New London in 1634. John Cooley settled at Salem, Massachusetts, in the year 1638. Peter Cooley was a freeman of Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1664.