Clearys
The name is thought to be a Gaelic Irish surname derived from O’Cleirigh, Clearach, O’Clery, Clery, and originally meant a "clerk" or "cleric". Thus the name Clarke, with people of Irish descent, while sometimes derived from English Clark, is most often derived from the same origins. "Cleireach" or "Cleirigh" was thought to be pronounced "clerikhh" from which derived both "Cleary" and "Clarke".
It has been said that the name refers to descendants of Cleireach (born about 820 A.D.) who was descended from Guaire the Hospitable King of Connacht. Hereditary surnames came into general use in about the tenth and eleventh centuries and the name O’Clery was one of the earliest recorded surnames. The O’Clerys were a significant family in the part of Ireland that is now known as Galway. (see McLysaght, Edward. Irish Families : Their Names and Origins, publication details not known, reported as published in late 1950s).
While there may be some remote links with many persons named Cleary and Clarke, family links with any famous people of these names are not known.
Two very famous persons with this surname were two sisters, Julie Cleary and Desiree Cleary (1781 –1860), daughters of an Irish merchant, who became Queen of Spain and Queen of Sweden respectively under Napoleon; their story was romanticised in a novel called Desiree by Anne Marie Selinko and published by William Heinemann in London, 1953. Any relationship to these persons is unknown.
One source estimated the number of Cleary families in the world:
| United States : | 17,871 | persons named Cleary in | 8,123 | households |
| Great Britain : | 8,700 | persons named Cleary in | 3,480 | households |
| Ireland : | 5,583 | persons named Cleary in | 2,223 | households |
| Australia : | 4,103 | persons named Cleary in | 1,865 | households |
| Canada : | 2,451 | persons named Cleary in | 1,114 | households |
| New Zealand : | 348 | persons named Cleary in | 158 | households |
| Northern Ireland : | 298 | persons named Cleary in | 119 | households |
| South Africa : | 148 | persons named Cleary in | 53 | households |
| Germany : | 28 | persons named Cleary in | 11 | households |
| France : | 25 | persons named Cleary in | 10 | households |
| Netherlands : | 15 | persons named Cleary in | 6 | households |
| Austria : | 3 | persons named Cleary in | 1 | household |
| Switzerland : | 3 | persons named Cleary in | 1 | household |
| Italy : | 3 | persons named Cleary in | 1 | household |
source : The World Book of Clearys, printed in 1996 by Halbert’s Family Heritage, for Mary Bergin Cleary.
Australian contact : World Book Offer, Locked Bag 59, Alexandria NSW 2015. International contact information not provided.
Some persons named Cleary (particularly in County Antrim in Ireland) were originally named MacCleary or MacAlary and are not closely related to the Clarkes or other Clearys.
The Clare Heritage and Genealogical Centre in Corofin, Ireland, reported that the Cleary surname was quite strong in County Clare in the 19th century and that their Master Index of Baptisms records just over 300 families of the name.
Between the years 1850 and 1880 an estimated 112,000 people emigrated from Co. Clare. By comparision, the present population stands at just under 90,000. …. . County Clare has strong ties with Australia. In the years 1849 to 1869 over 6,000 County Clare emigrants arrived in Sydney.http://www.irishroots.net/Clare.htm
>see the Clearys of Illaun, Miltown Malbay
