HEALEY
This is a copy of an article published in
The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper,
on 20th December 1999,
reproduced by kind permission of the author, the late Desmond Holden.
The “What's in a Name” series was a regular
feature in the Advertiser over the period 1993‑2004,
taking a refreshing look at the derivation of some typically
Derbyshire surnames.
Articles are confined to the origins and meanings of surnames,
and do not indicate any particular interest on Desmond's part in
the genealogy, descent, or family history of individuals bearing
the surnames featured.
Editor's Note: Articles are provided for general interest and
background only. They are not intended to provide an exhaustive treatise
for any individual family history - investigations of which may yield
quite different results. Or, in Desmond's own words:
“In the end it must remain with individual bearers of the names to
draw upon family traditions and to seek out such documentary
evidence as is available to decide the matter for themselves.”
WHAT'S IN A NAME …
Are you called HEALEY?
Families of this name can look either to Ireland or Lancashire for
their origins. In the case of Ireland, the source lies in the
Gaelic O hEilidhe or O hEaliaghthe. There are several variations in
the spelling following attempts to transmute them into English, of
which "Healey", "Hely" and "Heilihy" are frequently encountered.
Note that the spelling "Heely" usually indicates an English origin.
Nowadays genuine Irish descendants like to restore the
characteristic prefix "O" and sometimes to revert to a modified
Gaelic rendering: "O hEili" and "O hEalaithe".
Historically "Healey" belongs to Munster, particularly around
Donoughmore (Cork) while "Hely" is associated with Connacht,
especially in Sligo around Lough Arrow.
The meaning of "O hEildhe" is given as "A person who is a
descendant of the Claimant". One would need to be better-informed
as to the history of the particular clan to venture any further
suggestion other than it may be presumed that there must have been
a dispute over the succession to the status of Chieftain. The
English equivalent is "Pretender" and "Bonnie Prince Charlie" or
the "Young Pretender" comes readily to mind.
The alternative derivation from "O hEaliaghthe" is based on a
Gaelic personal name "Ealathach" which is understood to signify
"intelligent" or "gifted". It could possibly be related to a Welsh
name "Elaeth" which can be interpreted in similar fashion. The
surname can therefore be taken as meaning "A person who is a
descendant of the Clever One".
There is no Scots counterpart. Otherwise families who have no Irish
connections may look to a place-name in Lancashire for their
ancestry. This is a district now in Greater Manchester but formerly
within Rochdale until 1974: It is located along the Oldham-Burnley
Highway (A671) about 3 miles, beyond Rochdale.
The first unit of the name, "Hea-" is based on an Old English word
which means "high" or "elevated". The form "Hea-" with variations
occurs in countless place-names in the north, as, for example
"Heanor" (High Ridge). The second unit, "-ley" is just as common
and has several interpretations. However in the case of "Healey" it
means "woodland". So families bearing this surname can interpret it
as "The folk who came from the place where the hills are well-
wooded". On the map, the "ley" (originally "leah") which gives the
place its name, can easily be discerned, rising to 1042 feet.
It is interesting to note that the notion of "High Woodland" is
echoed in two other place-names in the vicinity. Both are called
"Heywood" and one is mid-way between Middle Healey and Syke and the
other is some 3 miles south-west of Rochdale.
About 20 miles to the west, near Chorley, there is another
neighbourhood name, "Healey Nab". This latter expression is a
dialect term and refers to prominent projections or peaks. In this
case the "Nab" achieves 682 feet. In addition there are at least
another half-dozen sites of much the same name distributed across
the north of England. To what extent, if any, they contributed to
this surname is problematical.
All the records tend to show a concentration upon the north-west;
which strongly indicates that the "Rochdale Connection" prevails.
In fact the earliest mention is to a "John de Hely" in Lancaster
for 1284 and later, in 1379 to "Ellota de Helagh" just across in
York. By 1439 the name had travelled to Nottingham where was to be
found "William Healy".
It should be noted that the inclusion of "de" in these old records
does not point to any aristocratic ancestry. It is merely Old
English for "living at". Claims to Norman descent are spurious.
There is certainly a French family of title called "Hely de
Oissel". This place is in Normandy and just south of Rouen. It has
no connection with William the Conqueror and the Invasion. The
original "Hely" was a Jacobite exile who throw in his lot with the
French and the association began about 1700.
An uncommon spelling is "Healaugh". It has identical meaning with
"Healey" and occurs in two sites: 3½ miles north of
Tadcaster and 2 miles from Reeth in the North Riding. There was
once a belief that the name is a modification of the personal name
"Eli" but it is now discounted.
The name is pretty well evenly distributed across the British
islands, with a noticeable weighting in the north Lancashire.
Otherwise, local directories, even in Ireland, muster about 30 to
70 entries.
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© Desmond Holden
From "The Peak Advertiser", 20th December 1999.
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