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Riley Coat of arms information below Welcome to the
Riley web site. Some of the pages on this site are password protected
for our security. If you would like to know the password send me an
email and I'll let you know what it is. 
This site is primarily related to the descendants of Frederick W. Riley and Helen V. Hagadorn - In time I would like to add a lot of information related to the history of our family and other Riley family members that are related to us. the great sept of
O Raghailligh in County Cavan or the ancient area known as Breffny or
in Irish Breifne. The name literally meaning "descendant of
Raghallach", was until recently much more commonly found in English
without the prefix O. Reilly and O'Reilly constitute one of the most
numerous names in Ireland, being among the first dozen in the list. The
bulk of these come from Cavan and adjoining counties, the area to which
they belong by origin, for they were for centuries the most powerful
sept in Breffny, their head being chief of Breffny-O'Reilly and for a
long time in the middle ages his influence extended well into Meath and
Westmeath. At the present time we find them very numerous still in
Breffny, heading as they do the county list both in Cavan and Longford.
In 1878 O'Reilly landlords possessed over 30,000 acres. The name has
also become Riley, especially in England. Other variant forms include
O'Rahilly, O'Rielly, Rahilly, Raleigh, Reyley, Rielly, Radley, Ridley,
Ryley, and Reillé, though a number of these forms have quite different
origins. The individual who gave the sept its name was one Raghallach
("ragh:" Irish, a race; "ceallach," gregarious) was slain at the Battle
of Clontarf, 1014, alongside the High King of Ireland, Brian Boru.
Raghallach himself was of the same stock as the O'Rourkes and therefore
of the line of the great O'Connor kings of Connacht. Origin
Displayed: Irish First found in county Cavan, where they held a family seat from very ancient times. Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: the families who settled in Newfoundland - in St. John's, Tilton Harbour, Placientia, Tickle Bay, Tilt Cove, and many more, between 1805 and 1871; James O'Reiley settled in New York in 1823. (Above is a small excerpt from our 1800 word history) Copyright © 2000 - 2007 Swyrich Corporation, all rights reserved Found at http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.c/qx/riley-coat-arms.htm ORIGIN: IRISH
Spelling variations of this family name include: O'Reilly, O'Reilley,
O'Reily, O'Rielly, O'Riely, O'Riley, O'Rilley and many more. First
found in county Cavan, where they held a family seat from very ancient
times. Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its
variants were: the families who settled in Newfoundland - in St.
John's, Tilton Harbour, Placientia, Tickle Bay, Tilt Cove, and many
more, between 1805 and 1871; James O'Reiley settled in New York in
1823. |
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