O'Shaughnessy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
O'Shaughnessy is family surname of Irish origin.
The name is found primarily in County Galway and County Limerick. The town of Gort, Ireland, was the caput of the family since at least the time of their ancestor, King Guaire Aidhne of the Ui Fiachrach Aidhne dynasty. The clan were its rulers from the mid-1200's to the late 1690's.
The last "de facto" O'Shaughnessy Lord of Kinela died at Gort after returning home from the Battle of Aughrim in July 1691. The senior line of the family moved to Australia, living in Geelong, Victoria, before moving to South Australia. The current senior line of the family are Peter Francis O'Shaughnessy, his son Peter Kevin O'Shaughnessy. The youngest female who bears this name is Emma O'shaughnessy, Daughter of Peter Kevin O'Shaughnessy.Thousands of bearers of the name still survive both in their homeland and further abroad. The name Shaughnessy is in particularly widespread use in the vicinity of Boston, Massachusetts and Peterborough, Ontario home of the Peterborough Liftlocks and Little Lake.
Notable people with this surname include:
- Arthur O'Shaughnessy - British poet
- Eileen O'Shaughnessy - wife of George Orwell
- Margaret Heckler (born Margaret Mary O'Shaughnessy) - US lawyer and politician
- Nicholas O'Shaughnessy - professor, author and political commentator
- Thomas O'Shaughnessy - Last Recorder of Dublin
- William Brooke O'Shaughnessy - toxicologist and chemist
- Michael O'Shaughnessy - Chief engineer for the Hetch Hetchy reservoir near San Francisco, California
