Dempsey is a surname of Irish origin.

Background

Dempsey is an

anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...

form of Ó Díomasaigh, 'descendant of Díomasach'; this personal name is the Irish adjective ''díomasach'' 'proud'. The family originated in the

Kingdom of Uí Failghe The kingdom of Uí Fháilghe, ''Uí Failge'' (early spelling) or ''Uíbh Fhailí'' (modern spelling) () was a Gaelic-Irish kingdom which existed to 1550, the name of which (though not the territory) is preserved in the name of County Offaly ( Ir ...

. According to John Grenham: Another source states:

Descent

An Ó Diomasaigh genealogy records the following: ''Flann m. Máel Ruanaid m. Cellaich m. Máel Augra m. Conchobuir m. Áeda m. Tomaltajich m. Flaind m. Díumasaich m. Congaile m. Forannáin m. Congaile m. Máel h-Umai m. Cathail m. Bruidge m. Nath Í m. Rosa Failgi.'' The final person may be identical with Failge Berraide (fl. 507–514), a king of the Uí Failghe and of Laigin descent. A new bloodline has been recently traced to when the Dempseys came to America. When the family known as the Dempseys got off the boat, they were asked their legal names by American officials, who would put them in the American records, making them a citizen, it was misspelled Dimsey, therefore creating the Dimsey bloodline. Another group of the family came on the boat, and was correctly identified as Dempsey, leading to the American Dempsey bloodline. Similarly, Dempcy dating back to the Revolutionary War, was also a misspelling of Dempsey.

Dempseys in the annals

The

Irish annals A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over t ...

list a number of members of the family: * 789: Áedh randfather of Máelaugraiwas slain by Óengus son of Mugrón, king of Uí Failghe, in the oratory of Kilclonfert. * 1141: Donnchadh, son of Goll Gaibhle, i.e. Ua Conchobhair Failghe, was killed by the Uí Failghe themselves, i.e. the Clann-Maelughra. * 1161: Domhnall, son of Conghalach, son of Cuaifne Ua Conchobhair Failghe, Tanist of Uí Failghe, was slain by the Clann-Maelughra. * 1164: Maelseachlainn Ua Conchobhair Failghe, was slain by the Clann-Maelughra. * 1193: Diarmait, son of Cubrogam Ua Diumasaigh, chief of Clann-Mailighra and king of Uí Failghe for a long time, died. * 1383: Dermot O'Dempsy, Lord of Kinel-Maoilughra, was slain by the English. * 1394: Thomas O'Dempsy, heir to the lordship of Clann-Maoilughra, was slain by the English.

Other Dempsey families

An unrelated family, rendered in Irish as Mac Diomasaigh, are found in

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

and its neighbouring counties.

Bearers of the name

Notable people with the surname Dempsey include: *

Amy Dempsey Amy Jo Dempsey FRSA (born 1963) is an independent scholar and art historian. Her book ''Styles, schools and movements'' (2002) has received two editions and has been translated into several languages. Early life Amy Dempsey was born in 1963. She ...

(born 1963), American art historian * Bill Dempsey (born 1942), former Australian rules footballer * Bill Dempsey (footballer) (1896–1967), English footballer * Candace Dempsey, American author, journalist and travel writer * Cedric Dempsey, former American sports executive * Chester Dempsey (1896–1969) American farmer and politician * Clint Dempsey (born 1983), American soccer player * Courtenay Dempsey (born 1987), Australian rules footballer * Damien Dempsey, Irish singer and songwriter * Dan Dempsey, Australian rugby league footballer * Denis Dempsey (1826–1896), Irish soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross * Donald Dempsey (c. 1932 – 2005), American recording executive * Ed Dempsey, Canadian ice hockey coach * Frank Dempsey (1925–2013), American football player * Gary Dempsey, multiple people * George Dempsey, multiple people * Girvan Dempsey (born 1975), Irish rugby union footballer * Henry Dempsey, pilot who survived being sucked out of an airborne Beechcraft 99 aircraft in 1987 * Holli Dempsey, British actor * Ian Dempsey (born 1961), Irish radio presenter *

Jack Dempsey William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926 ...

(1895–1983), American boxer * Jack Dempsey (disambiguation), other people with this name * James Dempsey (disambiguation), multiple people * Jeremiah Dempsey (disambiguation), multiple people with this name *

Jillian Dempsey Jillian T. Dempsey (born January 19, 1991) is an American ice hockey player who currently captains the Boston Pride in the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF). She currently holds the all-time PHF records for games played, goals, assists, and point ...

(born 1991), American ice hockey player *

Jillian Lee Dempsey Jillian Lee Dempsey is an American inorganic chemist and the Bowman and Gordon Gray Distinguished Term Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Currently, her work focuses on proton-coupled electron transfer, charge transfe ...

, American inorganic chemist * John Dempsey, multiple people * Judy Dempsey (born 1956), Irish journalist and researcher * Julia Dempsey (known as Sister Mary Joseph Dempsey), American religious sister, nurse and hospital administrator * Lawrence Dempsey (died 1690), an Irish soldier *

Lorcan Dempsey Lorcan Dempsey is a librarian who was a vice president and Chief Strategist of OCLC, where he worked for 21 years between 2001 and 2022. He is a native of Dublin, Ireland, where he worked for some years in public libraries. He writes and talks ...

(born 1958), Irish library information expert * Luke Dempsey (born 1979/1980), Irish Gaelic football manager * Mark Dempsey, multiple people *

Martin Dempsey Martin “Marty” Edward Dempsey (born March 14, 1952), is a retired United States Army general who served as the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 2011 until September 25, 2015. He previously served as the 37th chief o ...

(born 1952), American general, 18th chairman, US Joint Chiefs of Staff *

Michael Dempsey Michael Stephen Dempsey (born 29 November 1958) is an English musician and composer, who has played bass as a member of several post-punk and new wave bands, including the Cure and the Associates. History Early years Dempsey was born on 29 ...

, multiple people * Mick Dempsey, Irish Gaelic footballer * Miles Dempsey (1896–1969), British general of World War II * Nathan Dempsey (born 1974), Canadian ice hockey player * Nick Dempsey (born 1980), English windsurfer * Nicola Dempsey (fl. 2015–), one half of comedy duo

Flo and Joan Flo & Joan (or Flo and Joan, a name they took from their grandmother and her sister) is an English comedy music act consisting of sisters, Rosie and Nicola Dempsey. The act generally consists of comedy songs. Flo & Joan have been featured on BBC ...

* Noel Dempsey (born 1953), Irish politician * Nonpareil Dempsey (1862–1895), ring name of Irish-born American boxer John Kelly * Patrick Dempsey (born 1966), American actor and race car driver * Paul Dempsey (born 1976), Australian rock musician *

Ray Dempsey Ray Dempsey is a Gaelic football manager and former player. He has been manager of the Limerick county team since 2022. Dempsey played for Mayo in the 1989 and in the 1996 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Finals. He got 64 appearances ...

, Irish Gaelic footballer * Rey Dempsey, retired American college football coach * Richard Dempsey (born 1974), English actor * Rick Dempsey (born 1949), retired American baseball player *

Rosemary Dempsey Rosemary Dempsey a noted American Activist, has served many roles in second wave feminism, civil rights movements, and anti-war protests. Her most notable positions were Vice President for Action of The National Organization of Women (NOW) sta ...

, American feminist activist * Rosie Dempsey (fl. 2015–), one half of comedy duo

* Sandra Dempsey, Canadian playwright * Sandy Dempsey (1949–1975), actress *

Shawna Dempsey Shawna Dempsey and Lorri Millan are a Canadian performance art duo who, since 1989, have collaborated on performances, films, videos, publications and public art projects. Both out lesbians, Dempsey and Millan collaborate most commonly on humor ...

, Canadian performance artist *

S. Wallace Dempsey Stephen Wallace Dempsey (May 8, 1862 – March 1, 1949) was an American Republican politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from New York. Born in Hartland, New York, Dempsey was an assistant United States At ...

(1862–1949), American Republican politician, Congressman 1915–1931 * Thomas Dempsey (disambiguation) or Tom Dempsey, multiple people * Tommy Dempsey, American college basketball coach * Tony Dempsey (born 1944), Irish

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian ...

politician, TD 2002–2007 * Travis Demsey, born Travis Dempsey, Australian musician As a given name: *

Dempsey Bob Dempsey Bob, D.Litt (born 1948) is a Northwest Coast woodcarver and sculptor from British Columbia, Canada, who is of Tahltan and Tlingit First Nations descent. He was born in the Tahltan village of Telegraph Creek on the Stikine River in northw ...

(born 1948), Canadian woodcarver *

Dempsey Burges Colonel Dempsey Burgess (1751 – January 13, 1800) was a Democratic-Republican U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1795 and 1799. He was commandeer of the Camden County Regiment of the North Carolina militia during the American Revolu ...

(1751–1800), American politician, Congressman 1795–1799 *

Dempsey Wilson Dempsey Cothrin Wilson (March 11, 1927 – April 23, 1971) was an American racecar driver. Wilson was born in Los Angeles, California. He began his racing career on Southern California short tracks, racing roadsters, then midgets and stock ca ...

(1927–1971), American racecar driver *

P. Dempsey Tabler Perce Dempsey Tabler (November 23, 1876 – June 7, 1956) was a Tennessee-born opera singer, athlete, businessman and actor, remembered for being the third actor to portray Tarzan in films. His sole outing in the role came in the 1920 movi ...

(1876–1956), American actor, athlete and businessman Fictional Characters: * "Tank" Dempsey (born before 1917), fictional U.S Marine from ''Call of Duty: Black Opss Zombies mode * Zach Dempsey, a character in the novel and Netflix series '' 13 Reasons Why''

External links

* http://www.fair-trade-usa.com/dempsey-clan/history-dempsey-ireland.htm * http://www.henneberry.org/dunn/dempsey.htm * http://genforum.genealogy.com/dempsey/ * http://boards.ancestry.netscape.com/surnames.dempsey/304.341/mb.ashx

References

* Matthews, Thomas (1903) ''Account of the O'Dempseys, Chiefs of Clan Maliere'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dempsey Patronymic surnames Irish families Surnames of Irish origin Families of Irish ancestry Anglicised Irish-language surnames