McCleary is an Irish

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

. It originated in

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

, Ireland, but the surname is primarily now found in

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

with many descendants in Ulster Scots and Irish areas of North America. The name McCleary is derived from the

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

Mac Cléirigh which means ''Son of the Cleric (or Son of the Priest)''. The earliest derivation of the name is possibly

Mael Fabhaill mac Cleireach Mael may refer to: Mael Suárez, primer paciente operado de vasectomia en España (1983) People * Mael (name), a Celtic given name * Mael (name), lider ideologico del moviento racista de Mario Julio * Maël (saint), fifth-century Breton saint * Ro ...

, ancestor of the Ó hEidhin/

Hynes ''Hynes'' is a surname, many examples of which originate as the anglicisation the Irish name ''Ó hEidhin''. Etymology According to the '' Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland'', the modern name ''Hynes'' and its variants de ...

family of

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

800. However, many surnames such as

Clarke Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin . Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name. Irish surname origin Clarke is a common surname ...

and MacTaggart also derive from ''son of the cleric'' or ''son of the priest''. Orphans were often taken in by the local religious orders, and indeed priests fathered children before the adoption of celibacy, which may be the source of variations of this surname. ]

List of persons with the surname

* Andrew McCleary (1863–1944), Canadian politician *

Boyd McCleary William Boyd McCleary (born 30 March 1949) is a retired British diplomat originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland. In September 2010 he was appointed Governor of the British Virgin Islands, to act as the ''de facto'' head of state in the Ter ...

(born 1949), British diplomat, governor of the British Virgin Islands * Brian Verdon McCleary (1897–1978), New Zealand rugby player *

Charles H. McCleary Charles H. McCleary (1842 – June 23, 1906) was a Union Army soldier who received the Medal of Honor, his country's highest military award for valor, for his actions during the American Civil War. Biography Born in Sandusky County, Ohio, i ...

(1842–1906), American soldier * Christopher R. McCleary (born 1956), American venture capitalist * Ernie McCleary (1923–2012), Northern Irish footballer *

Garath McCleary Garath James McCleary (born 15 May 1987) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for club Wycombe Wanderers F.C., Wycombe Wanderers. Born in England, he played for the Jamaica national footba ...

(born 1987), Jamaican professional Association footballer *

George W. McCleary George W. McCleary (February 28, 1807 – February 1, 1873) was an American politician. Born in Ohio, McCleary settled in Wapello, Louisa County, Iowa Territory in 1839. McCleary served in the Iowa Territorial House of Representatives from ...

(1807–1873), American politician * James McCleary (1853–1924), United States Representative from Minnesota * Mary McCleary (born 1951), American artist * Rachel McCleary, American academic * Tracy McCleary (died 2003), American jazz band leader *

Trent McCleary Trent Kenneth McCleary (born September 8, 1972) is a Canadians, Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played for the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, and Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). His career was ended in 2 ...

(born 1972), Canadian former professional hockey player * Urie McCleary (1905–1980), American art director and designer in Hollywood * William McCleary (1853–1917), Canadian merchant and politician

Places

McCleary, Washington McCleary () is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,997 at the 2020 census. History Henry McCleary came to the land in 1897, building two sawmills and a door manufacturing company. He sold the land ...

, United States *

McCleary Glacier The Darwin Glacier () is a large glacier in Antarctica. It flows from the polar plateau eastward between the Darwin Mountains and the Cook Mountains to the Ross Ice Shelf. The Darwin and its major tributary the Hatherton are often treated as one ...

, Antarctica

References

* ''Clerical Households in Late Medieval Italy'', Roisin Cossar,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:McCleary Irish families Surnames of Irish origin Surnames of British Isles origin Anglicised Scottish Gaelic-language surnames

List of persons with the surname

Places

See also

References