130 Global GREALY Family Members

GREALY Family History

Recorded as O'Reilly, Reilly, Realy, Mac Grealy, and in County Mayo Grealy, Greally, and Greeley, this is an ancient Irish surname. It derives from the pre 10th century Gaelic personal name O'Raghailleach, of unknown origin. The surname is first recorded in surving registers in the late 16th century, (see below), but is clearly much older. Sadly most early registers were destroyed in 1922 when the then IRA in a fit of vandalism blew up the Public Records Office in Dublin, and burning most of the country's early heritage.