Dempsey
Ó Díomasaigh · descendant of Díomasach
Dempsey is Ó Díomasaigh in Irish, said oh DEE-ma-see, and means descendant of Díomasach.
Díomasach means proud. The family held Clanmalier on the Offaly border and were among the last to be broken up in the Cromwellian settlement.
How it changes
- A man: Ó Díomasaigh
- His daughter: Ní Dhíomasaigh
- A woman who married into it: Bean Uí Dhíomasaigh
- The family together: Uí Dhíomasaigh
Where it comes from
Laois and Offaly
Also spelt
Dempsey, O’Dempsey, Demsey
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.