Hennessy;
Variant Spellings; O’Hennessy, Henchy, Henesy, Henissy, Hensy, Henzy, Hinsy.
Nowadays the O prefix is almost entirely dropped and Hennessy is the modern form. In Irish the name is O hAonghusa translated as descended from Aonghus.
Their principal territory was in northern Co. Offaly where they shared the lordship of Clan Cholgain with the O’Holohan. These O’Hennessys migrated to Tipperary and Clare and in the latter county they are now called Henchy. Another distinct sept of the Hennessys was located near Ross Bay in southwest Co. Cork. There are places called Ballyhennessy in Counties Cork, Clare and Kerry and today the name is found principally in Counties Cork, Limerick and Tipperary.
The French Hennessys of brandy fame are descended from Richard Hennessy of Ballymacrory, Co. Cork (b.1720). He joined the Dillon Regiment of the French Army and fought at Fontenoy; he later settled in the Cognac area. His son James, who married a Martel, was a member of the French Chamber of Deputies.
The motto of the Hennessy coat of arms is 'Vi Vivo et Armis'.
Coat of Arms
(O)Hennessy
Where the Family Lived (Blue Area)
Addresses for More Information
Ireland
Centre for Irish Genealogical and Local Studies, Carraig, Cliff Road, Windgates, Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. (Sean Murphy, MA, Director)
General Register Office, 8-11 Lombard Street East, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Telephone (01) 671 1000
Website http://www.doh.ie/manual/chap4/gere.htm
National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Telephone (01) 478 3711
National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Telephone (01) 603 0200
Website www.heanet.ie/natlib
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, 66 Balmoral Street, Belfast BT9 6NYY, Northern Ireland
Telephone (01232) 251319.
Website http://proni.nics.gov.uk/index.htm
University College Dublin, Adult Education Office, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Website http://www.ucd.ie/delltti
Britain
Family Records Centre, London, England.
Website http://pro.gov.uk/about/frc/default.htm
Public Records Office, Kew, Surrey, England.
Website http://www.pro.gov.uk
General Register Office for Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Website http://www.open.gov.uk/index.html
National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Wales.
Website http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.htm
North America
Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints, Family History Information, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Website http://lds.org/en/ 2 how do I begin/0- how do I begin.html
Family Tree Maker’s Genealogy Site
Website http://www.familytreemaker.com/index.html
The Irish Ancestral Research Association (TIARA), P.O. Box 619 Sudbury, MA 01776, USA.
Website http://tiari.ie
Irish Genealogical Society International, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.
Website http://www.rootsweb.com irish/index.html
New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston Massachusetts, USA.
Website http://nehgs.org/main-01.htm
Australasia
Genealogical Society of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
Website http://www.alphalink.com/au/esv
National Archives of Australia, Canberra, Australia.
Website http://www.aa.gov.au/AA_WWW/AA_Home_Page.html
National Archives of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand
Website http://www.archives.dia.gov.nz
List of Links
Cyndi’s List of Genealogical Sites on the Internet: Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Website http://www.cyndilist.com/ireland.htm
UK and Ireland Genealogical Information Service.
Website http://www.genuki.org.uk
Copyright © 1998 by A. MacDarragh Burke, MD
All Rights Reserved.