The Casey Family

(Crest No. 260. Plate 43.)

THE Casey family is descended from Milesius, King of Spain, through the line of his son Heber. The founder of the family was Kiann, son of Olliol Ollum, King of Munster, A. D. 177, and Sabia, daughter of Con Kead Caha, King of Ireland, A. D. 148, thus uniting the blood of Heber and Heremon in this family.

The ancient name was Caseigh, which means “Agreeable.” This sept held possessions in the present Counties of Cork, Kerry, Clare, and Tipperary. The Caseys were also Chiefs of Rathconan, in the barony of Pubblebrien, in the County of Limerick. In the County of Cork they were chiefs of a territory near Mitchelstown.

A branch of this family of the race of Ir, fifth son of Milesius, and founded by Laoiseach Kean More of the Clanna Rory tribe, were Chiefs of Saithne, now Sonagh, in Westmeath, where they had been settled since the third century. Their lands were seized by Hugh de Lacy after the Anglo-Norman invasion; he afterward sold them to the Tuite family. Many of this name were eminent ecclesiastics, and others were distinguished for their learning.

J. K. Casey, better known by his nom de plume of “Leo,” was a descendant of this family. He was the national poet of the Fenian movement. Many of his productions are instinct with patriotism and of high literary merit. He died when little over twenty years of age, the result of hardships to which he had been subjected in prison, in which he was confined on account of his nationalistic sentiments and writings. There are several prominent members of this family in the United States, among whom may be mentioned Mr. John Casey, the well-known oil merchant of New York and Brooklyn.