The family name SHERRY derives from the Gaelic names O'Seiridh or MacSeiridh. A 1600s compilation of older Irish records refer to the 1130 death in battle of Giolla Pádraig Mac Seiridh, King of Dal Buinne, a tribe located in southwest County Antrim. There are other references to notable SHERRYs dying in battle in County Tyrone and County Leitrim.

The modern name Séarraigh is the possessive form of the Gaelic word searrach, which translates into English as 'foal', a young horse. Thus, the family crest is often shown as a variant of the Foley crest. SHERRYs are most commonly found in County Monaghan. County Armagh is another place where SHERRYs have lived through the ages. McSHARRYs live in the northern parts of Counties Sligo and Leitrim. (It is unknown whether there is a family connection between the SHERRYs and MCSHARRYs, although DNA tests may one day provide an answer.) During the period of English occupation, some McSHARRYs apparently anglicized their name to FOLEY. An early English settler family in County Cork adopted the MacSHERRY name, an anglicized version of 'son of Geoffrey', in place of their HODNETT surname.

As to the homeland for our SHERRYs, evidence points toward the northern part of Errigal Truagh parish, County Monaghan. DNA tests show a very similar pattern of markers among a descendant of Arthur and two Irish SHERRYs with ancestors from Clonisboyle and Cavan Moutray, townlands in Errigal Truagh parish, the Clonisboyle link being the better match. The closeness of the results indicates a common ancestor from 200 to 400 years ago. According to a Trinity College Dublin study, the DNA results also suggest an ancestry linked to a dominant early (ca 500) clan in Ireland, possibly either Niall of the Nine Hostages, the founder of the O'Neill dynasty, or Conn Cetchathach, Conn of the Hundred Battles, Niall's esteemed forefather several generations prior.

Paper records also suggest an Errigal Truagh origin. Baptismal records from the 1830s in the parish list RUSSELLs as godparents for a couple of SHERRYs. RUSSELL was the maiden name of Arthur's first wife. Baptismal records in Bellaire, Ohio for son James' daughter Laura put his birth in Cavan; perhaps this refers to Cavan Moutray and not County Cavan. Daughter Sarah is noted with a County Monaghan birth for her daughter Grace's baptism. Finally, an Arthur Sherry senior of Clonerboy (Clonisboyle) and Killehoman, possibly our Arthur's father, is noted as being host of one of the religion stations of a priest in Errigal Truagh in 1835.

Arthur first bought property in Bellaire in December 1854, according to a deed filed in 1861. He paid $80 for the lot on the southeast corner of 25th and Union Streets, where the family lived for the next 46 years. He hosted the first Catholic masses in Bellaire at his home soon after he settled there and in 1857 contributed $50 toward the construction of St. John's Church. The 1860 census notes his profession as brickmaking and shows the family to be relatively prosperous with $2,100 in real estate and $50 in personal assets. At his death, Arthur left the house on 25th and its contents - full of variety store items and commercial quantities of liquor - an indication that the family ran a grocery as documented in a 1860 Ohio state business directory.

According to censuses for Arthur's children, Patrick, Mary and Sarah, the family immigrated to the U.S. in 1852/3. On September 8, 1853, the ship Shannon arrived in New York from Liverpool with the following Sherrys on board: Owen (17), Mary (12), Sarah (8), William (6), and Alice (4); the ages and names appear to be a reasonable match for Arthur's children. The immigration records for Arthur, James and Patrick have not yet been found.

Son Robert's death certificate notes his birth in Bellaire in September 1853. The earliest contemporary documents for the SHERRYs record the marriage of Arthur's daughter Mary to Dennis Owens in Bellaire in 1856.

It is unknown what brought the family to Bellaire or what path they took. The completion of the B&O Railroad to Wheeling and the Central Ohio Railroad to Bellaire in 1854 caused the area to blossom economically, attracting numerous other immigrants, some of which had Irish surnames (Connelly, Clark, Kavanagh, Monahan) common in County Monaghan. Sons Owen, Patrick and James worked for railroads. Perhaps the family followed one of them to Bellaire.


Sherrys of Errigal Truagh
parish
Sherry
genealogy information I have assembled

The witnesses to the will were Patrick McMannis, Michael Lynskey, Willam Heaney(?) and Thomas Russell, possibly his brother-in-law.

1/3 of his estate was left to his wife and the balance was left to his youngest son Robert. If Robert died before age 20, his portion or whatever remains was to be divided among the remaining family, Robert's half-brothers and half-sisters. His wife Mary, as executrix identified Owen, Patrick, James, Mary Owens, Sarah Jane Koyle, and Alice Loftus as the other heirs at law in a published notice. Arthur's personal estate was insufficient to pay his debts so Mary sought the courts permission to sell the buildings and property on Lot 4.

• Married:

1. Owen SHERRY b: BET 1830 AND 1832 in Ireland
2. Patrick SHERRY b: 31 OCT 1838 in Ireland
3. James SHERRY b: ABT 1840 in Ireland
4. Mary SHERRY b: 1840
5. Sarah Jane SHERRY b: AUG 1839 in County Monaghan, Ireland
6. William SHERRY b: ABT 1843/44 in Ireland
7. Alice SHERRY

• Married:

1. Robert Henry SHERRY b: 21 SEP 1853 in Bellaire, Belmont Co., OH