The Heenan surname originated in Ireland. But it can now be found across the world. It’s most typically found among people in the United Kingdom and USA but there are also several clusters in Australia and New Zealand.
In part this was the result of migration which began as the result of the series of famine in Ireland from the 1840s. But there are also economic factors at work — the lack of job opportunities in Ireland caused people to look further afield to parts of the world where opportunities were opening up.
While a few Heenans went to India and to South Africa to help build railways and ports for the British Empire, the majority headed to the UK mainland, to Scotland, England and, in the case of my own ancestors, to Wales . It was the closest land mass to Ireland, it was easy to find a sea crossing to any of these parts of the UK and relatively cheap. Plus the growth of large cities like Liverpool offered the prospect of plentiful work.
As fares dropped, the USA became a more attractive proposition for those with a little money. Much less expensive or daunting than the 90 plus days it took to reach Australia and New Zealand.
Today you can find people called Heenan in most parts of the world.
To find out more about their destinations click on some of these pages:
Heenan surname in Ireland
Heenan surname in England and Wales
Heenan surname in Australia
Heenan surname in New Zealand
One of the first to settle in Australia was John Heenan, a 38-year old labourer who arrived in South Australia in 1851 aboard the ship “Osceola.” In 1849 Dennis Heenan arrived in Otaga, New Zealand, with his wife and eleven children. They settled near Dunedin.
It wouldn’t be accurate to call it a rare surname but it’s still not in common usage, even in Ireland where it originated.
In fact it seems to be in decline. In the 35 years between 1864 (when civil registration of births began) and the end of the century, there were 352 births. But in the twentieth century the birth rate has slowed down. Between 1900 and 1958 (the last year for which data is available) there were 152 births – less than have the earlier figure.
Heenan Surname in Ireland
Getting an accurate picture of the surname in Ireland is very tricky. The types of records typically used in genealogical research are either not available or are not easily accessible.
For example, census records from the nineteenth century were largely destroyed in a fire in the Public Records Office in Dublin in 1922.
Civil registration records would normally give us some idea of how many births took place within a period of time. However this didn’t begin in Ireland until 1864. Before then, we have to rely on parish records, not all of which have been indexed or made available.
Civil registration of marriages did start earlier, in 1845. But this only included marriages conducted within the Church of Ireland — Roman Catholic marriages were excluded at the insistence of the Roman Catholic church until 1864.
Before it became compulsory to register a death, many deaths went unrecorded. There are a few parish registers where they may be recorded in amongst the baptisms and marriages but its not easy to get at this information .
So in the absence of these records we have to rely on other sources.
Griffith’s Valuation
This was a land and property survey conducted throughout Ireland between 1847 and 1864. It
- 132 households where the leaseholder/property owner was a person with the surname Heenan.
- these were found mainly in County Tipperary (67 households) and County Down (33). There are small pockets scattered across other counties, often just one or two families.
Census Records
The only complete census records still in existence are for 1901 and 1911.
Population of Ireland | Heenans | |
1901 | 4.45 million | 358 |
1911 | 4.3 million | 290 |
In the 1901 census, most of Heenans were living in County Tipperary and County Down – together they account for 66% of the total Heenan population.
This didn’t change significantly over the next ten years. In 1911 the census shows that Tipperary and Down represented 61% of the population. The only change of note was that County Dublin saw an increase in population and the rural areas saw a decrease which is not surprising, since Dublin would inevitably have offered more job opportunities. But the numbers are so small that even one family moving will change the appearance of the map.
Overall, we can see an 18% drop in the Heenan population in Ireland. Some of this may have been the result of a migration although the major period for migration was really in the 1850s- 1870s.
Distribution of Heenan surname in UK
In 1881 there were just 241 individuals in the United Kingdom bearing the surname Heenan, making it the 10843th most common surname. These individuals were clustered in Motherwell (Scotland), Twickenham, Doncaster and Sunderland.
Ten years later and the pattern hadn’t changed significantly – Scotland and the northern counties still accounted for the bulk of the surname holders. The name can generally be found wherever there are heavy industries, ports or industrial zones.
Fast forward to the twenty-first century and the Heenan name has seen some growth. According to the UK Office of National Statistics in September 2002 there were 829 individuals with the surname of Heenan in the UK. It’s still very much a minority name however – with a ranking of 7685. Source: http://www.taliesin-arlein.net/names/search.php
My theory – though I have yet to prove this – is that Heenans from the north of the Emerald Isle went to Scotland and the industrial zones of northern England. Those from the south went to Wales,
Distribution of Heenan surname in USA
North America proved a magnet for holders of the Heenan name. Compared to the Kennedys, Kerrys, Hennesseys etc, the numbers are still small but there was a distinct jump in passengers heading across the Atlantic in the mid 1850s and lasting until the early 1870s. Most of these immigrants settled in the north eastern states but there were small clusters spread across most of the states by 1920. The majority of these people became farmers and labourers.