The Ancestral homes of the Cassidys are in Ulster, the most northern province of Ireland.   Before the seventeenth century the Cassidy name was associated with the Maguires, the Earls of Fermanagh.  After the Irish kings were vanquished, Hugh Maguire joined Rory O'Donnell of Donegal and Hugh O'Neil of Tyrone in the Flight of the Earls in 1607.  The Plantation of Ulster, Penal Laws and evictions by British landlords  forced many families off their lands.  We believe that our Cassidys migrated to Donegal from Fermanagh during this period. 

     The famine years, which began in the 1840's, started the great migration of Irish people to other countries. However, economic deprivation due to colonial British policies was the main reason that some of our Cassidys emigrated to America around the turn of the Century.  Fortunately, many of our Cassidys remained in (or returned to) Donegal.  Today, they are enjoying the prosperity enabled by Ireland's independence and are preserving the family heritage in our native townlands. 

      Recently, Cassidy chroniclers in three corners, Dublin, San Francisco and Boston, discovered each other and proudly shared their personal memoirs for this web site.

      The material is organized as follows:

                   Drumbar Cassidys
                       San Francisco
                           Edward John
                           Bridget McNulty
                           Patricia Mary O'Callahan

                   Clogher Cassidys
                        John and Kitty McGinty
                        Hugh and William

                    Aughlem Cassidys
                        Francis and the Gold Rush Girl
                        Francis and Julia-Boston and Auglem

                     Leghowney Cassidys
                         Mary McGuire and the Murphys
                         Ned and Mary Devlin