Our earliest known de Courcy ancestor is Dominick de Courcy (1720 - 1776) born in Waterford. Dominick was a Freeman of the City of Waterford and according to family lore and available records, this honour has been bestowed upon the eldest son of each succeeding generation.
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Number of de Courcy households by County
during Griffiths Valuation 1847-64
Cork 4 Kerry 3
Limerick city 1 Waterford 1
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Number of de Courcey households by County
during Griffiths Valuation 1847-64 Clare 1 Cork 18
Dublin 2 Galway 4
Mayo 1 Waterford 4
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Surname Variants Total
Courcey 30
Courcy 7
Coursey 2
De Courcey 5
De Courcy 9
De Coursey 2 Total 55
How common is the surname?
This table shows how relatively rare the de Courcy surname was by county during the 1848-1864 Griffiths Valuation. If the surname is very rare, then you can be more certain that a name which matches your ancestor's is more likely to be the correct person. If the name is common, then you may need more details to verify the match. This information is available for most Irish surnames at the Irish Times web site.
4. 1911 Census transcription errors: there are several "de Courcy" transcription errors in the on-line census data from the National Archives of Ireland. All of the de Courcys in Waterford and some others are erroneously transcribed as "De Courey" or Decourey", and Dunmore East is erroneously transcribed as "Durunore Town". However, the original handwritten returns are correct. The errors were reported to the National Archives in 2009, but as of May 2010 they had not yet been corrected. So, if you cannot find the expected names, you could try searching for the above mis-spellings.
Y-DNA Test Results
A Y-DNA project for all spelling variants of the de Courcy name is posted at "The "Coursey/DeCoursey" Group Project". The project results include three distinct haplogroups (I1d1, R1b and J2), indicating widely different ancestral origins. However, the probable haplotype of John de Courcy (1160-1219) is not yet known.
A descendant of Dominick de Courcy (1720-1776) submitted a Y-DNA37 test in September 2010. The results (C-17) are posted at Y-DNA results and are unusual in that there is only one match at the 12 marker level and no matches at 25 or 37 markers in the whole database. Due to the unusual haplotype, a backbone test was performed, which confirmed the haplogroup is R1b1b2 (R-M269 SNP tested positive), consistent with the Celtic/Basque (Atlantic) Modal Haplotype.
