Welcome to the Heagerty Family Web site!

Our hope is that we can use this site as a tool to connect to members of the family both near and far.  This site is set up with member profiles that include contact information, a forum area for on-going discussions, and a section for photos.  We have also begun a memorial section for those that have passed away.  In time we hope to have everything linked in the form of a family tree with pictures and stories included.  Please take a moment to register for the site and take a look around.

A Brief History

This is intended to help us recall our family history.  Here is a brief description of our story starting with David Michael Heagerty (1863 - 1949), who emigrated in 1880 from the tiny village of Glen Flesk, approximately five miles from the town of Killarney, in County Kerry, Ireland.  David Michael came to work for his uncle, Henry Heagerty (1854-1918).  Uncle Henry owned a hotel and bar on Stanyan Street in San Francisco, California.  Henry paid for young David's passage to America, in exchange for unpaid work at the hotel.  Room and board were provided to David at the hotel until his obligation was satisfied. 

In what was then a common custom, after arriving in the United States (California) Uncle Henry changed the spelling of HEGARTY, as it was spelled in the far southwestern corner of Ireland, to HEAGERTY.  The original pronunciation (Hey-GER-tee) was retained.  According to information on Hegarty family ancestry in Ireland, compiled by David Henry Heagerty (1897-1986), the family tree goes back to James Hegarty, who lived from 1770 until 1835.  The Hegarty name , we are told, was a derivative of the more common "Hagerty" and "O'Hagarty," which are found in many Irish counties, and, centuries earlier, from "O'Heighertha" (pronounced: (Oh-HEY-ger-tha).  As Hegarty immigrant relatives arrived in California, they all adopted the new-country spelling, Heagerty, initiated by Uncle Henry.

One of David Michael Heagerty's brothers or cousins emigrated from Ireland to Australia, and another fought for a world boxing title.  Most of the extended California Heagerty descendants were raised in the same Roman Catholic tradition that the family ancestors practiced in Ireland.

David Michael married Kathryn "Katie" (Gillick) Heagerty (1863-1932) in 1895.  Katie, née Gillick, born in Boston of Irish immigrant parents, moved with her family to San Francisco at the age of two, during the second California Gold Rush which began after the end of the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865).  David and Katie raised four children:

David Henry, the eldest, married Edina (Kaas) Heagerty (1904-1979) in 1926. They had three children: David Arthur (1928- ), Edina Catherine Heagerty Nelson (1929- ), and John Dennis (1943- ). 

Leo Edward (1912-1989), youngest of David Henry's and Katie's children, married Mary Elise “Mayre” Barrett (1914-2008) in 1940.  They had seven children, six of whom survive: Mary Elise “Lee” Heagerty Duncan (1942- ), Moreen Heagerty Cobb (1944- ), Edward Leo “Ned” II (1948- ), Daniel David “Dan” (1950- ), Patrick Francis “Pat” (1952- ), and Ann M. “Annie” Heagerty Van Ess (1956- ). Timothy Michael “Tim” (1946-1995) passed away at age 49 years.

Two other siblings, James Gillick (1904-1973), who did not marry, and Mary Elizabeth "Mae" Heagerty Nevers (1907-1943), who married Ernest “Ernie” Nevers in 1926, did not have children.

For more information about the descendants of David Henry Heagerty and Leo Edward Heagerty, please check out the Family Profiles page and click on a name.  We look forward to hearing from you!