O'Cleary (Irish: Ó Cléirigh) is the surname of a learned Gaelic Irish family whose members appear in historical records dating to the mid-Medieval Period. The O'Clearys were descended from the Connachta's Uí Fiachrach kindred and had been rulers of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne, a kingdom in what is now the south of County Galway. The name of the family means descendent or son of the cleric.
The family were subsequently expelled from their land by their cousins, the Clan Ó Seachnasaigh (O'Shaughnessy). From the early 11th or 12th century, they were based in Tír Chonaill, located in modern-day County Donegal, where they served as poet-historians, scribes and secretaries to the O'Donnell dynasty of Tyrconnell. They authored the Ó Cléirigh Book of Genealogies.
The name has been Anglicised variously as O'Clery, Cleary, Clark, Clarke and Clarkson.
Notable members of the clan included:
Mac Comhaltan Ua Cleirigh, King of Uí Fiachrach Aidhne, fl. 964.
Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh (fl. 1595–1630)
Mícheál Ó Cléirigh (ca. 1590–1643), considered the chief author of the chronicle of medieval Irish history known as the Annals of the Four Masters.
Cú Choigcríche Ó Cléirigh (died 1664)
Keyes O'Clery
Conor O'Clery
Bernard Cleary (born 1937), Canadian politician
Beverly Cleary (born 1916), American author
Bill Cleary (born 1934), American hockey player
Brendan Cleary (born 1958), Irish poet
Brian P. Cleary (born 1959), American humorist, poet and author
Daniel Cleary (born 1978), Canadian hockey player
Gabriel Cleary, Irish engineer
Ivan Cleary, rugby league footballer and coach
Joe Cleary (1918–2004), Irish baseball player
John Cleary (disambiguation)
Jon Cleary (born 1917), Australian author
Jon Cleary (musician) (born 1962), American musician
Mark Cleary (professor) (born 1954), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bradford
Michael Cleary, various including
Michael Cleary (rugby) (born 1940), Australian politician and dual-code rugby footballer
Michael J. Cleary (Roman Catholic Bishop) (born 1925), Irish bishop
Michael Cleary (hurler) (born 1966), former Irish hurler for Nenagh Éire Óg and Tipperary
Father Michael Cleary (died 1993), Irish Roman Catholic priest
Nikki Cleary (born 1988), American singer
Paul Cleary (born 1976), Australian middle-distance runner
Phil Cleary (born 1952), Australian commentator
Patrick Roger Cleary, founder of Cleary University
Sean Cleary (footballer) (born 1983), Irish football player
Sean Cleary, Irish rugby league footballer
Thomas Cleary, author & translator
William J. Cleary (1870–1952), American politician
Austin Clarke (poet) (1896–1974), Irish
Henry Edward Clarke (1829–1892), businessman and politician in Ontario, Canada
Henry Joseph Clarke (1833–1889), Premier of Manitoba, Canada, 1874–1878
Peter Clarke (tennis) (born 1979), Irish tennis player
Philip Clarke (politician) (born 1933), Irish Republican Army member and politician
Tom Clarke (Irish republican) (1857–1916), executed for his part in the 1916 Rising
Cleary University, a private business school
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, an international law firm
The Clery Act of United States law
Clerys, an Irish department store
