Downey (surname)

Downey is an Irish surname that means in English “belonging to a fort”. The name is found from ancient times in areas of Ireland's modern County Galway, southwest Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Ulster and Leinster and is believed to be the surname of three distinct families.^[1] In Ulster, Downey (I. Ó Duibheanaigh) were the chiefs of the Ulaid petty-kingdom of Cinel Amhalgaidh, now known in the Anglicised form as Clanawley in County Down.^[2]

Map of Gaelic Ireland showing its territory of the Ulaidh or Ulidia (kingdom) circa 900 A.D.

Notable people

• Aaron Downey (born 1974), Canadian ice hockey player and coach
• Alberto Downey (1890-????), Chilean cyclist
• Alexander Downey (1817–1898), American judge
• Alfred Downey (1897-????), Irish footballer
• Allen B. Downey (born 1967), American computer scientist
• Angela Downey (born 1957), Irish camogie player
• Ann Downey (born 1957), Irish camogie player
• Bill Downey (1923–2015), American basketball player
• Brad Downey (born 1980), American artist, political activist and filmmaker
• Brian Downey (actor) (born 1944), Canadian actor
• Brian Downey (drummer) (born 1951), Irish drummer
• Brian C. Downey (1950–2012), Canadian politician
• Bruce Downey (living), American businessperson and former CEO
• Charles L. Downey (1915–1990), American politician
• Chris Downey (living), American writer and producer
• Chris Downey (footballer) (born 1983), English footballer
• Cliff Downey (1928–2018), Canadian politician
• Conor Downey (born 1982), Northern Irish footballer
• Danielle Downey (1980–2014), professional golfer
• Dave Downey (born 1941), American basketball player
• David Downey (born 1942), Canadian boxer
• Devan Downey (born 1987), American basketball player
• Donnell Downey (1907–1966), Australian cricketer
• Doug Downey (born 1970), Canadian politician
• Edmund Downey (1856–1937), Irish journalist and novelist
• Es Downey (1923–2011), Australian rules footballer
• Fairfax Downey (1893–1990), American military historian
• Garbhan Downey (born 1966), Irish novelist and editor
• Gerald Downey (born 1980), American actor
• Geraldine Downey (living), Irish-American academic psychologist
• Glanville Downey (1908–1991), American historian
• Glen Downey (born 1978), English footballer
• Glen Downey (writer) (born 1969), Canadian children's author and teacher
• Glynn Downey (1915–1976), American basketball player
• Gordon Downey (1928–2022), British ombudsman
• Hal Downey (1877–1959), American hematologist
• Harris Downey (1907–1979), American writer
• Harry O. Downey (1897–1974), Canadian politician
• Henry Downey (born 1966), Irish hurler and gaelic footballer
• Hugh Downey (fl. 1940s), Northern Irish politician
• Jack Downey (1921–2006), Olympic sailing competitor for Australia
• James Downey (academic) (1939–2022), Canadian academic administrator
• James Downey (Internet performance artist) (born 1958), American writer
• James Downey (journalist) (1901–2016), Irish journalist and author
• James Downey (rugby union) (born 1981), Irish rugby union player
• James P. Downey (born 1964), American Navy admiral
• Jim Downey (comedian) (born 1952), American actor and comedian
• Jim Downey (politician) (born 1942), Canadian politician
• Jimmy Downey (born 1987), Australian soccer player
• Jo-Anna Downey (1966–2016), Canadian comedian
• Joann Downey (born 1966), American politician
• John Downey (RAF officer) (1920–2010), Royal Air Force air marshals
• John G. Downey (1827–1894), Irish-American politician and California Governor
• John T. Downey (1930–2014), American judge and CIA officer
• John V. Downey (1895–1960), American politician
• John W. Downey (1927–2004), American musician
• Jonathan Downey (born 1983), American businessman
• Joseph Downey (Newfoundland politician) (1852–1933), Canadian politician
• Joseph Downey (Ontario politician) (1865–1926), Canadian politician
• Juan Downey (1940–1993), Chilean video artist
• June Downey (1875–1932), American psychologist
• Justin Downey (born 1986), South African rugby union footballer
• Karrie Downey (born 1973), American volleyball player
• Keith Downey (agricultural scientist) (born 1927), Canadian agricultural scientist
• Keith Downey (politician), Minnesota politician
• Marg Downey (born 1961), Australian comedian
• Margaret Downey, American atheist activist
• Morton Downey (1901–1985), American singer nicknamed "The Irish Nightingale"
• Morton Downey Jr. (1932–2001), American singer, songwriter and television talk show host of The Morton Downey Jr. Show
• Patrick Downey (disambiguation), multiple people
• Robert Downey (hurler) (born 1999)
• Robert Downey Sr. (1936–2021), originally Robert Elias Jr., actor, writer and film director
• Robert Downey Jr. (born 1965), American actor
• Rod Downey, author
• Roma Downey (born 1960), Irish actress and producer
• Shannon Downey, American crafter and activist
• Shem Downey (1922–2013), Irish hurler
• Sheridan Downey (1884–1961), lawyer and Democratic U.S. Senator from California
• W. & D. Downey (William and Daniel), photographers

U.S. Navy and Army

The source for all material in this section is the Gannet Military Times Hall of Valor website.^[3]

Medal of Honor

William Downey (U.S. Civil War hero), a Union Army cavalryman, was awarded the Medal of Honor for braving heavy fire from a Confederate States Army artillery battery as a volunteer member of a boat crew on the Ashepoo River, South Carolina to rescue crewmen on the stranded Union (American Civil War) steamer Boston.

Navy Cross recipients

Ernest Willard Downey for heroism in combat against the enemy in directing and operating anti-aircraft fire from his vessel while exposed to frequent horizontal Imperial Japanese aerial attacks and dive bombings, during the period of World War II from 7 December 1941 to 25 February 1942 and while on board the U.S.S. VAGA (YT-116)

Soldier's Medal recipients

Arlie L. Downey, on 10 July 1926 upon learning that an injured woman was lying exposed in the road near a point where the two heaviest explosions of the explosions at the Lake Denmark Naval Ammunition Depot (aka Lake Denmark Powder Depot) near Dover, New Jersey, had already occurred and accompanied by two other men, proceeded toward that point and rescued the woman through the continuous roar of exploding magazines and when the air was filled with flying shells, stones, and fragments of buildings, and shortly before a third heavy explosion of the facility's munitions occurred.

Distinguished Service Cross (United States) recipients

Ernest L. Downey, during World War I near the Bois-de-Montrebeau, France, 28 September 1918, while severely wounded refused to go to the rear, but continued in the advance until the final objective was reached and his company relieved

Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) recipients

• Joseph Downey, U.S. Marine Corps, Pacific Theater of World War II
• John E. Downey, U.S. Marine Corps, Pacific Theater of World War II
• Thomas A. Muldowney, U.S. Marine Corps, Pacific Theater of World War II
• Lawrence E. Downey, U.S. Army Air Forces, European theater of World War II

Durbin H. Downey, U.S. Army Air Forces, World War II, Korean conflict, Cold War

See also

• Downie, a related surname, chiefly Scottish