Cuddehay

This interesting and unusual name, with variant spellings Cuddihy, Cuddehy, Quiddihy, Coady, etc. is the Anglicization of the Gaelic "O Cuidighthigh", meaning "the male descendant of "O" the helpful person ("cuidightheach" - helper). This is a Kilkenny name though an earlier form of the name is found in Cork (see below). The name also appears as O'Codihie, O'Kuddyhy etc. in the sixteenth Century and in the modern idiom is found as Cuddihy, Cudahy and Quiddihy with no prefix. Cuddihy is an example of a name once numerous but which has become scarse in the past Century. Twenty-two Cuddihy house-holders appear in the County Tipperary, Mary Cuddihy was baptised on July 14th 1864. Thomas, son of James and Bridget Cuddihy was baptised at Carrick-on-suir in Tipperary on December 27th 1864. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mac Cuidithe, which was dated 1214, County Cork Records, during the reign of Cathal "Craobhdhearg (Redhead) High King of Ireland", 1198 - 1224. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.