So glad to find this thread though I don't think I can get access to the books cited. I have a particular interest in seals and the selkie legends, and have written two songs about them (the selkies).

Probably no way to let Guest MG know it, since the thread is 2 years old, but one of the Irish families associated with the selchies is the subject of the movie "Secret of Roan Inish" and the book it was taken from, The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry, by Rosalie K. Fry.

Coneely is thatfamily name I believe.

There is a lovely link here to a Scottish family believed to be descended from a selkie-- beautifully told:
http://www.bletherskite.net/2011/04/08/clan-macpheemacfie-descended-from-a-selkie/