Conlon Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Conlon Family History

Conlon Family History

The Conlon ancient family history was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

Surnames developed a wide number of variants over the centuries. Many different spelling variations of the same name can be traced back to a single original root. Also, when a bearer of a name emigrated from Ireland it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books upon arrival at their new location. Some names have dozens of spelling variations. Some Surnames were also altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically, by their sound, and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another. This was especially so in Ireland where most Gaelic names were 'anglicized' at some stage.

Variants of the name Conlon include Connellan, Conlan, Conlin and O'Connellan. The principal septs of this Irish name are O'Conallain of Roscommon and Galway, O'Coinghiollain of County Sligo, and O'Caoindealbhain of Munster and Leinster.

A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. It is also the case that many Irish septs or clans that are related often belong to a larger groups, sometimes called tribes. For example the 'Tribes of Galway' consisted of fourteen distinct families. The 'Tribes of Kilkenny' were ten families, etc.

The name is also to be found in large numbers in County Meath and the Midlands where they are also named Quinlan. Families of the name descend from a sept seated near Trim which can be traced back to Laoghaire, King of Ireland in the time of Saint Patrick, but who were later dispossessed at the time of the Anglo-Irish invasion. The spelling Connellan is infrequent in modern times compared with Conlan, Conlin and Conlon. The book of the O'Connellans is a mediaeval work, and deals with the Tirconnell genealogies. The Conlon family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Conlon descendants.