Conroy Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Conroy Family History

Conroy Family History

The ancient origin of the name Conroy was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Meaning 'ruler' variants of the name Conroy include O'Conry, O'Mulconry and King. This name is of Celtic origin and is found throughout England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It is found in many mediaeval manuscripts in these countries. Examples of such are a John le Kinge, of Norfolk, who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England, in the year 1273. A John Kyng was Burgess of Perth, Scotland, in the year 1421. The surname King in Ireland was used as a synonym for the Gaelic MacConraio, O'Conraio and MacFhearadhaigh septs. This arose from the similarity in sound of these Mac names and 'Mac an Ri', meaning 'son of the King'.

In Ireland this name and its variants were introduced into Ulster Province by settlers who arrived from England and Scotland, especially during the seventeenth century. During the 'Plantations of Ireland' in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Ireland was colonized by the English Crown with this period marking the end of Gaelic supremacy in Ireland. This period brought an influx of settlers into the country but, unlike the earlier Anglo-Norman invasion of the twelfth century that resulted in a full integration into Irish society of the new arrivals, the same never occurred with the Ulster Planters who maintained their own distinct identity.

Nearly all the MacConroys of Moycullen use the name King and in the nineteenth century their seat was located at Ballymaconroy, Kingstown.The Conroy 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 Conroy descendants.