Duffy Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Duffy Family History

Duffy Family History

The Duffy 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 Duffy include Duffey, Duhig and Dowey. Meaning 'dark complexioned one', there were several septs of O'Duffy.

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.

One sept belonged to the Parish of Lower Templcrone, in the diocese of Raphoe in County Donegal. The Duffys were erenaghs and coards there for eight hundred years. The Connacht sept near Strokestown, whose territory was Lissyduffy which was named after them, was remarkable for the number of ecclesiastics it produced. This name is one of the most popular in Ireland. Cele Duffy, Archbishop of Tuam, was King Roderick O'Connors Ambassador to Henry II in 1175. This family was occupied with ecclesiastical art and was responsible for creating the famous 'Cross of Cong'.The Duffy 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 Duffy descendants.