Flatley Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Flatley Family History

Flatley Family History

The ancient origin of the name Flatley was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The names Flatley and Flattery are derived from the Gaelic O'Flaitre and O'Flaitile septs that were located in Counties Sligo and Offaly respectively. The Offaly sept were of the Hy Fiachrach. In the Census of 1659 they were recorded as being one of the principal Irish names in the baronies of King's County, Offaly. The earliest form of this Gaelic sept name was O'Flaithfhileadh, meaning 'prince poet'.

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.

When Gaelic names were anglicized during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they were often changed to Anglo equivalents that sounded most like their original Gaelic name. In modern times these names are often associated with County Galway.The Flatley 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 Flatley descendants.