Killeen Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Killeen Family History

Killeen Family History

The family history of the ancient name Killeen 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 Killeen include Killen, McKillen, Killin and Killian. This name in Irish is O'Cillin and the latter variants are the anglicized forms of this. This sept came from the west of Ireland.

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.

They were located in the three Atlantic seaboard counties of Clare, Galway and Mayo. In the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they are recorded in the Composition Book of Connaught as residing near Ballykileen in the parish of Annagh, County Mayo. Some families migrated across the Shannon and settled in Westmeath, they using the form Killian. Killen is chiefly found in County Antrim where some are of a Galloglass family who were taken from Scotland by the O'Donnells in the fifteenth century.The Killeen 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 Killeen descendants.