McArdle Coat of Arms, Family Crest and McArdle Family History

McArdle Family History

The McArdle 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 McArdle include Ardill, Cardwell, McCardle and McArdell. This name is found in Ulster mostly around the town of Newry. The name Ardill is often interchanged with this name and a branch of this family is found in North Tipperary. The name in Irish is McArdghail, taken from Gaelic words that mean 'high valour'. They were a branch of the McMahons of Oriel with their sept belonging historically to that territory. The ancient 'Hearth Money Rolls' indicate that McArdill with its variants was one of the most popular names in County Monaghan, Armagh and Louth in the seventeenth century, and this is confirmed by the Petty Census in the year 1659. The McArdle 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 McArdle descendants.