McAuliffe Coat of Arms, Family Crest and McAuliffe Family History

McAuliffe Family History

The ancient origin of the name McAuliffe was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The name McAuliffe is derived from the Gaelic MacAmhlaoibh sept who were an important branch of the McCarthys of County Cork. The Chief of the sept resided at Castle MacAuliffe near Newmarket in Cork.

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.

The last recognised Chief of the name, Michael MacAuliffe, was a Colonel in the Spanish Army and died in Spain in 1720. The famous French physician Joseph Oliffe, 1808-1869, was born in Cork, his ancestral name being McAuliffe. In modern times the name is still mostly found in the south-western part of Munster Province. The McAuliffe 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 McAuliffe descendants.