Rooney Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Rooney Family History

Rooney Family History

The Rooney 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 Rooney include O'Rooneen, Rooneen, Ruineen, Runian, Roonian and Roonien. These names are the anglicized forms of the Gaelic O'Ruanaidh Sept name. In modern Ireland this name is seldom if ever found with the prefix 'O' to which it is entitled, since it is O'Ruanaidh in Irish. They were a Sept of Dromore, County Down, and today they are principally to be found in Ulster and the neighbouring County of Leitrim. The O'Rooneys were a literary family. Ceallach O'Rooney who died in 1079, was called Chief Poet of Ireland. Eoin O'Rooney who died in 1376 was Chief Poet to McGuinness of Iveagh. This tradition was maintained by John Jerome Rooney, born 1866, the Irish-American Catholic poet, and by the better known William Rooney, 1873-1901, poet and Gaelic revivalist. There is a place called Rooney's Island in County Donegal which perpetuates this family. Many of the variants of the name Rooney are found in the area lying between Manorhamilton in County Leitrim and Ballyshannon in County Donegal.The Rooney 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 Rooney descendants.