Sharkey Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Sharkey Family History

Sharkey Family History

The Sharkey ancient family history was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The Irish name Sharkey is taken from the O'Searcaigh sept that was located in County Tyrone and is derived from the Gaelic word 'searcach' meaning 'loving'.

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.

In modern times the name is chiefly found in Counties Tyrone, Roscommon, Donegal and Louth. It is recorded as O'Serky and O'Sharky in the seventeenth century Hearth Money Rolls of County Monaghan. A notable bearer of the name was Seamus O'Sharkey who was a Gaelic poet to the O'Naghtens in early eighteenth century. The Sharkey 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 Sharkey descendants.