Taaffe Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Taaffe Family History

Taaffe Family History

The Taaffe 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 Taaffe include Taffe and Taffy. This family was originally from Wales and in Irish it is rendered Tath. They settled in County Louth soon after the Anglo-Norman invasion and rapidly attained a position of considerable importance in the country. Though they never became numerous like the other Norman families they continued to be one of the most influential families in Ireland. The ancestor of most of the Taaffe lines was Sir Nicholas Taaffe whose grandson, Richard Taaffe, was Sheriff of Dublin in 1295, and in 1315 Sheriff of County Louth. His grandson, John Taaffe, was Archbishop of Armagh.The Taaffe 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 Taaffe descendants.