Ireland Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Irish Family Name History

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There are over 1000 Free to View Irish Family Crests and Family History details in the Gallery.

Click here to find out what the symbols or 'charges' on Irish family crests really mean

The gallery of heraldic charges is divided up into a number of sub-sections to make your investigations even easier:

colors     lines     shields
beasts     birds     plants
other heraldic symbols

IrishSurnames.com is here to help you find your family crest. You should be aware that there may be more than one family crest for the same name. For example, the Irish name O'Connor has dozens. Many non-Gaelic names were brought into the country especially during the seventeenth century. At that time it was very much a disadvantage to have a Gaelic or Irish-sounding name so many of the native names were 'anglicized' into a similar sounding Anglo or Scottish name. For example, the O'Griobhtha Sept of County Clare adopted the Welsh name Griffin. The O'Murchadha sept adopted the name Murphy. Some septs adopted a number of different variants including the O' hAodha sept who changed their name to both Hughes as well as Hayes. So it is very easy to see how the origin of names could easily become confused, especially when you consider that further variants were added over the decades because of the corruption of the spelling of name. Kavanagh became Cavanagh and this became Cavanaugh, etc. Still other Irish names may be of Anglo-Norman origin.

Irish Surnames Origin
Irish names have a number of derivations, including those of native Gaelic, Norman and Anglo origin. Learn more right here.

O'Connor family history

O'Neill family history

Murphy family history

Walsh family history

Kelly family history

Click Here to View Your Irish Family Crest