Caulfield Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Caulfield Family History

Caulfield Family History

The ancient origin of the name Caulfield 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 Caulfield include Caufield, Gaffney, O'Growney, Keveney, McCarron and Carew. This Sept was O'Gamhna of Ossory, and Caufield and Caulfield are the modern forms of the name. In the same area Gaffney is found as Keveney. From 1100 to 1600 the name appears frequently as a Sept in the barony of Kilkenny West. The ancient text 'The Four Masters' name the head of the Sept 'Chief of Maol an tSinna' meaning 'Chief of Shannon', their territory lying on the Westmeath side of the river. In 1578 Hobbert McCarron of Killenefaghna, County Westmeath, was 'Chief serjeant of the Nation', confirmed in the possession of the lands in that County. Caulfield and Caufield are also occasional variants of McKeown and Calfhill.The Caulfield 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 Caulfield descendants.