Conway Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Conway Family History

Conway Family History

The ancient origin of the name Conway was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Meaning 'of Conway', this is a name that has originated as a surname from a Welsh town and an Irish sept. The first on record in England was a John Connyway who was baptised in Saint James, Clerkenwell, in the year 1561, and a John Conaway and Barbara Burt, were married in the same church in the year 1584. In Ireland the MacConways belonged to Thomond and were a sept of great importance until the fourteenth century. Another sept was located in the Parish of Easky, Sligo, called O'Conway. In County Mayo we have the sept of O'Connmhachain of the same stock as the O'Haras, whose name, first anglicized as O'Conoughan, has now been corrupted to Conway.The Conway 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 Conway descendants.