Costigan Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Costigan Family History

Costigan Family History

The ancient origin of the name Costigan 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 Costigan include McCostigan, Costagan, McCostigane and McCostygyn. These names are derived from the MacOistigin Gaelic sept whose native name was later altered to MacCostagain. This sept were a branch of the Fitzpatricks of Ossory and were located in the Leix area.

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.

An early record of the name occurred in the year 1540 when a Patrick MacCostykyen was a Juror in County Kildare. In 1544 the name is recorded in a list of Irish Kern mustered by the Earl of Ormond. In a deposition in 1650 a Dermot O'Costigan was a recorded as a dispossessed gentleman turned rapparee. The main families of Costigan were largely unaffected by the attempted plantation of Leix and Offaly and retained their ancestral seat until the seventeenth century. In modern times this name and its many variants are still well represented in Counties Offaly and Laoise.The Costigan 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 Costigan descendants.