Driscoll Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Driscoll Family History

Driscoll Family History

The ancient origin of the name Driscoll 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 Driscoll include Driskill and O'Driscoll. The Gaelic O'Drisceoil sept from which these names are derived were originally located in County Cork in Ireland.

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.

At first they were concentrated in south Kerry but pressure by the O'Sullivans drove them eastwards where they settled near Baltimore in southwest Cork. There they remained, though pressure by the O'Mahonys and O'Donovans further reduced the extent of their territory. In 1460 the Chief of the sept founded the Franciscan monastery there. There were several septs of the name as evidenced by references to the ancient Munster map showing the locations of the families. The territorial importance of the O'Driscolls waned in the seventeenth century, but many of their leading men were prominent in the army of James II in Ireland.The Driscoll 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 Driscoll descendants.