Flood Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Flood Family History

Flood Family History

The ancient origin of the name Flood 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 Flood include Floody, Floyd, Tully and McAtilla. These names are anglicized forms of the Gaelic O'Maoltuile and MacMaoltuile sept names.

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.

The Gaelic word 'tuile' means 'flood' and explains the anglicized form of these names as Flood, as well as Tully and McAtilla. The MacTullys were hereditary physicians not only to the O'Connors but also the O'Reillys of Breffny. The placename Tullystown near Granard in County Longford is associated with the Breffny branch of the family. The Tullys listed in the 1691 attainers are all of County Galway and the leading families of the name are of that country. Another sept was located near County Tyrone of which little trace remains today. Floody is a variant found in Counties Louth and Cavan. Floyd is an occasional variant of Flood found in Ulster. The name Flood was also introduced into Ulster Province by settlers who arrived from England and Scotland, especially during the seventeenth century. The Flood 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 Flood descendants.