Flynn Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Flynn Family History

Flynn Family History

The family history of the ancient name Flynn 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 Flynn include Flyng and Lynn. Meaning 'ruddy', this name is of Irish origin and is found throughout the four Provinces. There were several distinct septs of O'Flynn, one being O'Flynn of Ardagh Castle and another O'Flynn of Muskerry, both in County Cork in the very South of the country. In Connacht Province the main O'Flynn sept was of Kiltullagh, County Roscommon. The famous Southern Armagh sept had territory between Lough Neagh and the sea. Their ancestry is traced back to Colla Vais, King of Ireland, in the fourteenth century. In modern Irish the name became anglicized as O'Lynn, Lynn and Ling. These names are mostly found in Counties Kilkenny and Wexford.The Flynn 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 Flynn descendants.