Geraghty Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Geraghty Family History

Geraghty Family History

The ancient origin of the name Geraghty was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

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 Geraghty include McGeraghty and Geretty. There are no less than seventeen different synonyms of Geraghty in English, including McGerity, Gearty, Jerety, Enright and even Erraught. The original Gaelic form of Geraghty was O'Roduibh, taken from Oireachtach O'Roduibh who lived in the twelfth century. The Sept were of the Hy Many and were located in County Roscommon and in County Galway in O'Kelly's country. The Chief of the Name, called McGiriaght in the 'Composition Book of Connacht', was seated in the barony of Athlone in 1585. An analysis of the present population distribution indicates that, apart from the main urban centres, the Geraghtys are mainly found in County Galway. Enright is an anglicized variant from the Irish form of Geraghty, Mac Oireachtaigh. The Gaelic word 'oireachtach' from which these names are taken means 'assembly'. The Irish Parliament is known as the 'Oireachtas'.The Geraghty 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 Geraghty descendants.