Gilligan Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Gilligan Family History

Gilligan Family History

The ancient origin of the name Gilligan 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 Gilligan include Giligan, O'Gillan, Gillan, Gillen, Galligan, MacGil and MacElgunn. This name in Irish is MacGiollagain and the latter variants are the anglicized forms of this. This sept came from County Derry.

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.

Their territory in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was known as MacGilligan's Country and Magilligan Strand, near Lough Foyle, is still a feature found on modern maps. In an important despatch in 1608 it was noted that the MacGilligans were one of the three chief septs under the ruling O'Cahans, the others being O'Mullane and MacCluskey. In the sixteenth century the parish of Tamlaght Ard, County Derry was known as Ard MacGilligan. By the middle of the seventeenth century the prefix 'Mac' had mostly been dropped. The Gilligan 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 Gilligan descendants.