Gleeson Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Gleeson Family History

Gleeson Family History

The family history of the ancient name Gleeson 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 Gleeson include O'Glissane, Glissane, Leeson and Lishane. These variants are the anglicized forms of the Irish name O'Glasain. In spite of its English appearance Gleeson is a genuine Irish Gaelic name. They belong to the Aradh, their territory being Mac Ui Bhriain, Aradh's country, in County Tipperary between Nenagh and Lough Derg. They were of the same stock as the O'Donegans, of the Barony of Ara, County Tipperary, who were originally of Muskerry, County Cork. Before the sixteenth century they held extensive lands in County Tipperary but lost most of these during the Cromwellian Regime. Today they are still numerous in their home County but not much outside of Munster. The forms Leeson and Lishane appear in the Ormond Manuscripts as early as the year 1644 but in modern times are rarely found outside Dublin.The Gleeson 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 Gleeson descendants.