Hamill Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Hamill Family History

Hamill Family History

The family history of the ancient name Hamill 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 Hamill include Homill, Hommill, Hamell, Hamel and Hammill. This name in Irish is O'hAghmaill and the latter variants are the anglicized forms of this. This sept came from Tyrone.

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.

They were a branch of the Cenel Eoghain with their territory lying in south County Tyrone and neighbouring parts of Oriel where, from the twelfth century onwards, they were noteworthy as poets and ollavs to the O'Hanlons. They were also warlike in their activities as evidenced by Donnell O'Hammoyle who was one of the followers of Rory O'Donnell at the end of the sixteenth century. In the course of time they became closely associated with Counties Armagh, Monaghan and Tyrone. In modern times they are mostly found to be numerous in Counties Armagh and Louth.The Hamill 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 Hamill descendants.