HINCHEY

The ancient origin of the name Hinchey was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Variants of this name are O'Hennessy and Henchy. These are names from which the prefix O has been entirely dropped in modern times, though O'Hennessy was still widely used in the seventeenth century. In Irish Hinchey is O'hAonghusa and O'hInse, meaning descendant of Aonghus or Angus. The principal sept of this name was located near the town of Kilbeggan and the hill of Croghan, thier territory being chiefly in the northern part of County Offaly where they shared with O'Holohan the lordship of Clan Cholgain. A branch of this was located nearer to Dublin, the head of it being chief of Gailenga Beg on the north side of the River Liffey on the borders of Counties Meath and Dublin. Another distinct sept was of Corca Laoidhe, located near Ross Bay in Cork. Today these names are associated with Counties Cork, Limerick and Tipperary.The Hinchey 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 Hinchey descendants.