Lyons Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Lyons Family History

Lyons Family History

The Lyons ancient family history was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Meaning 'raven fort', variants of Lyons include Lehane, Lion, Lions and Lyne. These are anglicized forms of this Anglo-Norman name from the town of Lyon in central France. The name came to Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales with the Normans and was not uncommon in the twelfth and thirteenth century. In Ireland they were of the Ui Fidhgheinte of the modern County Limerick. As time passed they were more closely associated with the country north of Youghal in County Cork called Ui Lithain by the Four Masters, where lies the village of Castlelyons. Notable men of the name were John Lyons, 1708-1790, and John Charles Lyons, 1792-1874, who were distinguished antiquarians. Lehane is mostly found in County Cork and Lyne is found mostly in County Kerry.The Lyons 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 Lyons descendants.