Nugent Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Nugent Family History

Nugent Family History

The Nugent ancient family history 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 Nugent include Nogent and Gilsenan. Though not an indigenous Irish surname Nugent may be regarded as completely Irish today, since the Nugents have been important people in Ireland since the twelfth century when they arrived with the Anglo-Norman invasion, their original home country being France. The original version of the name was 'de Nogent', the Gaelic version being Nuinseann. Families of the name are numerous in County Cork where a branch established themselves and formed a sept in the Irish fashion. Their chief resided at Aghavarten Castle, near Carrigaline. In Irish history the Nugents have distinguished themselves as soldiers. In the 'Dictionary of National Biography' and similar works of reference no less than twelve appear as such between the years 1444 and 1862. Four of these were upholders of the English interest. Some Nugents are from the Gaelic McGiollaSeanain sept, normally anglicized as Gilsenan, a sept belonging to Counties Meath and Cavan. The great majority of Nugents, however, are of the Norman origin referred to above.The Nugent 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 Nugent descendants.