O'Toole Coat of Arms, Family Crest and O'Toole Family History

O'Toole Family History

The O'Toole ancient family history 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 O'Toole include Toal, O'Tohill, Tohill, Toohill, Twohill and Towell. Meaning 'Mighty People', the great Irish sept of O'Toole hails from Leinster where their tenth century King was Tuathal. They originated in Kildare, although they are mostly associated with Wicklow where they built grand castles from which they would set out to attack their neighbours and later the English. Laurance O'Toole was captured by Dermott MacMurrough who killed his grandfather, and when released found his vocation in the monastic settlement at Glendalough. In 1161 he became Archbishop of Dublin. In 1220 he was canonised and is the Patron Saint of Dublin. The variants Tohill and Toohill are found mostly in Counties Cork and Waterford. The form of the name a century ago was Toghill and this is perpetuated in the parish of Deserttogill.The O'Toole 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 O'Toole descendants.