Toland Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Toland Family History

Toland Family History

The ancient origin of the name Toland 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 Toland include Tolan and Toolan. This name in Irish is O'Tuathlain and the latter variants are the anglicized forms of this. Akin to the Gaelic name that gives O'Toole, this name means 'people mighty'. This sept came from Ulster.

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.

Their homeland was the Barony of Tirhugh, County Donegal. They migrated to County Mayo, like many other families who followed the O'Donnells, but some still remained as proved by the Hearth Money Rolls of 1665. They appear in the Book of Lecan as Cenel Tulan and in 1306 Petrus O'Tuathalain was Vicar of Killaspugbrone, in the Barony of Carbury. In modern times this name is mostly found in Counties Donegal and Mayo. In Achill the form Thulis is found.The Toland 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 Toland descendants.