Twomey Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Twomey Family History

Twomey Family History

The family history of the ancient name Twomey 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 Twomey include O'Twomey, Toomey and Tomey. This name is derived from the O'Tuama Gaelic sept that was most associated with Counties Cork and Kerry.

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.

In County Limerick the usual spelling is Toomey. In the census of 1659 the name O'Twomy appears as the second most numerous surname in the barony of Barretts, County Cork, Murphy being the most common there. A notable bearer of the name was Sean O'Tuama, 1706-1775, who was born and lived all his life in Croom, County Limerick. There he and his wife kept a public house which was the meeting place of the Maigue Gaelic poets, he being the most distinguished of them. The Twomey 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 Twomey descendants.