Tyrrell Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Tyrrell Family History

Tyrrell Family History

The Tyrrell 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 Tyrrell include Tirrell, Terrill, Turrell and Turrill. This is a baptismal name meaning 'son of Turold', a popular Norman dating to the eleventh century. This name is of Anglo-Norman descent spreading to Ireland, Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts in these countries. Examples of such are a Henry Tyrel of County Devon and a Walter Tyrel of County Norfolk, who were both recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England, in the year 1273. A Katherine Terell was recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire in the year 1379. A branch of this family migrated to Ireland not long after the Norman invasion of 1170. They held great tracts of land in the barony of Fertullagh in County Westmeath as well as the Lordship of Castleknock in County Dublin. Tyrrell's Pass in County Westmeath got its name from the victory won by Captain Richard Tyrrell in 1597. The Tyrrell 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 Tyrrell descendants.