Gilroy / Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Gilroy / Family History

Gilroy / Family History

The family history of the ancient name Gilroy was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Variants of the Irish name Gilroy include McGilroy, McElroy, McIlroy and Kilroy. These names are anglicized forms of the Gaelic Mac Giolla Rua sept that was located in County Fermanagh in Ulster Province.

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.

The placename Ballymacilroy is found in County Fermanagh, their territory being on the east side of Lough Erne. This Gaelic name is taken from the words 'giolla' meaning 'lad' and 'rua' meaning 'red', probably meaning a red-haired youth. As Kilroy the name is mostly found in Connaught Province with the variant Kilroe found in County Roscomon.The Gilroy 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 Gilroy descendants.