Cassidy Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Cassidy Family History

Cassidy Family History

The family history of the ancient name Cassidy was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The name Cassidy is taken from the Gaelic O'Caiside, meaning 'curly-headed'. Variants include Cassedy and Kassidy. The Cassidys belong to Fermanagh and the borders of adjacent Counties. This is their principal homeland today and it is where the sept originated. They provided hereditary Physicians to the great Maguire sept and numerous O'Cassidys are recorded as Ollavs and Physicians to the Maguires between 1300 and 1600 A.D. After the Plantation of Ulster in the early seventeenth century the O'Cassidys faded into obscurity but could still be found in such records relating to priests under the Penal Code in Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan. Around this time many emigrated and one of these was William Cassidy, 1815-1873, who was a renowned Politician in the United States of America.The Cassidy 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 Cassidy descendants.