Costello Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Costello Family History

Costello Family History

The ancient origin of the name Costello 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 Costello include Nangle, Costley, Cushely, Casserley, Costelloe and Costellow. The Costellos were originally Nangles, or de Angulos, as that great Norman family was called when, soon after the invasion of 1172 the Anglo-Normans occupied Connaught. Their lands were in County Mayo, in the barony of Costello in the east of that County, which was named for the MacCostellos who possessed it up to the end of the sixteenth century. In 1565 their chief seat was near Ballaghadereen, which is now part of County Roscommon. The Costellos were one of the many great Irish families which, in the ruin of the seventeenth century destruction of the Gaelic order, produced many famous soldiers known as 'rapparees'.The Costello 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 Costello descendants.