Croke Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Croke Family History

Croke Family History

The ancient origin of the name Croke was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Meaning 'of Crook' the name Croke is a locational name from County Lancashire. Variants include Crook, Crooke, Krook and Crooker. This name is of Anglo-Saxon descent spreading to the Celtic countries of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout these countries. Examples of such are a Thomas de Crokes and a Johannes de Cruke who were recorded in the 'Poll Tax' of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, in the year 1379. In Scotland a John Cruikis was a merchant and burgess in Irving, in the year 1635.

Names were recorded in these ancient documents to make it easier for their overlords to collect taxes and to keep records of the population at any given time. When the overlords acquired land by either force or gifts from their rulers, they created charters of ownership for themselves and their vassals. It was by the method of creating and updating these old reference books that they were able to maintain their authority and enforce laws.

In Ireland the name Croke has been found in records in County Tipperary since as early as the thirteenth century. The Gaelic form of the name is Croc.The Croke 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 Croke descendants.