Crowley Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Crowley Family History

Crowley Family History

The family history of the ancient name Crowley was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Crowley is a name of Irish origin from the Gaelic O'Cruadhlaoich sept.

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 history of the Crowley sept presents an example of a junior branch of a sept which migrated to a distant Province, prospering and multiplying in its new territory, while the main sept dwindled and almost disappeared from its original homeland. The sept of O'Crowley began as a branch of the MacDermots of Moylurg in County Roscommon. Their eponymous ancestor was one Cruadhlaoch, meaning 'hard hero', hence the Irish form of the surname O'Cruadhlaoich. The branch referred to above settled in the territory near Dunmanway, County Cork, and in due course became a distinct sept with a recognized Chief residing at Kilshallow.The Crowley 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 Crowley descendants.