Devereux Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Devereux Family History

Devereux Family History

The ancient origin of the name Devereux was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The names Devereux and Devereaux originated from a place in Normandy called Evereux. Variants of the name include Devery, Deverill, Duvick and Deevey. This family arrived in England in the eleventh century and one hundred years later they settled in Ireland with Strongbow's invasion, having obtained large estates in County Wexford, becoming the most powerful Norman settlers in the country. The name figures highly in the Ormond Deeds as great landed proprietors in the year 1229. In the fifteenth century an Alexander Deverous played an important part in government under the control of Henry VI. In 1559 a John Devereux was knighted by his namesake the Viceroy Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, who paid a visit to their chief seat in County Wexford. Although harassed by their neighbours, the Kavanaghs, in the sixteenth century, they resisted inducements to forsake the Catholic faith and until recently they still retained vast estates in County Wexford. The Devereux 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 Devereux descendants.