Devine Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Devine Family History

Devine Family History

The family history of the ancient name Devine 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 Devine include Davin and Devane. The name Devine is chiefly found today in the Counties of Tyrone and Fermanagh. Up to the fifteenth century the Chief of this sept was Lord of Tirkennedy in County Fermanagh. The ancient document 'The Four Masters' mention one O'Devine as coarb of Derry in 1066 as well as several who were Chiefs of Tirkennedy at various dates to 1427. In modern times a well known bearer of the name was Professor Edward Thomas Devine, 1867-1948, of Columbia University, famous as an organizer of American charities. Another Irish surname which is anglicized as Devine in some places is O'Dubhain, normally anglicized Dwane or Devane in Munster and Duane in Connacht.The Devine 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 Devine descendants.