Hegarty Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Hegarty Family History

Hegarty Family History

The ancient origin of the name Hegarty 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 Hegarty include Haggarty and Heggarty. Even though this name is associated principally with County Cork, the Hegarty's of Munster are in fact a branch of the main O'Hegarty sept of the Cinel Eoghan which was located on the borders of the present Counties of Donegal and Derry. In the fourteenth century the barony of Loughinsholin, Derry, was their principal habitat. In the seventeenth century they were more numerous in Tirkeeran in Derry and Inishowen in Donegal in the Ulster, and in the baronies of Barrymore and Carbery West in Cork. As is usually the case the present representatives of the sept are to be found in their traditional homeland and are today most numerous in Counties Cork, Donegal and Derry. The 1691 attainders of O'Hegartys relate to those of Ulster. The records of persecuted priests in the seventeenth century also indicate the Ulster character of the sept up until modern times.The Hegarty 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 Hegarty descendants.