Hickey Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Hickey Family History

Hickey Family History

The Hickey ancient family history 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 Hickey include O'Hickey. Meaning 'physician' or 'healer', the Hickeys are of Irish Dalcassian origin, being physicians to the ruling O'Briens of Thomond and were closely associated with Counties Clare and Tipperary. Through time they spread to Counties Limerick, Clare and Tipperary and it is there that they are mostly found today. Father Michael Patrick O'Hickey, 1861-1916, was champion of Irish in the National University of Ireland. Another distinguished Hickey was the Franciscan professor Anthony Hickey, 1641, of Saint Isidores, Rome and Louvian. John Hickey, 1756, was a famous sculptor and his brother Thomas Hickey was a painter of renown.The Hickey 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 Hickey descendants.