Keating Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Keating Family History

Keating Family History

The family history of the ancient name Keating was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The name Keating in Ireland is of Norman origin and came to Ireland with the Anglo-Norman invasion at the end of the twelfth century, when they settled in County Wexford. Branches of the family soon became established in Leix and other parts of South Leinster. In 1579 Sir Nicholas Malby, in his description of Ireland and its septs, described the Keatings as ill-disposed rebels of County Carlow. Writing of Queens County in 1613 the Lord Deputy describes the Keatings as a great sept of people there. From the year 1302 onwards Keatings held many positions of importance as Sheriffs and Members of Parliament. The best known of these was John Keating, 1635-1695, who was Lord Chief Justice in the Parliament of 1689. The name in Gaelic is 'Ceitinn'. The variants MacKeating and MacKetian are found in the Downpatrick area.The Keating 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 Keating descendants.