McCorkell Coat of Arms, Family Crest and McCorkell Family History

McCorkell Family History

The family history of the ancient name McCorkell was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

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 McCorkell include MacCorkle and Corkhill. When 'Mac' (son) occurs in Scottish surnames it usually signifies a Gaelic origin. This name in Gaelic is Mac Thorcaill, meaning 'son of Thorcall', that was taken from a Norse first name. This name is of Scottish descent and is found in many ancient manuscripts in the above country. Examples of such are a Janet MacCorkyll who according to record, 'qwlk wes slaine' (she was slane) in the year 1561 and John MacCorkyll is mentioned in Irvine in the year 1593.

Names were recorded in these ancient documents to make it easier for their overlords to collect taxes and to keep records of the population at any given time. When the overlords acquired land by either force or gifts from their rulers, they created charters of ownership for themselves and their vassals. It was by the method of creating and updating these old reference books that they were able to maintain their authority and enforce laws.

In Ireland this sept was a branch of the Scottish Gunn clan and descendants bearing these names are to be found mostly in County Donegal. The McCorkell 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 McCorkell descendants.