McMurdo Coat of Arms, Family Crest and McMurdo Family History

McMurdo Family History

The McMurdo ancient family history was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The name McMurdo is usually of Scottish Gaelic descent and is derived from the Gaelic MacMuircheartaigh sept whose native name was anglicized in a number of different ways including Mordie, McMordie, Brearty, McMurty, Murtagh, McMurtie and McMurtry. In Ireland the sept was located in Counties Donegal and Antrim in the very northern part of Ireland. Some bearers of these names are derived from the Scottish Clan Stuart of Bute with the name being found in many ancient manuscripts in Scotland. Examples of such are an Evarus MacMurdo who was recorded as being a tenant in Kintyre in the year 1506. A John MacMurdo was recorded in the Parish of Dunskoir in the year 1675. Names were recorded in these ancient documents to make it easier for the overlords to collect taxes and to keep records of the population at any given time. When the overlords acquired lands by either force or as gifts from their rulers, they created charters of ownership for themselves and their vassals. The McMurdo 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 McMurdo descendants.