Neary Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Neary Family History

Neary Family History

The Neary 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 Neary include O'Nary, Nary, O'Nery and Nery. This name in Irish is O Naraigh which is possibly derived from the Gaelic word 'narach' meaning 'modest'. This sept came from the northern part of Connaught Province. Neary is one of the more numerous names in Connaught especially in Counties Roscommon and Mayo. A sept or clan was a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. An early record of the name refers to a Fr. Nicholas O'Naraighe (one of the older spellings of the name), who was Provincial from 1504 to 1508. An Edmond O'Nary, of Clongreagh, County Roscommon, was mentioned as a man of importance in the Composition Book of Connaught in the sixteenth century. Cornelius Nary (1658-1738), was author of many works and was born in County Kildare. He held a high ecclesiastical position in Germany. In modern times this name is still well represented in the western Counties. The Neary 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 Neary descendants.