Neilan Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Neilan Family History

Neilan Family History

The ancient origin of the name Neilan was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. The Irish names Neilan and Neylan are derived from the Gaelic O'Niallain sept who were located at Ballyally near Ennis in County Clare.

A sept or clan is a collective term describing a group of persons whose immediate ancestors bore a common surname and inhabited the same territory. It is also the case that many Irish septs or clans that are related often belong to a larger groups, sometimes called tribes. For example the 'Tribes of Galway' consisted of fourteen distinct families. The 'Tribes of Kilkenny' were ten families, etc.

When Gaelic names were anglicized during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they were often changed to Anglo equivalents that sounded most like their original Gaelic name. Ancient records reveal that three of the name were listed as persons of importance in County Clare in the 'Composition Book of Connaught' in the year 1585, though they are not described as Chiefs. In modern times bearers of these names are still mostly found in Connaught Province. The Neilan 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 Neilan descendants.