O'Donoghue Coat of Arms, Family Crest and O'Donoghue Family History

O'Donoghue Family History

The family history of the ancient name O'Donoghue 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 O'Donoghue include Donohoe, O'Donohue and Dunphy. This Irish surname is one of the most important as well as most numerous names in Ireland, from the Irish O'Donnchadha, meaning 'descendant of Donogh'. Several distinct septs of the name existed in early times, the most important of these being O'Donoghue of Desmond, O'Donoghue of Ui Maine, and O'Donoghue of County Cavan. They are of the same stock as the O'Mahonys, descended from Domhnall, son of the King of Munster, who took part in the Battle of Clontarf in the year 1014. They were a powerful sept in Kerry and a district called Onaght O'Donoghue perpetuates their occupation. They split into two branches, one being O'Donoghue Mor and the other O'Donoghue of the Glen. O'Donoghue Mor lost their estates but O'Donoghue of the Glen held on at Glenflesk, and the present head of the family is one of the Chiefs of the name.The O'Donoghue 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 O'Donoghue descendants.