Rafferty Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Rafferty Family History

Rafferty Family History

The ancient origin of the name Rafferty 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 Rafferty include Roarty, Raftery, O'Rafter, Raftiss and Wrafter. Originally belonging to the adjacent counties of Donegal and Sligo, the O'Raffertys are now found in many parts of Ireland, though not in large numbers. In Sligo the Sept was one of the 'seven pillars of Skreen', but the descendants of these have become scattered. One of the name is mentioned in the ancient manuscript 'the Four Masters'. He was the Abbot of Durrow in 1090, far away from the homeland of the sept. There were three O'Ravertys on the Hearth Money Rolls of 1663, O'Raverty being derived from a number of Gaelic names. Raftery, sometimes confused with Rafferty, is quite a different name. It is O'Reachtaire in Gaelic and belongs exclusively to Connacht. It is notable on account of the blind Mayo folk-poet Anthony Raftery, 1784-1835. The variants Rafter, Raftiss and Wrafter are mostly located in County Mayo and also in the adjacent parts of Connacht Province, in the West of the country, as well as in County Dublin.The Rafferty 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 Rafferty descendants.