Slattery Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Slattery Family History

Slattery Family History

The family history of the ancient name Slattery was found in the irishsurnames.com archives. Variants of the Irish name Slattery include O'Slattery and Slatterie. This name is derived from the Gaelic O'Slatara sept, whose name translates as 'robust' or 'strong'. The territory of this Dalcassian sept was Ballyslattery near Tulla 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.

It is in east Clare that the name was and continues to be most prominent although it can also be found in the adjoining Counties of Limerick and Tipperary. In the mediaeval period the O'Slatterys were supporters of the MacNamaras in the Thomond wars, particularly in the famous 'Battle of the Abbey' in the year 1317. A most distinguished member of the sept was Doctor Michael Slattery, 1782-1857, who was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin.The Slattery 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 Slattery descendants.