Tully Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Tully Family History

Tully Family History

The ancient origin of the name Tully 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 Tully include Tullie, McAtilla and Flood. This name is found in Counties Galway, Cavan, and Dublin, and was formerly MacTully. The form MacAtilla is used today in some places which suggests that the name in Irish was MacTuile, or Mac a'tuile, meaning 'son of Flood'. The MacTullys were hereditary physicians not only to the O'Connors but also the O'Reillys of Breffny. The placename Tullystown near Granard is associated with the Breffny branch of the family. The Tullys listed in the 1691 Attainers are all of County Galway and the leading family are of that region. Another sept was located near County Tyrone of which little trace remains today. The Tully 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 Tully descendants.