Origin of the Name Flanagan
The origin of the name
Flanagan was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives.
Over the centuries Surnames developed a wide number of variants. Different spellings of the same name can be traced back to an original root. Additionally when a bearer of a name emigrated it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books at their new location. Surnames were also often altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another.
Variants of the name Flanagan
include Flanaghan, Flanagin and O'Flanagan. Meaning 'reddish' or 'ruddy', this Irish name originated in Connacht and came from a Flanagan who was of the same stock as the O'Connors. He held the post of Steward of the Kings of Connacht. They were seated between Mantua and Elphin and were a most prominent sept. Minor septs were of Toorah, in Fermanagh, and Ballybrit in Offaly in the seventeenth century. Donough O'Flanagan, 1308, was Bishop of Elphin, and was famous abroad as well as at home for his hospitality and devotion. Descendants of these Flanagans are still to be found in the same area.
The Flanagan coat of arms came into existence centuries ago. The process of creating coats of arms (also often called family crests) began in the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this. The new art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own coat of arms, including all Flanagan descendants.