Origin of the Name MacHenry
The origin of the name
MacHenry 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 McHenry
include McEniry, McHenri, O'Henry and Fitzhenry. The head of this Irish sept was Chief of Cullentra in County Tyrone, whose territory at one time extended to the valley of Glenconkeine in County Derry. The majority of these are Ulster men formerly called O'Hinneirghe and MacEinri. The name was brought to Ireland by the Normans in the name Fitzhenry and became associated with County Wexford, also having a branch in Connacht. They were a branch of the O'Flahertys of Moycullen and Ballynahinch and were called McEinri in English and then McHenry.
The MacHenry 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 MacHenry descendants.