Origin of the Name Mulherin
The
Mulherin family history 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 Mulherin
include Mulkerrin, Mulherrin, Mulhern, Mulkerran and Mulhearn. This name in Irish is O'Maoilchiarain and the latter variants are the anglicized forms of this. This sept came from Roscommon.
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. Irish septs and clans that are related often belong to even larger groups, sometimes called tribes.
This name means 'follower of Saint Ciaran'. This sept originated in Roscommon with a branch being located in Counties Armagh and Donegal. They were Erenaghs of Ardcarne. The ancient text 'The Four Masters' refers to one of them as being slain in the year 1012. They were notable as ecclesiastics. Denis O'Mulcheran, 1224, was Bishop of Elphin and Maelisa O'Mulkieran, 1197, was Bishop of Clogher. In America the name is usually spelt Mulherin or Mulherrin with the form Mulkerrin confined to Connacht in Ireland . The other variants are found mostly in Ulster .
The Mulherin 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 Mulherin descendants.