Origin of the Name Mullaney
The origin of the name
Mullaney 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 Mullaney
include Mulany, O'Mulleena, Mulleena, O'Molina and Molina. This name in Irish is O'Maoileanaigh and the latter variants are the anglicized forms of this. This sept came from County 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.
Their location from ancient times until today is Lough Key in County Roscommon. The placename Ballymullany is on the Sligo-Roscommon border. The older form of the name in Irish is O'Maoilsheanaigh denoting 'descendant of the follower of Saint Seanach'. The form of the name O'Molina is perpetuated in the placename Crossmolina, County Mayo and another place in County Sligo. Four brothers of the name were among the poets, ollavs and men of the arts, who took part in a gathering organized by Rory MacDermot and his wife in the year 1540 as recorded in the Annals of Loch Ce. In the Census of 1659 O'Mullany was one of the most numerous names in Boyle, County Roscommon.
The Mullaney 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 Mullaney descendants.