Origin of the Name Spillane
The origin of the name
Spillane 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 Spillane
include Spollan and Spellman. This name in Irish is O'Spealain and the latter variants are the anglicized forms of this. This sept came from Tipperary and Sligo.
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.
There were two septs of the name. One possessed territory in the Barony of Eliogarty, County Tipperary but were dispossessed by the O'Dwyers in mediaeval times. After this most of the family were well spread throughout the country. The other sept is of the Ui Fiachrach, with their territory being found in the parish of Kilglas, County Sligo. Through time in this area a lot of the family had changed their name to Spellman and this form is quite numerous in Counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. In modern times this name is found well spread throughout Southern Ireland.
The Spillane 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 Spillane descendants.