Origin of the Name Tully
The origin of the name
Tully 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 Tully
include Tullie, McAtilla and Flood. This name is found in Counties Galway, Cavan, and Dublin, and was formerly MacTully. The form MacAtilla is used today in some places which suggests that the name in Irish was MacTuile, or Mac a'tuile, meaning 'son of Flood'. The MacTullys were hereditary physicians not only to the O'Connors but also the O'Reillys of Breffny. The placename Tullystown near Granard is associated with the Breffny branch of the family. The Tullys listed in the 1691 Attainers are all of County Galway and the leading family are of that region. Another sept was located near County Tyrone of which little trace remains today.
The Tully 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 Tully descendants.