I tried to find my Irish family crest, but can't, what is a good site? My last name is McNamee.?

Answer 1

Ok, first the crest is the top part of a coat of arms. There is no such thing as a family crest or a family coat of arms. Coats of arms are issued to individuals , not to families.

But WAIT! If you have an Irish surname you are entitled to use your clan coat of arms. The Standing Council of Chiefs, the members being the hereditary chiefs of the name ( whatever their surname hapens to be) and chiefs of the clans respect the ancient Irish Brehon law in the case of coats of arms. Brehon law stated that what belonged to the chief was communal clan property. This now applies only to the coat of arms, don't expect to waltz into a castle or anything! As a clan member you are entitled to display, and display only, the arms of the clan. The clan chief will have a personal coat of arms similar to the clan arms, but with some personal variations.

So what you need to do is find out what clan you belong to. Many large clans such as O'Neill include the O'Neill surname and many others. The Dal gCaís Clan from which I descend includes O'Brien, McBride, Noonan, Brennan, Considine, Kennedy, McMahon and many other surnames.

McNamee might be a variant on another surname.

Find out if there is a McNamee clan or if McNamee is part of a clan and then can find out whether you have a clan coat of arms to display.

Try posting a query on the McNamee genforum maybe someone there can help you with the McNamee arms.

http://genforum.genealogy.com/mcnamee/

Answer 2

My mother's maiden name is McNamee! I am currently researching the McNamee coat of arms and am trying to replicate it. I run a little eBay shop that sell Irish gifts including Coats of Arms, if you get in touch then I'll send you the arms as an image file. Annie.

Answer 3

www.surnamehistories.com--portion of 1800 word history that can be purchased for $21.95 from this site.


Origin: Irish

Spelling variations of this family name include: McNamee, McNanamy, McNammee, McName, McNanny and others.

First found in county Westmeath where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: John McName arrived in Philadelphia in 1838; Bernard, Charles, Francis, Hugh, James, John, Michael, Patrick, Thomas, McNamee all arrived in Philadelphia between 1840 and 1860.

The crest is silver with a gold eagle's head on a red chevron between 3 gold stags' heads. The symbolism means:
COLORS--Silver=peace and sincerity
Gold=generosity
Red=military fortitude (or strength of mind that
enables a person to encounter danger, or bear
pain with courage) and magnanimity (a spirit that
allows one to bear trouble calmly, dislike mean-
ness, and display noble generosity)
SHAPES--Chevron=protection
ANIMALS--Stag=policy, peace, and harmony
Eagle=a man of action who's occupied in high
and weighty affairs, and who has a noble, superior
spirit.

Answer 4

HONESTLY there are few if ANY legit family crest sites...so u have to be careful. ANYone can say they are legit but according to all that i have read well..lets just say be careful...
research each Coat of Arms and Name History from a recognized reference source but it should be clearly understood that no direct genealogical connection can be intended or implied. Arms have been granted over the last centuries to countless thousands of individuals including possibly someone of your surname. Clearly you would not use such a Coat of Arms, but there is no legal injunction against hanging up any armorial bearings for display only, for which purpose they are superbly fitted.
the one I have found www.historicalnames.com/
seems to be legit... but like i said just be careful...
JOHN

Answer 5

Here's a link to the picture of the alleged crest mentioned above - be warned these commercial crest sellers are not always right! The crest attributed to the McNulty's is relevant to a particular sept but not that from which my wife comes.

Answer 6

Have a look at the links posted below, the first one deals with the surname/coat of arms, the second one deals with all things Irish, it's excellent,
http://www.youririshroots.com/coatofarms.htm
http://rmhh.co.uk/ireland.html
hope this helps.

Answer 7

You might try the following website. When you find your Clan on the website just click the link and contact them.

www.theclansofireland.org

Answer 8

Please see additional link below. There are peddlers like House of Names that deal in surname products. Don't be taken in. Coats of arms were granted to individuals who passed them on to thier sons. They don't belong to surnames.

It is the Anglicized form of Gaelic MacConmidhe, a patronymic from the personal name Cu Mindhe. Mac means son of. There was probably more than one CuMindhe that had sons. Like there was more than one Brian that had descendants so not every O'Brien shares the same ancestors.



See links below

http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/Faq.htm

http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/comconsumerpsst.cfm

http://www.heraldry.ws/info/article10.html

There are no laws in the U.S. regarding heraldy and people who usually have one displayed are just displaying one that was granted to someone with their surname that may or may not be related to them.

Answer 9

If you cant find that specific crest try crest whitening strips they're fantastic !!