Driskel History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland

Before Irish names were translated into English, Driskel had a Gaelic form of Ó hEidersceoil, from the word eidirsceol, which means an intermediary. 1

Early Origins of the Driskel family

The surname Driskel was first found in the southern part of the county of Kerry. They were later forced out of this territory by the O'Sullivans, and migrated eastward, settling around Baltimore in the southwest of County Cork. They remain almost exclusively in this region today, despite the depredations of the neighboring O'Donovan and O'Mahony septs. 2

"The original habitat of the O'Driscolls was the Barony of West Carbery, in County Cork, where O'Driscoll was Lord of Baltimore, and possessed the Island of Cape Clear and adjacent territory. The great majority of the present Driscolls are to be found there." 3

The sept takes its name from Eidersceoil, who was born around 910 AD, and was in turn descended from Lughaide Laidhe, who was the ancestor of the Corca Laoidheclann which occupied the area of Cork belonging to the diocese of Ross. The variant Dirsicall was ten times more common than O'Driscoll eighty years ago, the situation has now been reversed.

Early History of the Driskel family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Driskel research. Another 216 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1460, 1698 and 1707 are included under the topic Early Driskel History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Driskel Spelling Variations

Official documents, crafted by early scribes and church officials, primarily contained names that were spelled according to their pronunciation. This lead to the problem of one name being recorded under several different variations, creating an illusion that a single person was many people. Among the many spelling variations of the surname Driskel that are preserved in the archival documents of the time are Driscoll, O'Driscoll and others.

Early Notables of the Driskel family

More information is included under the topic Early Driskel Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Driskel migration to the United States +

Irish families began leaving their homeland for North America in the late 18th century. These families were usually modestly well off, but they were looking forward to owning and working on a sizable tract of land of their own. This pattern of emigration continued until the 1840s when the Great Potato Famine sparked a major exodus of destitute and desperate Irish people. These people were not leaving for a grant of land in North America because by this time the East Coast had reached its saturation point and free land was scarce. They were merely looking to escape the disease, starvation, and hopelessness that Ireland had fallen into. Although these unfortunate immigrants did not receive a warm welcome by the established populations in the United States and what would become Canada, they were absolutely critical to the rapid development that these two nations enjoyed. They would help populate the western lands and provide the cheap labor required for a rapid industrialization. An examination of passenger and immigration lists has revealed many early bearers of the name Driskel or one of its variants:

Driskel Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Margaret Driskel, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1766 4

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
Matheson, Robert E., Special Report on Surnames in Ireland with Notes as to Numeric Strength, Derivation, Ethnology, and Distribution. Dublin: Alexander Thom & Co., 1894. Print
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)