Tracey

Tracey

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The Shield is: Or, an escallop in the chief point sable between two bendlets gules.
Translation: Or (yellow) symbolizes the Sun and denotes Splendor, Majesty and Magnanimity.
The Crest is: On a chapeau gules, turned up ermine, an escallop sable between two wings or.
The Motto is: "Memoria pii aeterna",'The memory of the pious is eternal'.
Origin: England

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The Shield is: Sable an eagle devouring a bird argent.
Translation: The eagle denotes Magnanimity and Fortitude of Mind.
The Crest is: Out of a tower of a demi-lion rampant all proper.
Translation: The tower signifies Defence and Protection. The lion in heraldry is a symbol of Majesty and Kingship.
The Motto is: "Christo duce vincamus", 'With Christ I will conquer'.
Origin: Ireland

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Variant spellings for Tracey are: Treacy, Tressy, Trasey, Trasy, Tracy, O'Tracy, and O'Trassy.
Gaelic spelling:O Treasaigh

The Irish name Treacy is derived from the native Gaelic O'Treasaigh Septs. The name is taken from the Gaelic term "treasach" meaning "war-like" or "fighter".

There are several likely unrelated families of the name of Tracey, Treacy...etc..found in Ireland. In 1890 the Treacy spelling was most popular with 37 births recorded in Tipperary and Galway. Tracey had 31 births in Dublin, and Tracy had 16 births in Dublin. The "O" prefix had largely been dropped by that time.

The Treacy family of Galway/Limerick seems to have favored that spelling at the time of the index, but today in America the name may have changed its form to one of the other variant spellings of the name.

Another family of the name hailed in older times from Co. Cork, where the name is not common today. Some of this line are said to have settled in Limerick as well. This makes things difficult when tracing family lineage at first, for an Anglo-Irish family of the name is on record as having settled there too, becoming baronets in Limerick.

In Co. Leix (Queens Co.) we find mention of another family that served as Lords of Slievemargy, and note in nearby Wexford the place names of Ballytracy and Tracystown.

Although the name was found mainly in Dublin, Tipperary and Galway under three spellings in 1890, older records show a wider scope for the name. In 1659 (O)Tressy was a principal name of Kildare and Fermanagh, Tracey was the same in Louth, Trassey in Kings, and (O)Trassy was so in Tipperary and Limerick. Trasy was a spelling of Kildare at that time.

John Tracey was found in the 2nd Regt. of Corcorans Irish Legion of American fame, and a Tracey also acheived status as a Viscount around 1797, entering the Peerage of Ireland.

Two Tracys made their mark in America, viz. Nathaniel Tracy (1751-1796), son of an Irish emigrant, who was one of the chief financiers of the Revolution, and Benjamin Franklin Tracy (1830-1915), lawyer, soldier, and secretary of the Navy, who was also of Irish descent. At home two writers, Thomas Tracy (b.1820), poet, and Father William Tracy, S.J. (b.1840), author of Irish Scholars of the Penal Days, and also John Joseph Tracey (1813-1873), painter, may be mentioned.

Arms for the name are found on plates 9 and 257 in the Irish Book or Arms.

Sources:

The Book of Irish Families Great & SmallIrish Families: Their Names, Arms, and Origins
Michael C. O'LaughinEdward MacLysaght
1997 Irish Genealogical FoundationIrish Academic Press Limited 1991

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