Driscoll is an anglicized form of the Olde Gaelic name O hEidersceoil, later transposed to O Drisceoil. The clan belonged exclusively to South West Cork and are particularly associated with Baltimore where in 1460 the chief of their sept founded a Franciscan monastery. The O'Driscolls descended from one Eidersceoil (a name meaning "the intermediary" or "interpreter"). He was born about 910 A.D. The territorial importance of the O'Driscolls waned somewhat in the 17th century, but many of their leading men fought in the army of James 11 in Ireland. Their Coat of Arms has an ancient galley with black furled sails on a silver field. A cormorant is on the crest. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of O'Drisceoil, which was dated circa 1400, in the "Cora Laoidh" (South West Cork), during the reign of King Henry 1V, known as "Henry of Bolingbroke" 1399 - 1413. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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