Heraldry

1662 - History of the Dowling Coat of Arms

This is the only arms registered with the Chief Herald in Dublin in the name of Dowling.
They are shown in Burkes' General Armory as having been granted to

Mortagh Dowling of Kilkenny,

by Ulster King of Arms, on 5th August 1662

Source: Office of the Chief Herald, 2 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. (from M. Doolan, 25 Feb 2000)

Heraldic Description of Dowling Coat of Arms

Traditional French	English
Arms: Argent a holly tree eradicated proper on a chief azure, a lion passant between two slipped trefoils slipt or.	Arms: Silver shield with a holly tree showing its roots in its natural colours. Then on a blue top third of the shield (note: this is part of the design rather than a denotation of the joining of families), a lion facing left with foreleg raised between two leaves with three petals showing stalks in gold.
Crest: A lion’s head erased azure collared gemelles or.	Crest: A blue lion’s head torn raggedly with two gold rings around neck.

Family Motto

Fortis et Egregius

From the Latin meaning

Strong and Distinguished

Fortis: adjective strong, sturdy, brave, manly, resolute
et: conjunction and
Egregius: adjective outstanding, surpassing, distinguished, illustrious

Collins Latin Dictionary Pub. Harper Collins 1999 - (ISBN 0-00-472092-X)

Irish Heraldry - Using the Coat of Arms

Unlike the English system of heraldry where the coat of arms can be carried only by the direct descendant the Irish system allows that all bearers of the name Dowling can use these arms. Whilst this does not apply to all Irish coats of arms, it is common to many.

More on Heraldry can be found here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_heraldry

More Coats of Arms

Click picture to enlarge

Dowling	McMorough 1	McMorough 2

O'Connor	O'Toole	Laois