| Outside of Dublin this name is found
only in Ulster where it is most common in Co.
Antrim. It was originally MacGourley, from Mag
Thoirdealbhaigh, 'son of Turlough', a Tyrone-Antrim
variant of the Armagh-Down name MacTurley. The
name, as Gourlay or Gourlie, is also well known in
Scotland and there it is territorial in origin, probably
from a place of the name in England. Therefore some
at least of the Ulster Gourleys may have Scottish roots.
GLOSSARY
| Clan |
From the Gaelic
clann which means literally 'children'. |
| Mac- |
From the Gaelic
mac, meaning 'son' |
| O' |
From the Gaelic
Ó, meaning 'grandson', 'grandchild' or
'descendant'; Ní is the femine form of Ó,
meaning 'daughter' or 'descendant' |
| Plantation (Ulster) |
The
redistribution of escheated lands after the
defeat of the Ulster Gaelic lords and the 'Flight
of the Earls' in 1607. Only counties
Donegal, Derry, Tyrone, Armagh, Fermanagh and
Cavan were actually 'planted', portions of land
there being distributed to English and Scottish
families on their lands and for the building of
bawns. |
| Sept |
A family group of
shared ancestry living in the same locality |
| Undertakers |
Powerful English
or Scottish landowners who undertook the
plantation of British settlers on the lands they
were granted. |
| Gaelic |
This word in
Ireland has no relation to Scotland. As a
noun it is used to denote the Irish language, as
an adjective to denote native Irish as opposed to
Norman or English origin. |
| Erenagh |
From the Irish
Gaelic airchinneach, meaning 'hereditary steward
of church lands'. A family would hold the
ecclesiastical office and the right to the church
or monastery lands, the incumbent at any one time
being the erenagh. |
|