This name as le Norreys (i.e. the
northman) is very frequent in Irish records since the
thirteenth century. It came into special prominence
with the arrival of Sir John Norris, who was responsible
for the terrible massacre at Rathlin Island in
1575. He became President of Munster in 1584 and
was succeeded by his brother Thomas in 1597.
Another brother, Henry (d.1599), is favourably mentioned
by the Four Masters. The name is now found in
considerable numbers in all the provinces except
Connacht. Some curious synonyms of it have been
reported by local registrars, e.g. Nowry in Co. Derry,
Nurse in Co. Kerry and Northbridge in west Cork.
These three names are very rare in Ireland; Nurse and
Nourse are normal synonyms of Norris in England;
Northridge is an English name denoting residence at the
north ridge. Bibl., Map
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.
