Exept for some Porters in Dublin this
name in Ireland is exclusive to Ulster. It is most
common in counties Antrim, Down, Derry and Armagh.
It can be of English or Scottish origin.
Porter is an
occupational name and though it can derive from the Old
French porteur, meaning a 'carrier of burdens', its main
derivation is from the Old French portier, a 'porter' or
'doorkeeper'. In medieval times the office of
porter was one of the most important in castle and
monastery and came with lands and privileges. The
word was in Scotland gaelicised as portair, which had the
extra meaning of 'ferryman'.
The name is one of the most common in every kind of
Irish record since the thirteenth century, but most in
Ulster will be of post-Plantation origin. The most
famous of the name in Ulster was a Presbyterian minister,
the Revd James Porter, 1753-98, of Greyabbey, Co.
Down. He was a United Irishman and a series of
letters he published under the title Billy Bluff and
Squire Firebrand drew the attention of the
government. He was tried on the false evidence of
an informer and hanged at Greyabbey within sight of his
home and church.
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.
