Apart from a few in Dublin, Toners are
found almost exclusively in Ulster, particularly in
counties Derry and Armagh. A few in Ulster may be
English. The name is in Gaelic Ó Tomhrair, from a
Norse personal name, Tomar.
However, the family is not
of Norse origin, but was a sept of the Cenél Eoghain
based originally on the banks of the Foyle, near Lifford
in Co. Donegal. They later migrated to Derry and
Armagh.
The name is found in England, where it was early
imported from Ireland (recorded as Tunere in 1242).
It can also be from le Toner, 'dweller by the farm or
village', from Old English tun.
Variants of the name include Tonner, Tonra and Tonry.
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.
