THE ADVENT OF SURNAMES IN IRELAND

Glendalough, Wicklow County, Ireland, August 2000.

The people of Ireland adopted the use of surnames in the 10^th century A.D. during the lifetime of King Brian Boru (941 – 1014 A.D.,) one of the first countries to do so.  The Irish, being truly Irish, developed their own unique system of surnames which could be easily recognized throughout the world.  This was accomplished by attaching the prefixes "O" (meaning "grandson of") or "Mac" (meaning "son of') to the paternal name.  When writing in Irish, however, no apostrophe is used with the “O.”    An old poem depicted how this process worked:

"By Mac and O you'll always know

 True Irishman, they say;

 But if they lack both O and Mac

 No Irishman are they."

Certainly not all Irish names follow this rule of nomenclature but many do.  Likewise, it is not at all unusual to find numerous forms of a particular name appearing regularly throughout the centuries of record keeping being kept.  The original Irish Gaelic name “O Ruairc,” for example, has been corrupted into such forms as: O'Rourke, O'Roarke, O'Rorke, O'Ruarke, O'Rooke, Rourke, Roark, Roake, Rookes and Ruake to name just a few.  

In addition a plethora of  Irish surnames were "anglicized" between the years 1550-1600 due to economic and social pressures made upon the Irish by the English government.  Little by little the English sought to eradicate the use of the Irish language and the Irish identity of the people.  Over time this generated an almost totally illiterate society unable to read and write in their own native Irish Gaelic language or even the Queen's English.  As the English landlords tried to maintain the records of their Irish tenants, they recorded the names by “pronunciation” since they had no guide as to how to spell them correctly.  The result was the creation of a 

myriad of "anglicized" Gaelic surnames still in existence today.

When the Great Famine devastated Ireland in the years 1845 – 1852, over one million people died there on the island and another million immigrated to safer havens around the world.  The ironic twist concerning this mass immigration is that the English government had desired the annihilation of the people of Ireland for centuries yet they continued to thrive and survive.   So instead of creating their total destruction, they created an Irish Diaspora amassing to over 80 million strong in the 21^st century who can all claim at least some small degree of Irish descent.  Today, not surprisingly, Irish surnames and their variants can be found even in the tiniest and remotest corners of the world.    

Amazing right!  Any Irish surnames on your family tree? If so, great!  You are a fellow member of the Irish Diaspora!  If not, then a little genealogical detective work might prove very revealing.....

Another blog will look at my own Irish family lines.  Stay tuned.

A Brief Explanation for the Advent of Surnames Around the World

The Wicklow Mountains home of the Byrne family from Powerscourt Estate, Ireland in August 2000.

 

 

 

 

In the End There are Three Main Reasons Why Surnames Came into Usage


In the beginning, man identified himself by the use of a solitary name. Often this name characterized some special aspect or quality of the person upon whom it was bestowed. As the centuries passed and heraldic lines of kinship were increasingly more important to establish, man had to create a more efficient means of identifying himself. To solve this problem, the practice of assigning an additional name or using a recognizing moniker became commonplace. Although the entomology of each name is ultimately unique, there are three main reasons why surnames came into vogue: to describe a physical attribute, to distinguish between places of origin, or/and to denote the occupation of each individual.


The first reason, to describe a physical attribute, can be easily illustrated by using the example of two men known as “John” living side by side in their small community. Their fellow resident in the village acknowledged the first as “John the strong” since he was a big muscular guy. The second “John,” who appeared much smaller in stature by comparison, became known as “John the little one.” Over time, mainly for convenience sake, their neighbors began shortening the names to “John Strong” and “John Little” to continue to make a distinction between the two. These monikers were then passed down from father to son thus establishing the surnames of “Strong” and “Little” which still exist today.


In contrast, some regions of the world used an additional name as a means to provide a simpler way to distinguish one’s place of residence or ethnic group. Let’s look at the advent of the surname “POLASEK (Polášek)” for an excellent example. The term was really an ethnic name used to characterize a person who originally lived in Poland. So when immigrants arrived at the community hailing from that country/area, the villagers referred to these newcomers as “Polasek” in order to single them out from the other people already residing there. In time the whole family become accepted by that classification eventually giving birth to the surname of “Polasek.”


Lastly, the third main reason surname usage arose was to denote the occupation/life function of each individual. In another town, there resided a man named “Michael” who owned the only large oven in the area. As such he made himself responsible for baking all the goods for the entire community. It just so happened that before long a new farmer moved into the area who called himself “Michael” as well. In order to single out one from the other, the second man became recognized as “Michael the farmer” and the first one as “Michael the baker.” Once again, the names shortened over time producing the surnames “Baker” and “Farmer.”


Never Assume You Know A Surnames True Ethnic Root
Surnames actually began being used around the 10th century over 1,000 years ago! The farther back you can document your families lives, the better to determine your true roots. The research of surnames becomes quite an interesting look into the type of ancestors one has and a means to determine the parts in history they played.


Please remember, too, do not assume that just because a name looks of Irish, English, Czech or some other ethnic origin, that it really is. A story told by a fellow genealogist illustrates this problem to a “T.” His clients hired him to document their line truly believing that they had Irish roots. But after researching back several generations, records showed that their ancestors were in fact Chinese! Amazing but true!


Even today, as in days gone by, names in general are often corrupted because of bad spelling due to human error or because the record taker just tried to “spell it as it sounded.” Immigrants often decide to take a common name when they moved to another country in order to blend in better with the local population. The good news is that so far, the names on my family tree have kept their spelling and their roots intact. This helps tremendously when doing research back through the ages and should make all who bear these names very proud.

Bringing the Cultures of Ireland, England,and the Czech Republic to Life: An Introduction

 

Welcome to this blog celebrating the histories and cultures of Ireland, the Czech Republic, England, Scotland, Spain, and the USA, that land of opportunity which has shone as a beacon of hope and freedom for many generations and continues to serve as my home still.   Blog entries may vary weekly and  touch upon an array of subjects that include: biographies, family trees, recipes, cultural traditions, genealogical research tips, stories, historical tidbits, and pictures.  My wish is that you will find them very entertaining, extremely inspiring, and educational whether you actually find yourself on one of the trees or not.  But if you do, then welcome!  You are part of a proud heritage as we are descended from rebels, soldiers, ranchers, farmers, government officials, land speculators, bankers, salesmen all sorts, contractors, builders, housewives, pioneers, and the list continues.  Ordinary and everyday-type people who lived their lives from one day to the next, leaving their mark on the continuum of time. 

 

One of the main focuses will be to highlight and preserve my genealogical research and family lore collected over the past twenty-eight years.  I never came to fully realize how important family history was as I grew to adulthood.  My first exposure to the world of genealogy came during my sophomore year at Bishop Lynch High School located in Dallas, Texas, in 1978.  Part of the required curriculum  involved taking a sociology class.   Our main assignment consisted of creating a family tree and short history by the end of the semester.  Of course, I asked my parents, my Grandmother O’Rourke and others for assistance.  Immediately upon receiving my request, “Granny O” contacted various members of her family to see what if anything might be known.  Because of her quick call to action, I succeeded in compiling and preserving some vital information on my father’s Irish, English, Scottish and Spanish lines including the O’Rourke, Salmon, Little, McKnight, Byrne, Gregory and Curran families, ultimately saving precious bits of stories from permanent extinction. 

 

In contrast I quickly realized that the task of building my mother’s Czech lines including the Polasek, Kubin, Bobal, and Mares families would be daunting indeed as all appeared to be nothing but brick walls. Memories wash over me to a day years ago as Mom and I sat on the porch swing and I asked her to name her grandparents.   With head shaking sadly, she recounted that she had no memories of any of them as all but one had died years before her birth.  The time spent with her remaining Grandfather Polasek of Granger, Texas had been special part of her young life but had ended abruptly when he died in 1940.  Of course, I was properly shocked and appalled at this revelation but vowed that one day, I would find out their names and where they had resided. 

 

Regretfully I did not keep a copy of that school report nor remember my grade.  I did, however, keep my original family tree grid written by hand fitting only on one single sheet of paper and containing very few names and places.    When I come across it periodically, I chuckle at its smallness.  Now thousands of names grace my trees with myriads of dates, places, stories, and sources included!  I work on it as the mood strikes and twenty-eight years later I am still accumulating new data weekly.  The time spent has been well worth it! Yet my quest continues as I discover many more people and tales to “unearth.” 

 

Another focus will be to highlight the wonderful cultures which my family claims members of especially those from Ireland and the Czech Republic.  My youth was happily filled with yearly pilgrimages to Ennis, Texas for the Polka Festival in May and occasionally to the West Fest in West, Texas in September to celebrate my Czech heritage.  Feasting on kolaches, apple strudel (the Czech way!), klobase, and BBQ, remain some of the highlights of these days, all enjoyed to the toe tapping beat of the polka music.    

 

Even though my Czech heritage is very special, the Irish culture fills my whole world! My Grandmother O'Rourke demanded that we celebrated St. Patrick's Day every year with her corned beef, cabbage, buttered potatoes, carrots, soda bread, and green sherbet and Irish coffee (always made with Paddy's Irish Whiskey) for dessert!  A meal that certainly lives in infamy!  With the North Texas Irish Festival being held here in Dallas, Texas the first weekend of March, my appetite for "things Irish" has been well fed by lively music, fun food, and centuries old traditions  As an active Irish dancer, I have been very blessed to have performed there for many years!  Amazing!  

 

During these past few years, the pursuit of my family history led me to travel extensively to places I would never have seen otherwise.  Many a weekend, my parents and I would load up the van and travel all across north and south Texas and Louisiana in search of family tidbits hiding away on some library shelf or graveyard proper.   My most memorable trip was the glorious week I spent in Ireland retracing the routes of my Byrne family even the house where generations lived and died! Amazing!

 

I am grateful for this privilege to meet an vivid array of people along each route and plan to share that special piece of the puzzle they helped to solve.  To many of you, the people comprising these trees are, at least for now, just names.   To me, however, they represent living; breathing individuals who helped shape our lives and our world as it exists today.    I invite you to step into their world for awhile, meet them for yourselves, and get to know them if even just for a little while.

 

If you find any errors in the facts and figures contained herein, please let me know as soon as possible so the original data can be corrected.  I have worked diligently to keep errors at a minimum but alas, there will always be something that refuses to be found.  Also if you have additional data on any family line, a new recipe, or want to share a story or how your family celebrates our shared cultures, let me know and I will add it accordingly.   Just like a real tree, a family tree never stops growing and reshaping.  Remember, the information contained herein represents years of research already done but it is but a tip of the iceberg.  There are plenty more stories, data and people to find, so come along and join the journey.  Anyone who would like to help and be a part of this project is extremely welcome!

 

To contact me: leave a message on this blog or email me directly at:  Orourketraditions@outlook.com.

 

Thank you for all your support and best wishes about this project.