Walsh (surname)

Last updated

Walsh (Irish : Breathnach) is a common Irish surname, meaning "Briton" or "foreigner" (literally "Welshman" or "Wales"), taken to Ireland by soldiers from Britain, namely Welsh, Cambro-Norman, Cornish and Cumbrian soldiers during and after the Norman invasion of Ireland. It is the fourth most common surname in Ireland, [1] and the 265th most common in the United States. There are variants including "Walshe", “Welch”, "Welsh", and "Brannagh" (an anglicisation of the Irish form). Walsh is uncommon as a given name. The name is often pronounced "Welsh" in the south and west of the country. [2] In Great Britain, Guppy encountered the name only in Lancashire. [1] It is the surname of the Barons Ormathwaite. [1]

Contents

Origins in Ireland

Breathnach of Castlehale coat of arms Walsh Crest with adornment.jpg
Breathnach of Castlehale coat of arms

There are several Walsh families in Ireland who have recognized coats of arms. These are the Walshs of Ballykilcaven in County Laois whose motto is "Firm" and their crest is a griffin's head. The Walshs of Castlehale in County Kilkenny have a crest with a swan pierced by an arrow, and their motto is "Pierced but not dead". The Walshs of Carrickmines Castle, County Dublin have a crest with a demi-lion rampant and their motto is "Do not irritate the lions". However, there were Walshs all over Ireland. One theory as to their origin is that they have a common ancestor in 'Walynus' who came to Ireland in the military retinue of Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan and it is from 'Walynus' who the famed Walsh of the Mountains family in County Kilkenny was established. Other sources suggest 'Phillip of Wales' who could have been the same person as 'Walynus' whose son, Howel, gave his name to their stronghold Castle Hoel, which was also known as Castlehale or Castlehowel. Other theories are that the Walshs originated from Pembrokeshire, that they had close ties with the barons of Cornwall or that they descended from Owen Gwynnes, a prince of north Wales. [3]

During the Irish Rebellion of 1641, William Walsh was taken prisoner after the siege of Crean's Castle in Sligo. [4]

During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms the Walsh of the Mountains family in Kilkenny took up arms against Oliver Cromwell and as a result, their stronghold of Castlehale was besieged and taken in 1650. The survivors were executed and thrown into a burial pit at the bottom of a hill near the castle. In the nineteenth century, their remains were uncovered during road building near the hill. [5]

According to John Grenham writing in 1993, Walsh was then among the five most numerous surnames in Ireland. [6]

Motto

The Walsh family motto in Latin is "Transfixus sed non mortuus", which i ranslated to current English as "Pierced but not dead". Many translations incorrectly translate "Transfixus" to "Transfixed", which is a literal translation. In most coats of arms you will only see the shield, many images omit the "pierced" or "impaled" swan, which gives the translation greater context and meaning. There are many views on the meaning behind the translation, however, most coats of arms would denote a statement of positivity. Many believe that the piercing or impaling is a sign of resilience and strength, signifying perseverance regardless of injury.

People with the surname

People with the surname include: [7]

A–E

F–J

K–P

R–Z

Fictional characters

See also

Related Research Articles

Gibbons is an Irish and English surname of Norman origin. The surname was first found in the counties of Limerick and Mayo, in which two distinct families arose shortly after the Norman invasion of Ireland during the 12th century.

Moran is a modern Irish surname derived from membership of a medieval dynastic sept. The name means a descendant of Mórán. “Mor” in Gaelic translates as big or great and “an” as the prefix the. Morans were a respected sept of the Uí Fiachrach dynasty in the western counties of Mayo and Sligo. In Ireland, where the name descended from the Gaelic, it is generally pronounced MORR-ən anglicised approximate of the Irish pronunciation.

Dempsey is a surname of Irish origin.

Hackett is an English surname found throughout the British Isles and the English diaspora.

Flynn is an Irish surname or first name, an anglicised form of the Irish Ó Floinn or possibly Mac Floinn, meaning "descendant or son of Flann". The name is more commonly used as a surname than a first name.

Welch is a surname that comes from the Old English word welisċ, meaning ‘foreign’.

Gardner is a surname of English, Scottish and Irish origin. Most sources say it is an occupational surname that comes from the word "gardener". Other sources claim that it is derived from the old English words gar-dyn meaning "warrior", "one who bears arms". In Ireland, the surname is an anglicized form of the Gaelic MacGairnéir. Variants include Gardyner, Gardener, Gardenar, Gardinier, Gardiner, and Gardner; the last two are the most common today.

Thomas, Tom, or Tommy Walsh may refer to:

Reynolds is a surname in the English language. Among the earliest recorded use of the surname is from the early 11th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howell (name)</span> Surname and given name of Welsh origin

Howell is a surname and given name originating from Wales. It is an anglicised form of the Welsh name Hywel. It originates in a dynasty of kings in Wales and Brittany in the 9th and 10th-centuries, most notably king Hywel Dda and three Welsh royal houses of that time onwards. The royal House of Tudor was also descended from them. Today, nearly 200,000 people bear this surname.

Brosnan is a surname, derived from the Irish "Ó Brosnacháin," which may be derived from the place name Brosna in Kerry. Notable people with the surname include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goggin</span> Surname list

Goggin is a surname.

Phillips is a common patronymic surname of English and Welsh origin that derives from the given name Philip.

Flanagan is a common surname of Irish origin and an Anglicised version of the Irish name Ó Flannagáin which is derived from the word "flann" meaning 'red' or 'ruddy'.

Cullen is an Irish surname. It is an Anglicised form of Gaelic Ó Cuileáin 'descendant of Cuileán', a name meaning 'wolfhound whelp', 'young hound'. It is also considered by some to mean the 'handsome one'. The Uí Cuileáin of County Tyrone were erenaghs of Clogher. According to historian C. Thomas Cairney, the O'Cullanes were one of the chiefly families of the Uí Fidgenti who were a tribe of the Erainn who were the second wave of Celts to settle in Ireland between about 500 and 100 BC.

Walshe is a surname, a variant of Walsh, meaning "Wales", i.e. "foreigner" (non-English) originating in Wales, brought to Ireland by Normans. It is most common in County Mayo and County Kilkenny. There are other variants including "Welsh". Walshe is uncommon as a given name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moriarty (name)</span>

The name Moriarty is an Anglicized version of the Irish name Ó Muircheartaigh which originated in County Kerry in Ireland. Ó Muircheartaigh can be translated to mean 'navigator' or 'sea worthy', as the Irish word muir means sea and ceardach means skilled. Several prominent people have the Irish name Moriarty, mostly as a surname.

Clarke is a surname which means "clerk". The surname is of English and Irish origin and comes from the Latin clericus. Variants include Clerk and Clark. Clarke is also uncommonly chosen as a given name.

Tobin is an Irish surname of Norman origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maguire family</span> Surname list

The Maguire family is an Irish clan based in County Fermanagh. The name derives from the Gaelic Mac Uidhir, which is "son of Odhar" meaning "dun", "dark one". According to legend, this relates to the eleventh descendant of Colla da Chrich, great-grandson of Cormac mac Airt, who was monarch of Ireland about the middle of the third century. From the 13th to the 17th centuries, the Maguire family were kings of Fermanagh.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Cottle, Basil (1978). The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Harmondsworth: Penguin. p. 405.
  2. ↑ MalcLysaght, Edward (1985). The Surnames of Ireland (fourth ed.). Dublin: Irish Academic Press. p. 296. ISBN   0716523647.
  3. ↑ Gray, Iain (2011). Walsh – The Origins of the Walsh Family and Their Place in History. Kilbarrack: Lang Syne Publishers. pp. 16–17. ISBN   9781852172763.
  4. ↑ Wood-Martin, William Gregory (1892). History of Sligo, County and Town, From the Close of the Revolution of 1688 to The Present Time. Vol. 2. Grafton Street, Dublin: Hodges, Figgis & Co. pp.  37-43. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  5. ↑ Gray, Iain (2011). Walsh – The Origins of the Walsh Family and Their Place in History. Kilbarrack: Lang Syne Publishers. p. 21. ISBN   9781852172763.
  6. ↑ Grenham, John (1993). Clans and Families of Ireland: The Heritage and Heraldry of Irish Clans and Families. Gill and Macmillan Publishers. p. 182. ISBN   0717120325.
  7. ↑ "Walsh coat of arms, family crest and Walsh family history". irishsurnames.com. Retrieved 31 December 2007.


WPanthroponymy.svg
This page lists people with the surname Walsh.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.