| 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. |
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