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Archiver > Scotch-Irish > 2006-11 > 1163274366


From: "Charles Clark" <>
Subject: Re: [S-I] Heraldry and Arms ---- Re: Family Coat of Arms
Date: Sun, 12 Nov 2006 08:46:06 +1300
References: <111020061603.4031.4554A2CC0009075800000FBF22007503300A049D0A0304@comcast.net><003101c705a7$eb7aa830$0200a8c0@FRICK>


Charles - I am interested in your comments re Irwin and the House of Drum. I
have Irwins in County Roscommon who were there from an early time, the
Burke's Landed Gentry pedigree (including arms confirmed by the Ulster
Office 1910) begins with ROBERT IRWIN, living at Ardkeelmore, nr Roscommon
1580-84, where he held part of the Abbey lands of Roscommon from Sir
Nicholas Malby, Lord Pres of Connaught.
The family history, "Memoir of the Irwin Family of Rathmoyle Co Roscommon",
by Col Richard Irwin, ca 1960 begins with:
The name 'IRWIN' is one of many variations of an ancient Scottish name, said
to be derived from the Celtic 'ERINVIENNE' which may be rendered 'Man from
the West'. The earliest settlements of the Clan bearing the name were in
Ayrshire, where are the town and river of IRVINE.

The earliest notable bearer of the name seems to have been CRINUS or CRINAN
ERIVIN, who married the daughter of King Malcolm II. Their son, Duncan I, is
believed to have brought many of the Clan to the Border country in Dumfries,
under the brother of Crinus, at the beginning of the 11th century. About
that time they acquired with much other property the tower or castle of
BONSHAW which became and continued to be the residence of the Chief of the
Clan.

The earliest document showing the spelling of the Clan name is probably the
charter granting the forest of DRUM to William, son of the Laird of BONSHAW
in 1323. In this the name is spelt 'de IRWIN'. In a charter of the next year
it is spelt 'de IRWYN'. The DRUM family adopted the spelling 'IRVINE' and
the BONSHAW family 'IRVING'. But the common spelling of the 16th century,
even by the Chiefs of BONSHAW, was 'IRWIN' -hence the spelling retained by
the descendants of ROBERT (1) IRWIN who settled in Roscommon in that era.

Part I. Section III. Introduction (C.J.I.)

There are records of a very large number of Irwins in various parts of the
County Roscommon from the beginning of the 17th century. They are shown as
holding a considerable amount of land, generally under the great landowners
or grantees of land in the County, beginning with the first Robert, who held
part of the Abbey lands of Roscommon in 1580-84 under Sir Nicholas Malby,
Lord President of Connaught, to whom those lands were granted in the reign
of Elizabeth I. There was a particularly strong settlement in the vicinity
of Roscommon town, where several branches of the family set up residence. It
is probable that, for security reasons, the tenants of the Abbey lands, who
included George Harrison and William Clifford, congregated in 'Abbey Town',
a part of Roscommon town, and later set up their homes in the adjoining
townlands, gradually spreading farther afield as conditions improved after
the wars of the 16th century.

A map showing the lands held at various times by the Clan would cover a
large part of the county. Their lands were originally held as some form of
leasehold, either permanently or for long terms. Under the Penal Laws the
Catholic branches could not hold, except under lease for some 34 years at a
time, or one life, and the first large estate held in fee simple was that
acquired by Richard (I) Irwin (1753-1818) at the end of the 18th century. At
his death in 1818 he held 16 townlands - he was known as 'Big Dick Irwin' -
but in his Will, to avoid the consequences of the Penal Laws, he had to
leave his estate in trust to two of the leading Protestants of the County,
Arthur French of Frenchpark (ancestor of the Lords de Freyne) and Henry
Sandford of Castlerea. That the family was always of some standing is shown
by their marriages and the fact that they were never described in the early
documents except as 'So and So Irwin, Gent', with the exception of one
unfortunate, 'John Irwin, a Scot', who was hanged by the rebels during the
troubles after 1641 for carrying a letter from one military officer to
another! On the whole they seem largely to have justified the description by
an English Commissioner in the reign of Henry the Eighth of a certain
'Geffrey Urwen' as 'of a great surname but small leving'.

There were probably several waves of Irwin settlers in Ireland. The earliest
of whom there is record is Robert (I) of Ardkeelmore (flor. 1580). This
first wave was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I; the next, which included
that son of the Chief who founded the family of CASTLE IRVINE and other
northern Irwins; and the last with Cromwell's army. But some, if not all of
the Cromwellian Irwins joined up from Ireland in Ireland, notably the first
Irwin of TANRAGOE (Co Sligo) who was of 'a Roscommon family'.

I'd like to know more about the origins of the Irwin family in Scotland, the
connections with the House of Drum, and the connections with the family of
Bruce, perhaps even with Edward Bruce and his invasion of Ireland in the
1300s

Charlie

----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles and Maria Shaw" <>
To: <>; "Kevin Patterson" <>;
<>
Sent: Sunday, November 12, 2006 4:41 AM
Subject: [S-I] Heraldry and Arms ---- Re: Family Coat of Arms


My Irvine/ Irwin, Schau/ Shaw, Wylie, Craufurd/ Crawford, and
> other lines family lines in Antrin as early as 1560 were almost all
> Armingers aligned with the House of Drum who migrated together.

This was quite true for my Irvine/ Irwin,
> Schau/ Shaw, Wylie, Craufurd/ Crawford, and other lines from Dumfrieshire
> and later Antrim. In fact, the Irvines of Drum were close allies of the
> Bruces of Annan and 3rd in line to the Scottish throne at one time.

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