The Great Ferriter Family

Creation of the new Ferriter Family website moved me to a review of certain items that I had in hand, for inclusion on the site. A number of these are now posted as blog entries, including the following. None of these observations, speculations, and theories have been altered by the time that has passed between having been written and now…enjoy reading, and comment, please!   I have been exploring the very early and early period of Ferriter Family activity in Ireland, with a goal of illuminating aspects of our common history in that place. The principal source for early references has been the various Calendars... Read More

Cattle Raid   The following is a story from the life of Nicholas Fyreter, a man who lived during the middle years of the 14th century in Ireland. The episode as presented is accurate in terms of the historical context and the central event – aligning the very scanty documentary references to this Nicholas with the historical framework has provided the structure for recounting the tale. That this Nicholas was the son of the better documented family chief Philip le Fureter junior, or that this Nicholas himself became family chief are both conjectural, but both are supported by facts. The main event and the names... Read More

The following information attempts to provide a bit of illumination upon the deep past of the Ferriter Family in Kerry. What has been done here is to create a timeline of sorts, with the known and suspected heads or chiefs of the Ferriter Family called out upon it. First a bit of background: Several sources exist that identify individuals in the early record. These sources either extend from the Calendars, (summary abstracts made of records later destroyed in the Four Courts fire of 1922), or are from records outside of what had been in the Public Records Office when the fire occurred. A list of... Read More

Medieval life in Ireland was most often harsh, and frequently violent. The intrusion of the Normans and the follow-on attempts of the English monarchy to exert control within Ireland created extended periods of social, political and economic turmoil, and the constant friction between the Norman Lords and the Irish, as well as between the Norman Lords themselves led to a succession of minor wars that sputtered for centuries. English Law extended only to those of English birth, English Heritage (including the descendants of the Normans), and those few Irish who had been granted coverage by the crown. During the first 150 years following the initial... Read More

Creation of the new Ferriter Family website moved me to a review of certain items that I had in hand, for inclusion on the site. A number of these are now posted as blog entries, including the following. None of these observations, speculations, and theories have been altered by the time that has passed between having been written and now…enjoy reading, and comment, please!   The lands that the Ferriters resided upon were not prime agricultural land. Those familiar with the place realize that aside from vegetable plots and grazing sheep, there’s not much to be had there, from the land itself. The Ferriter family... Read More