The Great Ferriter Family

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 these sources is appended, and notated. The individuals cited on this list are those who are those who were most likely to have been the family head during their lives. During the early period, men selected for activities such as juror, pledge, or collector were almost certainly also the family chief or principal man in the family. In some cases other family members appear in the historical record, either associated with inheritances, lawsuits, or fines. These people have not been cited on this list.

Walter (I) 1220 – 1250 First Known le Fureter in Ireland, probable first in Kerry
Cites: 1, 2

Walter (II) 1250 -1280 Active landholder in Ossurys cantred
Cites: 1, 2, 3

Martin 1280 – 1290 Active man of property, likely brother of Walter (II)
Cites: 2, 3

Phillip (I) 1290 – 1310 Son of Walter , knight of the Shire
Cites: 2, 3, 5

Phillip (II) 1310 -1340 Son of Phillip (I), Fought David de Barry, Sherriff’s commission
Cites: 2, 3, 5, 6

Nicholas (I) 1340 -1360 Probable son of Phillip (II), Cattle Raider, Soldier, Manucaptor
Cites: 4, 6

Thomas 1360 -1400 Tax Collector
Cites: 7

Nicholas (II) 1400– 1450 Known to have been a Juror
Cites: 8

Nicholas (III) 1450 – 1500 Known to have been a Juror
Cites: 9

Dennis of Dun 1500 – 1535 (Apocryphal / Anecdotal Individual)
Cites: 13

Nicholas (IV) 1535 – 1575 Pardoned Geraldine Rebel
Cites: 10

Maurice 1575 – 1585 Geraldine Rebel, Father of Eamon
Cites: 10, 11

Eamon 1585 – 1625 Pardoned Geraldine Rebel, Father of Piaras
Cites: 10, 11, 12

The blocks of time assigned to each person are estimates of that individual’s period of leadership or eminence. An effort has been made to depict continuity, but these estimates must not be seen as precluding the existence of additional family heads who escaped appearing in any surviving documented source. This list must also be understood to just that – a list, not a pedigree or genealogical outline. We can make a safe assumption in regarding many of the postulated successions as in fact being father to son, but this cannot be confirmed in most cases. That said, the strong possibility exists that the first Walter was the single common ancestor of all Ferriters, and close relationships exist between all of these men - if not a direct lineal descent, then close to it.

Cited Sources:

1. Calendars of Jucticiary Rolls, Ireland

2. Calendar of Plea Rolls (RC7, NLI)

3. Calendar of Close Rolls

4. Rotulorum Patentaie et Clausorum (Tresham)

5. Court of Exchequer Records Relating to Kerry (Carew MSS, 610)

6. Calendar of Plea Rolls, 13, 14, 16

7. Patent Roll, 49 Edw III

8. Calendar of Ormonde Deeds

9. Carew MSS 608, f44b

10. Fiants of Elizabeth, 921, 2482, 6494, 6576

11. Inquisition of 1584, (Originally in P.R.O.I., transcribed c1908, original destroyed)

12. Chancery Inquisition, Charles I, 1626

13. Unpublished Paper, Fr, M.Manning, c1975

(Final Note: In addition to the individual forenames cited as likely family heads, the following additional Ferriter names appear in the early records: Michael, John, Richard, William, Simon, Isabella, and Anstace.)