Martyn

For other uses, see Martyn (disambiguation).

Martyn, or Martin is the surname of one of The Tribes of Galway, Ireland.

Family history

The Martyn family were one of a group of fourteen families of mixed Irish, English, Welsh, French and Norman (Hiberno-Normans) descent who became the premier merchant and political families in the town of Galway during the late medieval and early modern eras. Many were dispossessed by the Irish Confederate Wars and the subsequent Cromwellian conquest, and long reduced to peasantry by the time of the Great Irish Famine.

The family are part of a larger kin-group descended from a Norman named Martin (fl. 1093?) via his descendant, the crusader Sir Nicholas FitzMartin of Cemais and Blagdon (c.1210-1282). Sir Nicholas had at least eight children from two marriages, the youngest being William Martin of St. David's, Wales (c.1268-after 1326), whose son or grandson, Thomas Martyn, founded the family in Galway.

The family have been based in Co. Galway, Ireland, since the mid-fourteenth century but have many cadet branches in the U.K., Canada, USA, France, Hungary, and several other countries. Most of these branches were emigrated during and in the aftermath of the Wild Geese and Great Famine eras.

Many branches of the family use the spelling Martin. As Martin is the most common spelling for bearers of the name regardless of descent, the form Martyn is used to distinguish all of this kindred from other thus surnamed but unrelated.

Martin, Martyn and its variants can be considered some of the most common names in the Western World - such as Smith, Jones, Baker, Wilson. It is not always the case that any two bearers of the name are related, even distantly.

Other descendants of the FitzMartin family are still to be found in the south-west of England (Somerset, Devon, Dorset) and Wales (Pembrokeshire).

There is a worldwide internet based society for people with the family name Martin and Martyn.^[1];

Notable Martyn's of Galway

• Thomas Martyn (fl. 1365-87), earliest known member of the family in Galway
• Wylliam Martin (fl. 1519), builder of the Spanish Arch
• Thomas Óge Martyn (fl. 1533-1577), builder of Galway's West Bridge
• William Óge Martyn (fl. 1566-1593), notorious Sheriff and Mayor of Galway
• Richard Óge Martyn (1602–1648), lawyer and Irish Confederate leader
• Francis Martin, (1652–1714), theologian
• Richard Martin (politician) (1754–1834) member of Irish Volunteers, supported Catholic Emancipation, founded RSPCA
• Peter Martyn, soldier, 1772-1827.
• Éamonn Buidhe Martyn (fl. 1798), grandfather of Edward Martyn of Tullira.
• Andrew H. Martyn, (1784-1847, parish priest, died during the Great Irish Famine
• Thomas B. Martin (1786–1847), M.P. and landlord, died saving his tenants in The Famine
• Mary Letitia Martin (1815–50), novelist
• Edward Martyn (1859–1923), arts patron, co-founded Abbey Theatre
• Violet Florence Martin (1862–1915), novelist and short-story writer
• Congressman John Andrew Martin (1868–1939), American politician
• Ferenc Martyn (1899–1986), Hungarian artist
• D'Arcy Argue Counsell Martin (c. 1899-1992), Canadian lawyer and politician
• Malachi Martin (1921–99), theologian, religious writer and novelist
• F.X. Martin, (1922–2000), historian
• Adrian James Martyn (born 1975), historian
• Hillary Martyn, (born 1977), newspaper editor

See also

• Martin (name)
• FitzMartin
• List of most common surnames
• Family name etymology
• Family name affixes
• Family history
• Patronymic
• Personal name

External links

• http://www.martinhistory.net/

References

1. ^ http://www.fhsofmartin.org.uk

• Iar Connacht, Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh/Roderick O'Flaherty, 1684 (publ. 1843)
• History of Galway, James Hardiman, 1820
• Old Galway, Professor Mary Donovan O'Sullivan, 1942
• Galway: Town and Gown, edited Moran et al., 1984
• The Baronial Martins, Lionel Nex, 1987
• Galway: History and Society, edited , 1996
• The Lords of Cemais, Dilwyn Miles, Haverfordwest, 1987
• The Tribes of Galway, Adrian J. Martyn, 2001
• The Man for Galway: Richard 'Humanity' Martin, Peter Phillips, 2003
• Roll of Honor: The Mayors of Galway 1485-2002, William Henry, 2003