I was having a look at the Pages Blanche the French Telephone Directory on line yesterday, just checking up really that I was still the only Martin Dwyer in France (I am) when I began to wonder how many Dwyers (or O Dwyers) there were living in exile with me.
There are 33 in the whole of France.
Being one half Daly this was the next surname I tried , they do a lot better 1437 in France, there must be a French (or English) surname which is the same, or else what would explain this mass exodus from County Cork.
Intrigued at this stage I looked up Síle’s surname; Ronayne – not a one in France, but then spell it in the Irish fashion (as her father did), Ronan , and there are 176 of them.
Scrabbling at this stage for my French roots I looked up my Grandmother’s maiden name,Magnier, purported to be Norman and therefore from France.
I was rewarded, there are 3091 of my cousins still inhabiting their fatherland.
That led me perforce back to Waterford where everyone is called “Power” from the lowest right to the Marquis of Waterford himself.
They , like my Magnier cousins, claim to be of Norman extraction and to originally have been De Paor.
It appears they must have all sailed over with Strongbow as there are no De Paor’s at all left in France, ditto De Burca’s, as the Bourkes claim their aristocratic Norman ancestors to have been called.
The name Bourke does rather better , there are 596 in La Belle France and the Powers themselves , do better again , 684 of them, about the same as in Ballybricken.
Comments
Peter
on August 16, 2011More Power?
Try De Poer, or Poer – it would only have become De Paor after arrival in Ireland/ Irish, I guess.
Ditto for De Burca, who would have been De Burgo in Norman French.
(And maybe Dwyer was De Ouaier or something like that . . . .I’m sure you deserve the aristocratic “De”. I, of course, already have it embedded in my surname.)
Rita
on August 16, 2011A friend called Daly once told me that Salvador Dali was in fact descended from an Irish Daly. I wonder could this be true?
Martin
on August 16, 2011Okay I tried De Poer , got no response but one (only) De La Poer and about 100 Depoers which I will concede.De Burgo fared less well with only one De Burgo and a half dozen each of Del Burgo and Burgo. A branch of the Dwyers went with the wild geese to France it is claimed and became the Haudoires or Audoires (the exact Gaelic pronnunciation of O’ Duibhir ) of which 1198 now have phones in France. Bonus information to my commenters ; there but 12 Denman’s in L’Hexagone but 37 Larkins.
And Rita it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if our Salvador turned out to have Irish roots.
Patsy
on August 16, 2011Would you look up my grandmother s surname Neville –Merci.
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