Martyn (surname)

For the saint, see Martin of Tours. For the musician, see John Martyn.

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

Family history

The Martyns were one of a select group of 14 families of mixed Irish, English, Welsh, French and Norman descent who became the premier merchant and political families in the town of Galway during the late medieval and early modern eras. From approximately 1270 to about 1924 certain branches of the family and individuals remained highly influential both in Galway and Ireland as a whole. Many Martyns 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 settled during and after the Wild Geese or Great Famine eras.

Many braches 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).

Notable Martyns

• William Oge Martyn (fl.1566-1593), notorious Sheriff and Mayor of Galway
• Richard Martin fitz Oliver (1602-1648), lawyer and Irish Confederate leader
• Richard Martin ("Humanity Dick") (1754-1834) member of Irish Volunteers, supporter of Catholic Emancipation, founder of the RSPCA, duellist
• Thomas B. Martin (1786-1847), M.P. and landlord, died saving his tenants in The Famine;
• 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
• F.X. Martin, (1922-2000), historian
• Adrian James Martyn (born 1975), historian
• Hillery Martyn (born 1977), editor of Galway Independent
• Martyn, a very funny young man from ManUtdChat.com

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

• Iar Connacht, Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh/Roderick O'Flaherty, 1684 (publ. 1843)
• History of Galway, James Hardiman, 1820
• Old Galway, Professor M.D. 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