Barron/Crowley and Related Surnames Family Website

My name is Lisa (Owen,Barron) Upton and I am the Webmaster of this site.In case anyone is wondering, the portrait on the left is our ancestor John Gost Barron.  The photo on the right is Crowley Castle,County Cork,Ireland.I HAVE A FAVOUR TO ASK OF EVERYONE!  WHEN YOU ADD SOMEONE OR MAKE CHANGES, PLEASE SEND ME A MESSAGE INFORMING ME OF THE PERSON ADDED OR CHANGED.  THERE IS NO OTHER WAY FOR ME TO SEE THE CHANGES MADE UNLESS YOU INFORM ME OF SUCH.  THIS IS TO PROTECT THE INTEGRITY OF THE INFORMATION ON THIS SITE.  THANK YOU!!!  Another note:  Standard Accepted Genealogy procedure is to list women using their maiden names, not married name.  The married name may be listed in ( ) after the maiden name.  I'm seeing some changes that have been made since I created the site that I need to go in and fix.  Please keep in mind the correct procedures when adding/changing a person's name.Thank You!!This site was created using MyHeritage.com. This is a great system that allows anyone like you and me to create a site for their family and even publish their family tree on the Internet.If you have any comments or feedback about this site, please click here to contact me.Barron Surname Origin  The word Barron is of Celtic extraction, and originally synonymous with man in general. It has this meaning in the Salic law, and in the laws of the Lombards; in the English law, the phrase barron and feme is equivalent to man and wife. It was afterward used to denote a man of respectability, a stout or valiant man; and Barrone was also used by the Italians to signify a beggar. From denoting a stout or valiant man, it was employed as a name for a distinguished military leader, who having fought and conquered under some great commander, was afterward rewarded by him with a part of the lands which he had acquired. As a surname, it was originally Le Barron, The Barron. Gaelic, Baran, a barron. Source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation and Import; Arthur, William, M.A.; New York, NY: Sheldon, Blake, Bleeker & CO., 1857. Origins of the Crowley SurnameThe sept of O'Crowley began as an offshoot of the MacDermots of Moylurg (Co Roscommon). Their ancestor was one O'Cruadhlaoich from which the name Crowley derives. It means Hard Hero. This branch settled near Dunmanway (Co Cork) and had a recognized chief living at Kilshallow. Many were professional soldiers. The O'Crowleys usually fought with the Mac Cartys. A large portion of the O'Crowley lands were forfeited to Richard Boyle, the First Earl Of Cork. The name is so connected with Co Cork that 75% of Crowley and O'Crowley births are registered in that county.In form, Crowley is English, a habitation name from an Old English term meaning "wood of the crows", and no doubt some of those in Ireland bearing the name derive from English stock. However, the vast majority are of Gaelic Irish extraction, with Crowley an anglicisation of Ó Cruadhlaoich, from "cruadh" and "laoch", meaning "hardy" and "warrior". The Cruadhlaoch, from whom the family takes its name, lived in the mid-11th century and was, in fact, one of the MacDermots of Moylurg in Connacht, Diarmuid an Cruadhlaoch, a son of Conchubhar son of Diarmuid, a quo the Mac Diarmuida Ruaidh, MacDermott Roe. Some time later, probably in the late 13th century, descendants of an Ó Cruadhlaoch migrated from Connacht to Co Cork, where they settled in an area north of the Bandon river in the barony of East Carbery. A local tradition has it that they acquired their territory by marrying into the ruling family of the Coughlans, whom they then ousted. The townlands of Curraghcrowly East and West in this district record their presence.In any event, while the original Connacht branch of the family declined, descendants of the Cork family prospered and multiplied, in part no doubt due to their well-deserved and formidable reputation as fighters. Their dispossession in the confiscations of the 17th century was almost total, since they were prominent on the losing sides in all the major conflicts of the period. The vast majority of Irish Crowleys today are connected to the Cork branch, and that county is still home to most of them. In 1890 there were 161 births of the name, 116 of these in Co Cork.Nicholas Joseph Crowley (1819-1857) was a distinguished portrait painter. Eugene Crowley (1926 - 2009), from Ballineed, Co Cork, was Commissioner of the Gárda Stochána from 1988-1991. Bob Crowley (1955 - ), from Cork, has an international reputation as a stage designer. He works with Britain's National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company.This content on this page was gleaned from:Family HistoriesPublished Family History in Book FormFamily Names of Co. Cork D. O'Murchadha Glendale Press Dublin 1985The Genealogical Officeand provided to CrowleyClan.com byDon CrowleyCopyright © 2002- 2010 CrowleyClan.comFurther Notes on the Crowley SurnameCrowley genealogies trace the name to one Dermot MacDermot, who had been kept as a hostage by England's King John. Upon his return to Ireland, he seized the princeship of Moylurg by the sword (1215-1218), earning him the nickname of "chruadh laoich" or "hard warrior". (According to tradition, the nickname had also been given to one of Dermot's ancestors by King Brian Boru following the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 AD.) The sept subsequently migrated to Carbery (Munster) around 1280, and the Roscommon branch almost disappeared.With the enforcement of English rules and the suppression of Gaelic, the surname was phonetically anglicized to O'Crowley from the Gaelic O'Chruadlaoich.Crowleys first appeared on France in 1667 - the name here was written O'Cruoly, which approximates the Gaelic pronunciation. When Irish nobility came to France, they brought with them their pedigrees and heraldic arms. As warriors of high status, the Crowleys did, also. There are three O'Crowley coats of arms registered in France - for the lines in Connacht, Munster and France. They differ from each other only in color and the crest. The MacDermot lineage is apparent from the boar and crosses that appear in the arms of both clans.There is also a Crowley surname in England, around East Anglia. Here the name may derive from the Old English for "wood of the crows". This line has no coat of arms registered in France, only a crest which is a wolf passant sable (black). Unfortunately, many heraldic or family gifts firms market this crest as the Irish Crowley coat of arms.This content on this page was gleaned frommessage 1607 of the Crowley family genealogyforum at genforum.genealogy.com. The messagewas posted by Michael-Patrick Crowley.Copyright © 2002- 2010 CrowleyClan.com