The Way West
here are Harrison families in
Ireland from the time of the English Plantations, but they seem all,
in England, to be Protestant. O'Hart, however, says this:
name "Henry" is derived from
The Way West
here are Harrison families in
Ireland from the time of the English Plantations, but they seem all,
in England, to be Protestant. O'Hart, however, says this:
name "Henry" is derived from the Irish An Righ, [an ree] "the
king."... As MacHenry and FitzHenry signify, the "sons
or descendants of Henry", and that Harry is the common name for
"Henry," some are of the opinion MacHenry is another name for
Harrison, which would mean, "the son of Harry" and that
Harris and Fitzharris are branches of the "Clan Henry."
It is well known that some of the original English Plantation families
lost their Englishness and intermarried with and became " more Irish
than the Irish themselves". Possibly a change of religion went along
with this for at least some of the Harrisons.
A recent visit to
Easky and Kilglass in County Sligo uncovered no Harrisons. Church
records, however, indicate there were several families in the 19th
century and before.
O'Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees.
Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1999,(1882)