Early Irish Fanning Family History Pre 19th century – Page 3

Irish Fanning History from the 12th Century

Early documented Irish Fanning history from 1192.

Fanning is an Anglo-Irish or Anglo-Norman surname. It seems that The Irish Fannings were originally Norman knights. They have been referred to as minor Norman knights.

However there are no names similar to Fanning on The Battle Abbey Rolls which can be seen at www.robertsewell.ca/battleabbey.html . This document recorded the Companions of Duke William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings. They are a combination of all the known Battle Abbey Rolls, including Wace, Dukes, Counts, Barons, Seigneurs who attended William at Hastings. These were the commanders. They were the elite who had provided ships, horses, men and supplies for the venture. They were granted the Lordships.

The list does not include the estimated 12,000, Standard bearers, Men at Arms, Yeomen, Freemen and other ranks, although some of these were granted smaller parcels of England, some even as small as 1/8 th of a knight’s fee.

The Domesday Book was compiled in 1086 and records all land and landholders in England. William needed to know how much wealth he had to fight off the Danes.

The majority of landholders in England at the time of the Domesday Book had accompanied William the Conqueror from France in 1066, and were granted areas of land previously held by English natives. The alphabetized list on the following pages contains brief notes on almost 200 of the most well-known landholders at the time. A complete list can never be drawn up due to fact that many of those mentioned in the Domesday book have vanished into obscurity. While there are no Fannings on it, that I can see, it is still a fascinating document.

The following are references to Fannings in Ireland from 1192:

In 1171 the Anglo-Norman leader Strongbow (Richard de Clare) was created Lord of Leinster by the King of England and initiated land grants to his favourites in exchange for military service as knights. These grants of land were expressed in terms of knights’ fees, with payment due from each tenant-in-chief to their lord, who was accountable to the King of England. His successor in 1192 William Marshall continued this process of land grants. Most of Central Ossory was shared among William’s knights. Galmoy was split among the bishop of Ossory, and the families of Bigod, Drohull, Fanyn, Syward, Archdeacon, and Smith.

The political and social impacts to the native Gaelic septs in Ossory included a gradual replacement of the Irish Brehon tradition of local chiefs, laws and territories with the political structure of the Anglo-Normans which centered itself around the establishment of shires, manors, castles, villages and churches.

Richard Fanyn(Janyn) was among the first of the family in Ireland. He witnessed Geoffrey FitzRobert’s charter in 1204. He was killed fighting on the side of Richard, Earl Marshall in 1234. He may have been the original enfeoffee at Clomantagh in Kilkenny. He was succeeded by his son Thomas who held half the fee of a knight at Glothementhau. In 1300 John Fanyn was lord of Clomantagh. A Henry Fanyn is mentioned probably son of John. In 1317 Thomas de Fanyn (Fannyn) had succeeded to the half knight’s fee at Clohmantagh. He was dead by 1348.

Extracts from the Calendar of Ormond Deeds.I-VI, Edmund Curtis,1932-43:

Circa 1244 John Fanyn is a witness in a claim.

1247 Thomas, son of Richard Fanyn, holds a half knights fee at Glothementhau (From “Knights Fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny” Dublin stationery Office, 1950.)

Circa 1250 Sir John Fanyn witness

1261 Thomas Fanyn witness

Between 1261-1266 Sir William Fanyn a prominent witness

1284 Walter Fanyn involved in another land dispute

1305 Eustace le Poer, knight, gives the manor of Moyobyra ( including lands, castle, meadows etc) in heredity forever, to William Ffanyng.

1314/1315 Thomas Fanyn holds a half knights’ fee at Cloghmantagh, now Clomantagh(from “Knights’ Fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny”)

1317 Thomas de Fanyn (Thomas Fannyn) has half a knights’ fee at Cloghmantagh, Clomantagh, barony of Crannagh ( Knights’ Fees in Counties Wexford etc)

1332 John Fanyn witness

1343 Thomas Fanyn mentioned

1410 Henry Fanyn of Moytobry appears in Tipperary court

1430 John Fanyn gives away lands in Haltonwrstoun and Balispedegh

1489 Notorial deed by Thomas Fannyng, lord of Mohobbir, chief of his nation in a legitimacy dispute between himself and William Fannyng tries in the diocese of Cashel. Each claimed to be the legitimate son of Nicholas Fannyng, “once captain of his nation”. Thomas is declared the legitimate son of Nicholas.

1550’s At inquisitions taken at Clonmel are included the names Geoffrey Fanyng, gent.: Nihols, Richard and John Fanyng fitz Geoffrey of Ballingarry; William Fanyng, gent.; Wilfred Faning of Ballyngarin; Oliver Fanyng, juror; William Fannyng fitz Oliver of Garynegrye, kern; James Fannyng of Garransillaghe, kern; Shane Enellan Fannyng and Maurice Fannyng, late of Cahir, kerns; Richard Fanyng of the Carrick; Richard Reagh Fannyng of Balyngary. (A kern was a foot soldier).

1565 Oliver Faning and James Faning of Garrynegrye, County Tipperary, grant to Sir Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormond, the castle of Moylessan . Later voided as it was in mortgage.

1579 Edmund Fanning of Farinrory, Co Tipperary, son of William Fanning grants to Thomas ,Earl of Ormond half the towns of Ballymaclaghne and Ballytarsne in Co Kilkenny or Carlow.

1584/5 A dispute between William Fanyng, son of James Fanyng of Balyclaghin andThomas, the Earl of Ormond over the towns and lands of Ballymclaghin and Ballytarsny, Co Kilkenny. Was divided between William, his uncle Oliver Faninge and the Earl of Ormond.

1592 William Fanning of Ballygary and Edmund Fanning of Faren Rory are mentioned in a commission.

The above notes were taken from an article in Rootsweb by Dennis Walsh. The Fanning Family Early Documented History

The Cromwellian Protestant Settlement (1650-1690) The arrival of Oliver Cromwell’s army in Kilkenny by 1650, dealt a devastating blow to the Old English (Anglo-Norman Catholic) landed gentry. Following defeat, many families remained on as the tenantry of the county, while others transplanted themselves into Connacht. Of the families which are said to have moved in the 1650’s is that of Giles Fannyng.

Just prior to 1641, the majority of landed proprietors in County Kilkenny were Catholics of Anglo-Norman descent. By the end of the seventeenth century this class had largely been replaced by New English Protestant landlords, many of whom were Cromwellian officers, soldiers and supporters whose pay had been satisfied by land grants. Still a large part of Kilkenny was controlled by the Duke of Ormond and other Butler lands.

The Williamite Ascendancy (1691-1703) By the late 1600’s, the Williamite victory in Ireland was followed by the confiscation of most ‘Jacobite’ estates.

This new landed gentry bore little resemblance to the Ireland envisioned by the Cromwellian land commissioners. The old Catholic order had been destroyed but it had been replaced, not with Protestant yeomanry, but by a handful of powerful Protestant landowners, many of whom were non-residents. Kilkenny’s tenantry remained Catholic, largely Old Irish, as it had been before 1641, but it was augmented by many former Old English proprietors. The Cromwellian commissioners had not intended to lay the basis of a narrow gentry class, but the failure of the majority of Kilkenny’s grantees to take possession or take up residence upon their lands, allowed a small number of enterprising men to gain possession of vast amounts of land. From New English Families in Rootsweb by Dennis Walsh.

1. “The names of all the gentlemen inhabiting the comit’ of Kilkenny, with their lands valued by estimation as followeth.”

Lands holden by knight service of the manor of the Grannaghby………….Manor of Kildenale in the Barony of Slievevardaghe.–James Butler, 60l.; John Cantwell, 10l.; Richard Cantwell, 15l.; Richard Cantwell 6l.; Thomas Stoke, 20l.; James Laffan and his cousin, 30l.; William FitzJames, 3l.; Thomas Butler and his kinsmen, 8l.; Richard Marvell, 15l.; William Fanninge, 50l.; William Faninge, 13l. 6s. 8d.; James Moreis, 5l.–Total, 235l. 6s. 8d.

Source: Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts

Summary of the History of the Fanning Family Vol 1 by Walter Frederic Brooks

The Irish ancestors of Edmund Fanning of Connecticut as described in “The History of the Fanning Family” Volume 1, published 1905, by Walter Frederic Brooks. The information relevant to the Fannings from Co Tipperary is summarized.

Walter Frederic Brooks’ the “History of the Fanning Family Vol 1” 1905, has been summarized including parts that may be relevant to the Fanning family from Thurles, Co Tipperary Ireland. The full text of these books can be viewed online at archive.org.

This information is from the first 52 pages. The rest of this book and vol 2 are concerned with Edmund Fanning who emigrated to America sometime around 1650 and his descendants. These first pages give a general account of the Fanning Family in Europe from Norman times to the Cromwellian Confiscations, 1652-3. My comments are in italics.

The Fanning name is on record in Ireland from the early part of the 13th century and one of influence in the counties of Limerick, Clare, Kilkenny and Tipperary, until the general confiscation under Cromwell in 1652. (Petty’s Survey commenced in 1654 recorded the names of the owners of confiscated estates).

That Edmund Fanning (Connecticut settler in 1653) is the son of Francis Fanning, Mayor of Limerick, has not been proven (in 1906) beyond a doubt but all the evidence supports this. There is no evidence to show that this Edmund was the son of Dominick Fanning (who was beheaded) as he had no son called Edmund.

Edmund’s wife, is said to have been the daughter of an Irish Earl. (In many genealogies on places like Rootsweb, her name is given as Ellen Butler but I have seen no documentary evidence for this.)

Fanning DNA Links

Recent DNA testing of an Australian direct descendant of William Patrick Fanning (born Thurles 1812 died Bulla Victoria 1876) is an exact match to descendants of this Edmund Fanning. So most likely William Patrick Fanning “Big Bill” was related to many of the Fannings from Kilkenny, Tipperary and Limerick mentioned in Brooks account and also to Fannings in Fenagh, Leitrim descended from Fannings transplanted there and also to Fannings transplanted to other counties after 1652. He is F-23 on The Fanning Family DNA Project.

I have just received an email from Pat Fannin which corrects and adds to what I have written above:

“Looking at the y-DNA results, I understand your conclusions on the connection of the Australian descendant of William Patrick Fanning to Edmund Fanning, immigrant to Stonington, Conn. in 1653. However, as I understand the test results from several Fanning lines that descend from Co. Leitrim, I can find no way to connect “Big Bill”or Edmund of Conn. to the Co. Leitrim Fannings. These appear to be two entirely separate lines of Fannings. The tests that I am referring to are: F-12, F-39 & F-42 for Co. Leitrim Fannings. Your line is F-23 and F-14, F-20 are descendants of Edmund Fanning of Conn. The Co. Leitrim descendants are of another Haplogroup from the descendants of “Big Bill” & Edmund of Conn. and could therefore not be related. The markers on these two groups also do not match. Most likely some of the Fannings transplanted to the Connaught were related to Edmund & “Big Bill”, but it wasn’t the families that have tested from Co. Leitrim, thus far. In fact, F-17 Martin Fanning, is a closer match to your “Big Bill” than are the two Edmund Fanning tests (F-14 & F-20) — see marker 27 GATAH4, which is shared by tests F-17 & F-23 and not by the Edmund Fanning results of tests F-14 & F-20″

Back to Brooks:

“Whatever cause the Fannings upheld they entered into it with spirit, determination and patriotism. These are some of the chief characteristics that have pervaded the family from the beginning- patriotism and true devotion to country and cause, regardless of consequences. It has been said no Fanning was ever a traitor to country or creed. Truly their lives were never peaceful, and their history is a story of confiscation, sacrifice, and martyrdom from the earliest times”. Page XV

The Arms of Fanning are registered in the Ulsters Office, Dublin, 1775 Ped. XI, fol.269 as follows:

A Chevron Gules, between three doves proper, for Crest, on a wreath of the colours a cherub Proper. A chevron is an inverted V and Gules is the colour red and proper is a natural colour. Motto: “In Deo Spes Mea” In God Is My Hope.

The Normans

In 912 Rollo, chief of a group of Northmen, conquered the province of Newstria in northern France, which became Normandy. These northmen adopted Christianity and the French language. (To celebrate his conversion to Christianity Rollo is said to have had two hundred prisoners executed.) Normandy became one of the most powerful states in Christendom. In 1066 the Battle of Hastings placed William, Duke of Normandy, on the English throne. William partitioned out the whole of England amongst his officers, who erected strong military castles and sorely oppressed the English. About 100 years after the conquest of England the Normans invaded Ireland. In 1172 Henry the second landed in Ireland and received the homage of the Irish king and Irish princes, on condition they should keep their land. Henry broke this treaty and granted the whole of Ireland to ten of his nobles, by charter and Norman law. He bestowed the Lordship of Ireland on his son Prince John in 1185. This led to wars between the Norman barons and the Irish chieftains which resulted in many Norman acquisitions.

These Normans were scarcely settled in their possessions when they adopted the language, habits and customs of the Irish, becoming more Irish than the Irish themselves.

The Norman-English monarchs gained nominal possession of Ireland and established their government in Dublin, yet their power was confined for centuries to some seaports and to a limited district around Dublin called the English Pale. The great Anglo-Norman barons and Irish chieftains ruled like independent princes over the greater part of Ireland, It was not until the reign of James I that English law was established over the whole island.

The Fanning family appears to be of Norman origins and to have come to Ireland with the first Norman settlers.

The present form of the Fanning name seems to have become established in the 16th century. Then and later we find the forms: Fanyng, Fannyng, Fannynge, Fanynge, Faning, Fanyin, Fannying, Fannyn, Fanninge, Fannen, Fanan, Fannin and Fannon.There is more variation in later records than earlier. The earliest form of the name on record is Fanyn 1234-1304.

The Fannings of Limerick and Clare

In the early part of the 13th century Richard Fanyn received grants of land in Co Clare.

Walter Fanning was appointed by Henry III to a commission held at Roscrea in 1245.

Richard Fanning was on a commission which sat in Limerick in 1275. He had land in Clare. His son Thomas was granted land in Kilkenny in 1279.

William Fanning recorded as an extensive landowner in Limerick 1310.br

John Fanning a commissioner in 1348 Limerick.

Simon Fanning recorded as a landed proprietor in Limerick 1355 and Thomas Fanning also in 1409.

Nicholas Fanning was a high constable in Connello Limerick in 1426.

Richard Fanning served in the Wars of the Roses & died in 1462.

David Fanning was assessor of the city of Limerick in 1467.

Walter Fanning is recorded as a landed proprietor in the barony of Pubblebrien in 1501. He was high constable in 1499.

Richard Fanning is mentioned among the officers slain at the battle of Mourne Abbey in 1521. A battle between the forces of the Earl of Desmond and the allied chieftains of South Munster under McCarthy More.

Simon Fanning is recorded as having estates in the Barony of Pubblebrien in 1532.

In 1542 Patrick and William Fanning, both aldermen, served on a commission set up to inquire into the disposal of the property of the suppressed monasteries. Simon and Patrick Fanning were found to hold some of this property.

Nicholas Fanning was a Clerk of the Exchequer 1541.

Thomas Fanning was treasurer to Gerald, 16th Earl of Desmond was of the most powerful subject in the British Islands (owning 600,000 acres and having 500 knights in his service).

Clement Fanning was elected sheriff of Limerick city in1551. and served as Mayor on 1557-8. In 1559 he was chosen to represent the city of Limerick in the Irish Parliament. He lost a great deal of property as a result of the rebellion of the Earl of Desmond around 1573, during the reign of Elizabeth I. Fanningstown , the property of Clement Fanning was confiscated in 1589. Clement Fanning had a son Patrick.

George Fanning, son of alderman William Fanning, was elected sheriff of the City of Limerick in 1564. Alderman James Fanning was mayor of Limerick in 1584.

Patrick Fanning, son of Clement Fanning of Fanningstown , was elected sheriff of Limerick city in 1576. His son was Clement Fanning and he was sheriff of Limerick in 1595 and mayor in 1610. He had three sons: Simon, Edward and Francis. Edward Fanning had a son Nicholas who was sheriff in 1625 and mayor of Limerick in 1630. After the confiscation of his landed property he was transported to Connaught in 1653-4.

Simon Fanning the eldest son of Clement Fanning served as sheriff in 1600 and mayor in 1615. He died in 1636-7 leaving five sons: Dominick, John, Bartholomew, Richard and James.

Francis Fanning, third son of Clement Fanning, served as sheriff in 1632-3 and as mayor of Limerick in 1644. At the time of the Confiscations in 1653-54 Francis Fanning’s estates were forfeited and he received sentence of transplantation to Connaught 1653-4.

Francis had a son Edward or Edmund (the names Edward, Edmund and Edmond are synonymous) who also was to be sent to Connaught. (The province of Connaught is located on the north west coast of Ireland and comprises the counties of Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Roscommon) His name is given as Edward Fitz-Francis Fanning on the Transplantation Certificate. This Edward, son of Francis, emigrated in 1653 or soon after to America and settled in Connecticut. Edward was born in Ireland about 1620, was married there about 1649 and died in Stonington, Connecticut on 19th August 1683.

There are different pedigrees for the emigrant Edward Fanning in Rootsweb and I don’t know what sources have been used. According to Brooks this Edwards ancestry is as follows:

Clement Fanning of Fanningstown, his son was Patrick Fanning, sheriff Limerick City 1576 died 1612.Patrick’s son was Clement Fanning, sheriff of Limerick 1595 and mayor 1610. He had three sons Simon (dies 1636-7), Edward and Francis. Simon had five sons: Dominick, John, Bartholemew, Richard and James. His eldest son Dominick served as Mayor of Limerick three times and was executed in 1651 for taking part in the great Rebellion. His head was placed over St John’s gate where it remained for several years. Francis was the father of the Edmund who emigrated to America.

Numerous high offices were held by those of Fanning name in Limerick county prior to 1652.

In the County of Clare a Dominick Fanning, a Nicholas Fanning and a Thomas Fanning had lands confiscated.

The Fannings of Kilkenny and Tipperary

Tipperary separated from Limerick as a separate county around 1254. John Fanning is the first of the name to be recorded in 1285 in the County of Tipperary.

Thomas Fanning was granted land in Kilkenny in 1279. Gilbert Fanning was in possession of lands in Kilkenny in 1316. Thomas Fitz-Gilbert received a grant of the Manor of Mohober in 1332. Mohober, in the Parish of Lismalin, Barony of Compsey, County Tipperary, was for several centuries a manor of the Fannings.

Hugh Fanning was appointed by Edward III a commissioner of the peace for the County of Tipperary in 1358. He was granted lands in the Manor of Ballingarry.

In 1545 Henry VIII granted lands in Kilkenny to Oliver Fanning. In 1570 he is mentioned as holding land by knight’s service in the Manor of Knocktopher.

William Fanning was a landed proprietor in the Barony of Kells, County of Kilkenny in 1570. He died in 1570. He left his estates in trust to James, son of Thomas Fanning of Ballingtaggart, County of Tipperary; Robert, son of Walter Fanning of Mohober, County of Tipperary; and Richard Fanning of Kappaghintallagarry. His second son William succeeded to the estates.

William Fanning is recorded in 1570 as an extensive landed proprietor in the Manor of Killenaule, Barony of Slvievardagh, County of Tipperary. (Source: Calendar of the Carew Maunuscripts, 1515-1574, p.404)

In 1600 the Fannings are recorded as among the principal landowners in the Barony of Slievardagh, County of Tipperary (Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts, 1589-1600, p.513)

William Fanning of BallyMcCloghny was constable of the Barony of Gowran, County of Kilkenny, in 1608.

Geoffrey (or Jeffrey) Fanning of Fanningstown, Ballingarry, County of Tipperary was elected in 1642 to represent the Manor of Glengall in the Confederate Parliament and served in the assembly until its dissolution. After the Cromwellian conquest he retired to the Continent, where he served under Charles II until the Restoration in 1660, when he returned to Ireland. He was granted part of his estates confiscated during the Crowellian regime. This grant confirmed in June 1668 was upwards of 2000 acres in the Baronies of Slievardagh and Compsey, as well as the manor house and land at Ballingarry.

After the Confiscations of 1652

In 1652 a law was passed by the English Parliamednt confiscating upwards of ten million acres of land in Ireland. The owners to be transplanted to Connaught. Certain desolate parts of the Counties of Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim were set apart for the transplanted.

The following Limerick Fannings received transplantation certificates for County Leitrim:

Nicholas Fanning, Francis Fanning, Edward Fitz-Francis Fanning, Madalen Fanning, Martin Fanning, Mary Fanning, William Fanning, Thomas Fitz-Clement Fanning, Edward Fitz-James Fanning, Michael Fitz-James Fanning, and Thoma Fitz- Patrick Fanning. (Fitz is of Norman origin and denotes son of).

To be transplated from Tipperary were Edmond Fanning of Gortfy, William Fanning of Farrenroe, Nicholas Fanning of Clonegall and from Kilkenny James Fanning of Knocktopher.

All the above Fannings settled in the Parish of Feenagh in County Leitrim and were never restored to their estates.

On the Restoration of Charles II some lands and estates were restored. Goeffrey Fanning received a grant of his manor house and 2000 acres of land in Tipperary County. William Fanning of the County of Kilkenny received 531 acres of land in the Barony of Ballymoe, County of Galway in 1668.

Not one member of the Limerick Fannings is on record as receiving any compensation for the loss of his estates.

A Lieutenant John Fanning served in the Spanish army under the banner of the exiled Charles II and was killed in Prague 1648. He may have been from the Tipperary branch of the family.

In 1652 the estates of the Kilkenny Fannings were also confiscated

It is under the circumstances of the Cromwellian confiscations and transplantings that Edmund Fanning and his wife Ellen emigrated to America and settled in Connecticut around 1853.

The Anglo Normans in Ireland

Fanning is an Anglo-Norman name. The Normans conquered the English in 1066 and a hundred years later in 1169 invaded Ireland.

Anglo-Normans are so called because they’d lived in England for a hundred years (103 yrs) before coming into Ireland in 1169.
They were Vikings by origin who had become somewhat French while living and intermarrying in Normandy. They originally came from Norway or Denmark around 900. One of these Vikings was Rollo, ancestor of the Duke of Normandy.

The Normans had come to England as invaders with William, Duke of Normandy, in 1066, which was only a century and a half after the Vikings had settled in Normandy in 911.

In Ireland the Normans intermarried with the Irish and the Norman race was assimilated.
The first form of the name on record appears to be “Fanyn”.

The author of “The Norman People and their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States of America”, published by H.S.King in 1874, says that the names Fanning, Fannin and Fannon come from Fainent or Faineant and cite John and William Faitneant or Fainent of Normandy 1198.

The Irish conquest was an extension of the conquest of Wales – an activity of Norman lords in the marches who were acting more or less independently of the crown. Once successful, their conquests were adopted by Henry II.