Hingerty Origins- Where did the name come from?

In the Elizabethan Fiant 3080 of the year 1577 

 a John Hingerty is mentioned in a list of Irishmen who have been granted a pardon by the English Crown on the payment of a fine of one cow. 

The text (as published in 1881- the original handwritten record having been later destroyed in the fire in the Four Courts of Dublin in 1922) actually says:

John m'Teige O Hengerltye alias Harrengton, of Downebekhane, gent.

This tells us that John is a son of a man called Teige. (Teige is a Gaelic fore name meaning poet or philosopher) and John is a gentleman who lives in Downebekhane  (Dun Beacain/ Dunbeacon in County Cork Ireland).

So what is this 'alias' all about?

Edward MacLysaght in his book The Surnames of Ireland (1989) tells us that

(o) Hingerty is one of the anglicised forms of  ohIongardail which has for the most part become Harrington.

Therefore we must assume that John sometimes used the name Hingerty (or Hengerltye) and sometimes used the name Harrington (or Harrengton) since both are anglicised forms of his Gaelic surname ohIongardail.

This Fiant seems to be the first mention of the use of Harrington as an alias for the OhIongardail name and its variants.

Also in 1577 (Fiant 3038) "Thady O Hingerdell called O Hingerdell" (i.e he is the clan chief) is found in a list of other clan leaders being granted a pardon. Also pardoned that year were Thady O'Hingirdill of Cashermuckee and John Hingerdell of Carre, Cork.

The year before, in 1576, Dermod oge O Hingerdell is pardoned.

In 1585, five more O Hingerdells are pardoned all in County Cork and in 1587, John O Hingerdell of Monaster de Bantry (Cork) is also pardoned.

In 1601, Philip O Hingerdell and Teig O Hingerdell of Kilcoman, Kerry are pardoned. 

If you want to find out about Fiants in general go to Fiant- meaning and then, to read Fiant 3080 click on the 13th report published in 1881 Appendix IV.

The next documented mention of the Hingerty name is in the Hearth Rolls of 1667 for Tipperary. These lists were originally compiled to enable the collection of a tax on every hearth (fireplace) in Ireland by the English Crown five years after the return of Charles II as "a convenient instrument for extracting the last farthing from a defeated race" (Editor's Preface by Thomas Laffan in the transcribed lists published in 1911). 

The Introduction written by Bishop Thomas Fennelly and the Editor's Preface written by Thomas Laffan leave us in no doubt as to the political viewpoints of these two gentlemen. Well worth a read.

Hearth Money Records 1665-6-7 Tipperary

The actual lists include a few Hingerty name variants;

Hingerty, Hingorty, Hingortye, Hingurtie, Hingirdill, Hingerville......... showing us that families were 'creative' in their adoption of spelling variations as they anglicised their Gaelic surname.

The Hearth Rolls of Tipperary (and the later Tithe Applotment Lists and Griffith's Valuations of the 1800s) raise a geographic question for us. 

If John Hingerty/Harrington was in Cork and later Hingertys are in Tipperary- what caused the move from Cork to Tipperary? 

...and that my friends will be a topic for future posts......

If you have other early references to the Hingerty surname- share them by leaving a comment or contact me

hingerty@one-name.org