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From: Bob Adair <>
Subject: [ADAIR-L] Early Adair History
Date: Tue, 31 Oct 2000 18:38:43 -0800

Posted on: ADAIR Biographies
Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/surnames/a/d/ADAIR/biographies/7

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>From Adair History and Genealogy, by James B. Adair, MD
Boylan and Boylan, Los Angeles, CA., 1924.
The following excerpts from the book are in no way guaranteed to be factual,
but are purely a transcription.

>From Chapter IV of the book Adair, History and Genealogy by James B. Adair.
Los Angeles, CA. 1924. Printed by Boylan and Boylan.

The Adair sprung from the Noble House of Fitz_Geralds, Anglo-Norman Viceroys
of Ireland, and the Earls of Desmond and of Kildare in Ireland. The Fitz-Geralds
trace their lineage back to the Dukes of Tuscany, and the Tuscans claim
their origins from the plains of Troy.

We know nothing beyond the Trojans. But according to these claims, we trace
our antecedents back to some time in the ninth century.

One of the Dukes of Tuscany migrated to Normandy in France and settled.
By and by when Prince William was making up his army of invasion these
Tuscans took a prominent part. After the conquest of Britain in 1060 A.D.
these Tuscans were honored by the King with Cabinet positions and other
prominent places. About a century later, or about three generations, they
were sent to Ireland by King Henry II.

The following Allegory fairly describes this illustrious family:

In the land of Hetruria there flourished a once a mighty vine thither
translated from the desolate plains of Troy. Florence claimed this beauteous
plant her own; and well might she glory on it, for its branches stretched
forth unto the sea, and its boughs unto the river. From the banks of the
Arno and the shore of the blue Tyrrhene Sea the branches of that great
tree extended themselves to the far off land of Erin.

That tree was the noble race of the Geraldines, who under the shadow of
the Tuscan banners, penetrated regions whither Roman legions never dared
to venture.

The history of this Florentine family has been my special study; for it
is intimately associated with that of my religion and country; and proudly
does it cherish the memories of the Geraldines.

Florence has produced more celebrated men than any other place in Italy,
or , perhaps in Europe.

So wrote Father Dominic ODaley to their Eminences Anthony and Francis
Barberini, Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. To them he dedicated his
history of the Geraldines.

When did the Geraldines come to England? When did they settle Ireland?
Father ODaley was perfectly clear in the answers to both questions: they
came to England with William at the Conquest; and they went to Ireland
under Henry II. He had moreover a dim conception of the true facts of the
case. He said that William gave them the Castle and the Lordship of Windsor.

Lineage of the Geraldines from the Normans of the Kings Official Household.

Walter Fitz Other=Beatrice
Constable of Widsor, Keeper of
Windsor Forest, living 1086, and after
1100.

A.William Fitz Walters. Constable of Windsor, Keeper of Windsor Forest,
living
At the time of Henry I and Stephen

B.Walter de Windsor

C.Robert de Windsor

D.Maurice de Windsor

E.Rennald de Windsor

F.Gerald de Windsor = Nesta of South Wales

a.William Fitz Gerald
b.Maurice Fitzgerald Dapifer of St. Davids in Wales and Baron of the Naas
in Ireland.
1.William
2.Gerald, Lord of Offally
3.Alexander
4.Nesta

c.David Fitz Gerald, Bishop of St Davids

The Founder of the Geraldine Family

Maurice Fitz-Gerald, the founder of the House of Geraldine, came to Ireland
with Robert Fitz-Stephen, and other Anglo-Norman Chiefs in 1169, and assisted
Strongbow in the reduction of Ireland.
He is thus described by Cambresis and Holingshead:
A man he was, both honest and wise; and as for truth and valor, very
noble and famous, a man of his word, of constant mind, and a certain bashfulness,
well colored, and of good countenance, of middle stature, and compact at
all points; courteous, gentle, and moderate; a patron of sobriety and good
behavior; a man of few words; his speeches more full of wit and reason
than of words; more wisdom he had than that of eloquence; in martial affairs
bold, stout, and valiant, an yet not hasty to run headlong into any venture,
but when an attempt was once taken in hand, he would persue and follow
the same.

He was appointed Chief Governor of Ireland, A.D. 1173, by Henry II, and
he and his descendants got large grants of land in Leinster and Munster,
chiefly in the counties of Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford, Cork, Kerry. He died
1177, and was buried in Abbey of the Grey Friars at Wexford. From him descend
the noble family of Fitzgeralds, one of the most distinguished in Ireland.

A branch of them were the Earls of Desmond, down to the reign of Elizabeth;
and had immense possessions in the counties of Cork and Kerry.

Another branch became Barons of Offaly, Earls of Kildare, and Dukes of
Leinster.

There have been also many other eminent families of the name in Ireland.

The Earls of Desmond and Kildare were frequently Lords Deputy and Chief
Governors of Ireland.

The noble Fitz-Geralds frequently joined the Irish against the English
Government; hence the were charged by English writers with being more Irish
than the Irish themselves.

The territory of Desmond, (The word signifies in Irish, south Munster)
embraced a vast area, including the whole of the present county of Cork,
the greater part of Kerry, a part of Waterford, and small parts of Tipperary
and Limmerick.

These Earls had vast numbers of vassals under them as peasants and laborers,
mostly trained to military service, so that they were a power in the land,
with whom even the King must reckon.

The following is a Genealogy of these Earls:
1stMaurice FitzGerald, the founder of the family (Died 1177)
2ndThomas Fitzmaurice FitzGerald, a younger son
3rdJohn Fitzthomas FitzGerald
4thMaurice Fitzjohn FitzGerald
5thThomas Fitzmaurice FitzGerald, Court of Appeals, Justice of Ireland
in 1295. His wife was Margaret, the Kings cousin. He died in 1298.

The following were some of the Earls of Desmond:
1stMaurice Fitzthomas FitzGerald, first Earl of Desmond, Justiciar of
Ireland, and Viceroy of Ireland during the last year of his life. (succeeding
Rokey) Died in 1336
Maurices father died while Maurice was strill a child, and left his vast
Estates in Munster, second only to those of the DeBurghs, among the Anglo
Irish Nocility, to be protected by royal nominees. In 1329, Maurice was
created the first Earl of Desmond, and received a grant of the County Palatine
of Kerry, with royal liberties theirin to be held of the English Crown.
At the same time he received the grant of advowson of Dungarvan. Desmond
was married three times His first wife was Catherine DeBurgh; she was the
mother of Maurice and John the 2nd and 3rd Earls of Desmond, respectively.
She died in 1331. his 2nd wife was Evelina, daughter of the Lord of Kerry.
She was the mothe of Gerald FitzGerald, the 4th Earl of Desmond, called
Gerald the Poet. His third wife was Margarert Obrien, daughter of the
Prince of Thomond. ( No issue mentioned)
Gerald FitzGerald, was the 4th Edarl of desmond, and Justiciar of Ireland.
He was the son of the 1st Earl by his 2nd wife Evelina.He had several wars
with neighboring tribes but the Irish Annalists are enthusiastic in his
praise as a man of peace. The Four Masters describe him as a cheerful and
courteous man, who excelled all the English and many of the Irish in the
knowledge of the Irish language, poetry, and history.
He was a man of culture and refinement, wrote poetry and was called Gerald
the Poet. (Some of his verses survived, which is evidence of merit) His
wife was Elinor Butler, daughter of James Butler, Earl of Ormond., she
is described as a beautiful and charitable woman. (died 1395)

They had several sons; the eldest son John, the 5th Earl of Desmond, according
to the ordinary reckoning, was drowned in a river a few months after his
Fathers death. The next son Maurice, died without male issue in 1410.
Thomas, the 6th Earl of Desmond was the son of John, the 5th Earl; but
James, the OBrien foster-son, usurped the Elderdom from Thomas.
(Reference: Irish Annals by the Four Masters. Dictionary of National Biography)

Origin of Adair Name

Adair was a place in the County of Limerick in Ireland. It is derived from
the Celtic and Gaelic, Ath: a ford; and Dair, or Dara: the oak tree. So
literally it means the Ford of the Oak tree and is anglicized ADAIR.
..Henry Harrison in his dictionary of Surnames of the United Kingdom defines
the name Adair as a dweller at the Ford of the Oaks.
Mark Anthony Lower, in Patronymic Britannica, a Dictionary of Family Names
of the United Kingdom thus defines the name Adair: A branch of the Great
Anglo-Hibernian family of Fitz-Geralds, settled in County LIMERICK, and
thus aquired the local surname.

In the 14th Century, Robert FitzGerald de Adair, in consequence of family
feuds, removed to Galloway, Scotland, and dropping his patronomical designation,
wrote himself Adair.

In the time of Charles I, the senior branch of the family transferred themselves
to County Antrim, Ireland.

There are several versions of a tradition in different branches of the
Adair Family, attempting to explain the origin of the family and the name.
The facts of the origin, we have just quoted from the best authorities,
but the circumstances and details of the origin we must cull and sift out
from traditions. I.e. oral history handed down by word of mouth from parents
to children, which thereby suffers variations and admixture of fiction.
Tradition contains an element of truth, mixed with fiction and differs
from authentic history in degree only, as it i.e. authentic history is
part truth embellished with fiction by the author or compiler.
The most plausible tradition we have seen is contained in the book Derivation
of Names, by Rev Wm Arthur. It runs as follows:
Thomas, the 6th Earl of Desmond, while on a hunting excursion, was benighted
and lost his way, between Farlee and Newcastle in the county of Limerick
in Ireland, where he was hospitably received and entertained by one William
McCormick, whose daughter, Catherine, he subsequently married. At this
alliance, his family and clan took umbrage. Resigning his title and estate
to his younger brother(History says his uncle James, the OBrien foster
son usurped the title and estate) he fled to France, in 1418, and died
of grief at Ruen two years afterward. The king of England attended his
funeral. He had issue, Maurice, and John. Robert, the son of Maurice, returned
to Ireland with hope of regaining the title and estate of Thomas, his grandfather.
He slew Gerald, the White Knight, in single combat, at Athdara, hence he
received the name Adair. He embarked for Scotland, where he married Arabella
Campbell, daughter of the Lord of Argyle.
Now, let us analyze this tradition and determine what is truth and what
is fiction.
1stRobert was a FitzGerald. All the authorities and traditions agree on
that,
2ndRobert was not the grandson of Thomas, the 6th Earl of Desmond. He,
the
6th Earls grandson, was born a hundred years to late for that. It was
1418 that Thomas, the 6th Earl, resigned and went tro France. And it must
have been 1450 or 1460 that his Grandson was born, and could not have been
a mature man before 1475 or 1480. Now, Robert Adair was married and settled
in Galloway, Scotland about 1388, and had grown sons in 1426. (See History
of Lands and their Owners in Galloway, by Mckerlie) All that we know is
that Robert was a younger son.
3rdRobert fought a duel with a kinsman at Athdara, according to authorities,
and slew his antagonist according to Heraldry. The Adair Coat of Arms proves
it., with its crest of a mans head, couped and distilling drops of blood.
It was on account of this duel that Robert migrated to Scoytland. This
was during the 1480s.
4thThe circumstances collaborate Robert Adairs marriage to a daughter
of the noble house of Argyle, Arabella, the bride, is an Argyle name, and
so is Neigello, his oldest sons name."

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