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Archiver > IRELAND > 2000-03 > 0954532288


From: John Caughey <>
Subject: Richey,Caldwell, Richardson, Ritchie
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 20:51:28 +0100
In-Reply-To: <005b01bf945f$8d625920$59e533cf@default>


In message <005b01bf945f$8d625920$>, Calvin and
ElizabethFreeman <> writes
>
>I am researching the Richey and Caldwell families of Ulster. Could please
>check your Ulster book these surnames?

CALDWELL: Ulster Caldwells can be of English, Scottish or Irish descent.
The name itself is territorial in origin: if Scottish, from the lands of
the name in Renfrewshire; if English, from any one of a number of places
so called. It means 'cold spring' or 'cold stream', from the Old English
ceald wielle. The name was common in Edinburgh in the 17th century.

But Caldwell was also used as an anglicisation for Ulster Gaelic names.
The Horish or Houriskey family of Tyrone, Gaelic 'O'hUaruisce',
anglicised their name to Caldwell in the mistaken notion that the Gaelic
word for 'water', uisce, was part of the name (see Watters). The
Colavins and Cullivans of Co. Cavan, Gaelic 'Mac Conluain', also adopted
the name Caldwell.

Castle Caldwell, the home of the Caldwells of Fermanagh, was purchased
from the Blennerhassets in 1670 by Sir James Caldwell, son of the
Enniskillen merchant John Caldwell (originally of Ayrshire). The family
took a prominent part in the Williamite defence of Erne and Donegal in
1689 and 1690.
The name is now common in counties Antrim Derry and Tyrone.

RICHARDSON, (also Richey, Ritchie)
Richardson in Ireland is most common in Dublin and Ulster. In the latter
it is most numerous in Co. Antrim. Ritchie is also most common in Co.
Antrim and is, exclusive to Ulster.

The personal name Richard derives ultimately from the Old German Ricard,
meaning 'powerful-brave', and was one of the most popular names
introduced by the Normans into England. There, in the forms Richardson
and Richards, it quickly became a surname. Richardson was also common in
Scotland. It was first recorded in Lanarkshire c. 1315.

One Ulster family of Richardson in Co. Armagh came from Worcestershire
in the 17th century. John Grubb Richardson, 1813090, was a liberal linen
manufacturer, interested in the welfare of workers. He founded the model
village of Bessbrook in Co. Armagh, his work and interest carried on by
his son James Nicholson Richardson, 1846-1921, Liberal MP for Co.
Armagh.Another family with estates in counties Tyrone, Monaghan and
Cavan, came from Norfolk in the 16th century.

In Scotland Richard was often made in pet form Richie, later Ritchie,
and as a surname this became common in the Highland Border area. The
Ritchies and MacRitchies were a sept of Clan Mackintosh, being a branch
of the Mackintoshes of Dalmunzie, among whom Richard was a popular name.
MacRitchie was first recorded in Scotland in 1571 in Glenshee in
Perthshire. The name was first noted in Ulster in the 16th century, in
counties Antrim and Down.

William Ritchie, a shipbuilder from Saltcoats in Ayrshire, moved to
Belfast in 1791 and opened a shipyard at the Old Lime Kiln dock and
played an active role in the growth of the city's shipbuilding industry.

Source: 'The Book of Ulster Surnames'.

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