Barrett - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Bairéid
Meaning: Norman, possibly “dispute”
Traditional stronghold: Cork, Mayo
Pronunciation: BARR-ett; Irish Baróid (Cork) / Bairéid (Mayo): bah-RODE / bah-RAYD
History of the Barrett name
Barrett is one of the great Norman names of Ireland, borne by families who arrived with the twelfth-century invasion and formed two entirely separate groups. The Barretts of Tirawley in north Mayo, Bairéid in Irish, became so thoroughly Gaelicised that they adopted Brehon customs and fought long feuds with the Burkes; the barony of Tirawley was studded with their strongholds. The southern Barretts, Baróid, settled west of Cork city, where the barony of Barretts still bears their name. Both branches came to be counted among the 'Old English who became more Irish than the Irish themselves', and the name is today most common in Cork and Mayo.
Variants: Barratt · Barret · Baróid · Bairéid
Famous bearers of the name
- Michael Barrett - Fenian who in 1868 became the last man publicly hanged in England.
- Richard Barrett - Cork anti-Treaty republican executed in 1922 during the Civil War.
- Colin Barrett - Mayo writer whose story collection Young Skins won international acclaim.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: Murphy · O'Sullivan · Walsh · McCarthy · Daly · Burke · Collins · Flynn