Purcell - Irish Surname Origin & Meaning
Irish form: Puirséil
Meaning: Norman - “little pig”
Traditional stronghold: Kilkenny, Tipperary
Pronunciation: PUR-sul (in Ireland often pur-SELL); Irish Puirséil: poor-SHAYL
History of the Purcell name
Purcell is an Anglo-Norman name from the Old French porcel, meaning piglet, which arrived in Ireland with the twelfth-century invasion. The family settled principally in the Ormond territories of Tipperary and Kilkenny under the patronage of the Butlers, and their chief seat was Loughmoe Castle near Templemore, whose heads bore the courtesy title Baron of Loughmoe. Thoroughly hibernicised, the Purcells fought on the Irish Catholic side in the seventeenth-century wars and lost heavily under the Cromwellian and Williamite confiscations, with several taking service in continental armies. The name remains most common in Tipperary, Kilkenny and Waterford.
Variants: Pursell · Purcill · Purser
Famous bearers of the name
- Seán Purcell - Galway Gaelic footballer known as the Master, regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.
- Noel Purcell - Dublin character actor of stage and screen, seen in Moby Dick and Mutiny on the Bounty.
- Henry Purcell - The great English baroque composer, whose surname shares the same Norman origin as the Irish family.
Related names from the same part of Ireland: O'Brien · Ryan · Walsh · Kennedy · Brennan · Fitzpatrick · Carroll · Hogan