Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Irish Counties and The Jones Surname

From Latin and Norman French, English was first written in the legal records of Ireland in the city of Waterford, 1365.  [Kilkenney 1434, Dublin 1450's, and Galway 1485 ]  From this English language, the Jones surname appears.

The figure below shows the counties in Ireland that had recorded a Jones family with a coat of arms before 1840.  These arms were recorded in Burke, 1884 edition,  pp.548 - 549.

Dublin had eight families, with Meath and Kildare having two Jones families.  Wrexford, Sligo, Leithrim, and Londonderry had one each.  The earliest JONES is "Sir Roger Jones, knighted at Drogheds, 24 March 1606".  These Irish counties would be the first to begin the JONES surname.

This research is from my own documents [RN # 23, RN # 88].  There is much to be learned regarding the Irish Jones families.  Any Irish JONES families out there?  Please post...:-).

For an outline of this research see tgjresearchnotebooks.blogspot.com. 

8 comments:

  1. Could that also be JOINES. That is my mothers maiden name, or would it be Welsh?

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  2. Hello Kim...the spelling of JONES has been written in various ways over the years...also Joynes...Johnes...Johannes...and many other forms...was your mother Irish?

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  3. Hi there. I have enjoyed reading your blog as I am in the middle of my own family research, primarily of the Jones of Wicklow and Carlow going back 7 generations with many 1st names repeated including John. the earliest John Jones in my family was born in 1731, marrage and land deed document him in Carlow in 1769 and dying in 1830. His grave is mentioned in a book by Robert Leech written in 1833 and is still legible. His wife also lived to the ripe age of 98. I don't know where this earliest Jones was born but anecdotal evidence would suggest possibly Dublin, but it's going to be fun proving this.

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    1. Nigel

      By any chance have you also got a Harriet Sophia Jones, Susan or Edward Jones in your tree? From Holdenstown, Baltinglass in Wicklow. I've subsequently been told that Susan died 1847 and buried in COI graveyard in Rathvilly.

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  4. Hi Nigel...how are things going in your JONES surname tree climbing around Dublin?

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  5. Hi
    Hope this thread is still open, I am a direct descendant of the Sir Roger Jones mentioned above. He was son of Griffith (from Ruthin or llantysilio perhaps). Originally an Elizabethan soldier who fought at the battle of Kinsale (1601) which effectively ended the powers of the Gaelic Chieftains and paved the way for the Anglo plantations of North and North West of Ireland. He was charged with controlling Sligo where he became the first Provost and established the first Corporation (council). He became exceptionally wealthy and later was requested to establish an Anglo presence in Killybegs (Co Donegal). He left monies in his Will to build St Johns Cathedral in Sligo and a bridge at Benada where I reside. If anyone could throw any light on Griffith or indeed Roger regarding their Welsh ancestry please contact me

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  6. Hello..I am a Jones from Galway Bay. From my fathers side. My maiden name is Jones. thanks for this site

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  7. Hi. My great grandmother was Harriet Sophia Jones born in the 1840s in Baltinglass, Wicklow, daughter of John and Susan Jones, Holdenstown. I'm told she had 2 brothers John and Edward Jones.She converted from Church of Ireland to Catholicism in the 1860's to marry John Pepper/Peppard.

    I've hit a brick wall and would love someone to through some light on this.

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