Colour: Gules (Red) Warrior, Martyr, Military Strength.
Swan: A musical person, poetry, harmony
In Ireland the Swan was regarded as the bird that bore the spirit of a dead Celtic Chieftain sway to the next life.
Irish History – SINNOTT Family
The Sinnotts were noted for being the most prolific of the Norman families of Wexford and they still maintain their numerical strength in the county. The name appears as Sinod in the 1096 Domesday Book of England. An account of the Barony of Forth, written around 1680, states: ‘There are many distinct families of Sinnott, in number exceeding any other ancient name, whose estates were valuable before the late tyrannical usurpation’ (an allusion to the Cromwellian upheaval).
They are further described as ‘producing men remarkable for school learning and persons endowed with heroic spirits and martially disposed minds, vigorously active in their constantly loyal affections to the Crown of England.’
The Sinnotts first settled at Ballybrennan, close to the present village of Killinick, on the main Wexford-Rosslare road. Here they built their chief castle and remained until dispossessed in the Cromwellian confiscations. The castle is long gone, but part of its walls is incorporated into the present large dwelling house at the site. The early Norman Sinnotts were also granted extensive lands in the Barony of Shelmalier East, including the present parish of Castlebridge, which became known as Sinnottsland.
They also held the manor of Rosegarland in the parish of Clongeen, barony of Shelmalier West, until Marcus Sinnott forfeited it to Robert Leigh in the Cromwellian share-out. Rosegarland is still occupied by a descendant of Robert Leigh.
I read this book many years ago (and it is also published as Sword and Blossom). https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Falling_Blossom.html?id=zt1tAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y
There is an army office by the name of Hart-Synnot. English-Irish. He comes from five generations of military men. As you would be aware in Ireland’s gentleman class, the eldest son inherited the land, the second got a military commission, the third became a religious minister – (anyway, something along those lines). I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you followed the ancestral line, it would eventually bump in to this SINNOTT family.
That is interesting. The military service aspect does run in the family for many generations.
Hey, thank you for this information. I hail from Miles and Ellen Sinnott, by way of their daughter Eleanor, who married Philip O’Connor and had James O’Connor (1813 Wexford), my great, great grandfather. I hope to visit Wexford some day and see if I can find some family. All the best.
Thanks for stopping-by on this site. I have visited Wexford and you will be surprised at the amount of history and Sinnott names you will find in the region.