The Origins of the Irish Wemyss
The Irish Ancestors?
The following Wemyss’ are sometimes put forward as the direct ancestor of
the Irish Wemyss
1.Sir Patrick Wemyss who was born near Fife, Scotland in the early 1600’and came
to Danesfort in Co. Kilkenny in 1632 and died there in 1666 is the one most often
mentioned. (Available records indicate that this line died out)
2.Sir John Wemyss of Logie who was murdered in Clogher by a servant of the
Bishop of Clogher in 1628. (Available records indicate that the male line died out)
3.It has been suggested that the name came with the followers of Robert Bruce in the
mid 1300’s, and it is well documented in Scotland that the Wemyss family were loyal
to Bruce. (This is the most probable option according to genealogists)
4.John Wemyss who was the grandson of Sir James Wemyss of Bogie is also
mentioned as a potential ancestor of the name in Ireland. According to Sir Robert
Douglas ‘Baronage of Scotland’ (1798) page 561. Sir James had had one surviving
son also named James and he married Margaret Durie, they also had one surviving
son John who became an officer in the army and ‘having acquired a considerable
fortune settled in Ireland where his posterity still remains and makes a good figure’.
Sir John Wemyss-Kessler who is regarded as an authority on the family also advances
this theory in his book: The House of Wemyss - A Thousand-Year History. T
(There is no evidence in any Irish records to support any of this suggestion.)
5.In ‘The Surnames of Ireland’ by Edward Mac Lysagh the following is stated:
Weymes: This and Wymes are forms of the Scottish toponymic Wemyss
found in Leinster as early as the fourteenth century. The variants Wims,
Wyms and Wymbs are extant in north Connacht.
(This supports the theory of 3. above)
6.There is also a theory that the name came with Scottish settlers who came to the
Ulster during the Plantation and indeed the surname is listed as Wims in the names of
planters in county Down. (However there are records of the name in Ireland before
the Plantation)
Perhaps some day a verifiable link will be established and the speculation will
end.
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