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Monaghan / The Forsters of Counties Fermanagh, Cavan and Monaghan
« on: Wednesday 18 October 17 01:11 BST (UK) »
I'm looking to find some information about the Forster families who seem to have been particularly clustered around Counties Fermanagh, Monaghan and Cavan!
I've become intrigued since reading that Forster is not a surname native to Northern Ireland, despite ancestors of mine from the County Monaghan area having this surname. A large amount of evidence points towards the Forsters being one of many families that were moved over during the Plantation Of Ulster. However, I was wondering whether anybody knows what region the Forsters came from originally? I'd be curious to know whether my ancestors were rooted in England or Scotland. I believe it may be possible to get a clear answer to this, as there seems to have been a consistent pattern of migration the Forsters who went to Ulster followed?
Research has led me to a few different possibilities. It seems that Clan Forrester were one of the Scottish clans moved during the Plantations, and Forster was an eventual shortening of this surname (from what I've gathered, the same applies to Foster). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Forrester
At the same time, I've found a lot mentioning that the Forster surname was very common around Northumberland and County Durham, which also moved out a large amount of people during the Plantations. Wikipedia's Border Reivers page even notes that England had a Clan Forster in the East March. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Reivers#Border_surnames_and_clan_status
Other sources have continued to state that Ulster's Forster community seemed particularly strong around Counties Fermanagh, Monaghan and Cavan, and my ancestors are no exception to this as this was where they were settled. Here, it says that region had the highest concentration of families with that surname in the 19th Century. https://www.johngrenham.com/surnamescode/grogeochart_full.php?surname=Forster&search_type=full
I found numerous interesting posts from this person some years ago, which certainly suggest that he extensively researched the Forsters in this area and found a correlation between Fermanagh, Monaghan and maybe also Cavan being where they predominantly settled.
"I have several Forsters married Storeys at Clones, Co. Monaghan which borders the Currin/Killeevan/Aghabog Parishes. These names like Forster / Storey / Bell / Crozier / Armstrong / Johnston etc all originated in the English / Scottish Border Region and moved to Ireland at about the same time - they are particularly prominent in Monaghan & Cavan which is where I originated."
https://www.ancestry.ca/boards/surnames.forster/77.1.1.1/mb.ashx
http://newsarch.rootsweb.com/th/read/IRL-MONAGHAN/2005-03/1111065005
Adding some confusion into the mix is a separate claim on this website, which also documents the movements of the Foster and Forster families to Ireland, stating that another branch of this family came from Edinburgh originally. "The Forsters in Fermanagh, by contrast, came originally from Scotland. John Forster of Edinburgh was one of the original Scottish "undertakers" granted land in Ulster." http://www.fostername.com/sussex.htm
If anybody has researched the origins of the Forsters in this region in detail, it would be great to have some light shed on their history. Thankyou!
I've become intrigued since reading that Forster is not a surname native to Northern Ireland, despite ancestors of mine from the County Monaghan area having this surname. A large amount of evidence points towards the Forsters being one of many families that were moved over during the Plantation Of Ulster. However, I was wondering whether anybody knows what region the Forsters came from originally? I'd be curious to know whether my ancestors were rooted in England or Scotland. I believe it may be possible to get a clear answer to this, as there seems to have been a consistent pattern of migration the Forsters who went to Ulster followed?
Research has led me to a few different possibilities. It seems that Clan Forrester were one of the Scottish clans moved during the Plantations, and Forster was an eventual shortening of this surname (from what I've gathered, the same applies to Foster). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Forrester
At the same time, I've found a lot mentioning that the Forster surname was very common around Northumberland and County Durham, which also moved out a large amount of people during the Plantations. Wikipedia's Border Reivers page even notes that England had a Clan Forster in the East March. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Reivers#Border_surnames_and_clan_status
Other sources have continued to state that Ulster's Forster community seemed particularly strong around Counties Fermanagh, Monaghan and Cavan, and my ancestors are no exception to this as this was where they were settled. Here, it says that region had the highest concentration of families with that surname in the 19th Century. https://www.johngrenham.com/surnamescode/grogeochart_full.php?surname=Forster&search_type=full
I found numerous interesting posts from this person some years ago, which certainly suggest that he extensively researched the Forsters in this area and found a correlation between Fermanagh, Monaghan and maybe also Cavan being where they predominantly settled.
"I have several Forsters married Storeys at Clones, Co. Monaghan which borders the Currin/Killeevan/Aghabog Parishes. These names like Forster / Storey / Bell / Crozier / Armstrong / Johnston etc all originated in the English / Scottish Border Region and moved to Ireland at about the same time - they are particularly prominent in Monaghan & Cavan which is where I originated."
https://www.ancestry.ca/boards/surnames.forster/77.1.1.1/mb.ashx
http://newsarch.rootsweb.com/th/read/IRL-MONAGHAN/2005-03/1111065005
Adding some confusion into the mix is a separate claim on this website, which also documents the movements of the Foster and Forster families to Ireland, stating that another branch of this family came from Edinburgh originally. "The Forsters in Fermanagh, by contrast, came originally from Scotland. John Forster of Edinburgh was one of the original Scottish "undertakers" granted land in Ulster." http://www.fostername.com/sussex.htm
If anybody has researched the origins of the Forsters in this region in detail, it would be great to have some light shed on their history. Thankyou!