Monasteries – overview from The Monasticon, continued.

THE MOTTE OF URR, Nr. DALBEATTIE, DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY, SCOTLAND A 12th century `motte and bailey ` construction – a fortified area, built on rising ground with earthworks creating a deep and wide ditch around it, is on the outskirts of Dalbeattie. The buildings on the mound and the fence round it would have been […]

The English Reformation ( ca 1300 -1603). Index Opinion  varies as to the timing of the Reformation in England, but  I have commenced in the period leading up to the reign of Richard II  ( r 1377-1399) when the medieval Catholic Church of Rome was at the height of its influence, and the `objectionable excesses` […]

The movement to and from Ireland and subsequent emigration to the Colonies, including North America, West Indies, Australia and New Zealand. A small but important point to remember is that until the Revolutionary War and the creation of the United States of America in 1776, the whole of north America – the US and Canada, […]

Crimes and sufferings of the Scottish Clergy from 1560 – 1690 Cited as an appendix in Hewisons The Covenanters Vol.1 (1908)   1560-1638 1638-1660 1660-1690 Executed 2 2 8 (laity 197) Murdered 2 4 2 Killed 1 2 3 Imprisoned 31 21 78 Banished or made fugitive 18 13 17 Deposed 35 126 46 Deprived […]

WILLIAM ORR of Farranshane, Co. Antrim. Irish Patriot. THE FIRST VICTIM “They led him forth from his prison cell! They swung him high on the gallows tree And the people wept as the brave man died- Died for his faith and counterie.”- Old Ballad William Orr was the son of a farmer and bleach-green proprietor, […]

The Honourable Judge Smith Orr – Orrville, Wayne Co., Ohio Many emigrants and adventurers were not only fleeing poverty, or religious and social persecution, but they were enticed by the thought of a better life and free or exceedingly cheap land. To many anything was better than the environment from which they came; they were […]

Claims to Fame Canada Bobby  Orr – Canadian Ice Hockey player.  What more can be said about `the greatest ice hockey player of all time` See more at dedicated sites on the web [ Google ]    Wesley Fletcher Orr, 1831-1898. Mayor of Calgary. Wesley Fletcher Orr was born in Lachute, Quebec and married Priscilla […]

Hugh Orr of Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire and Massachusetts, USA. Hugh Orr was born in the small town of Lochwinnoch in Renfrewshire on 13 January 1717. His Father Robert was a maltster, meaning he made beer and probably operated a public house. His mother was Margaret and possibly also with the maiden name Orr. Lochwinnoch was for […]

THE IRISHMAN by James Orr, The Bard of Ballycarry.  Tune — “Vive La. “ THE savage loves his native shore, Though rude the soil and chill the air; Well then may Erin’s sons adore Their isle, which Nature formed so fair! What flood reflects a shore so sweet, As Shannon great, or past’ral Bann? Or […]

Claims to Fame We all like to think there is someone famous in our ancestry, and in the broader family there some Orrs worthy of comment. Here are a few I have come across so far. If you have any to add do please get in touch. Congressional Medal of Honour. The following are the […]

An opinion about the Origin of the Campbell Name. An extract from the Montgomery Manuscripts (Rev. Geo Hill 1869). p443 ” Some have been surnamed from a remarkable part of their face which has stuck to ye Posterity of ye Eminent Person who was first designed soe, as ye Campbells from one who had a […]

Orrs who gave their lives  in World War I and their Regiments Irish Regiments. They served with the Royal Irish Rifles, the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers , the Royal Ulster Rifles, and The Irish Guards. It is noteworthy that a number of those killed were amongst the first to join up as gauged by their low serial […]

Rev. Henry Duncan Minister at Ruthwell Moderator of the Church of Scotland  The Rev. Henry Duncan (1774 – 1846) would have earned a place in history even without his efforts to save the Ruthwell Cross. He was also a leading geologist, antiquarian and an accomplished artist. He was the discoverer of the first fossil footprints […]