Motto: Crom aboo. (Crom Victorious)
The Bodkins trace their lineage to Maurice Fitzgerald, a companion of Strongbow. Thomas FitzRichard, a descendant, is said to have earned the surname “Bodkin” after defeating an Irish knight using a short spear (or baudekin). By the 14th century, the family held substantial estates in Galway and Athenry. A prominent branch included Susannah Athy, who married into the Bodkin family, linking them to the Athys. Key residences included Castletown, Kilcloony, and Thomastown.
In 1421, Walter, son of Richard Bawdekyn, clerk of Galway, was granted the islands called ‘Bushe-yland’ and ‘Gote-yland’ of the town of Galway. In the mid-seventeenth century map of the city, Bawdekyn’s Lane is shown running from Lombard St to the river near to the present day St Patrick’s school. (Marked as 66 on the map). The lane had been built over by 1944.
In the early 19th century the family seats were at Annagh, Carrowbeg, Castletown and Kilclooney in Co. Galway.
1651 Map: https://galwaycivictrust.ie/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Cantec_Scan-of-1651-map.pdf
Sources Consulted
Books
Dargan, Pat, Galway – City of Heritage, Eastwood Books, Dublin, 2024
Dowd, Peadar, “A Family Heritage in Stone”, Galway Roots- Journal of the Galway Family History Society West, Summer 1993, (pp6-8)
Hardiman, James, Hardiman’s History of Galway, 1820 (reprint, Connacht Tribune 1985)
Larkin, Patrick “SOME TOWN CASTLES OF GALWAY.”Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society 72 (2020): 157–72.
Martyn Adrian, The Tribes Of Galway; 1124- 1642, Galway; Adrian Martyn, 2016
O’Neill T.P., The Tribes and other Galway families, (1984), reprint, Galway Civic Trust, 2013
Prunty, Jacinta; Walsh, Paul, Galway- Irish Historic Town Atlas No 28, Royal Irish Academy, 2016
Walsh, Paul, Renaissance Galway- Delineating the Seventeenth Century City, Royal Irish Academy, 2019
Internet
Welcome to County Galway Guide, ‘’Tribes of Galway”, (2007), https://www.galway-ireland.ie/galway-tribes.htm
