{"id":2396,"date":"2025-12-23T00:16:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T00:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/galwaycivictrust.ie\/?page_id=2396"},"modified":"2026-03-10T01:08:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T01:08:50","slug":"tribes-of-galway-darcy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/galwaycivictrust.ie\/index.php\/tribes-of-galway\/tribes-of-galway-darcy\/","title":{"rendered":"Tribes of Galway – Darcy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Motto<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span>: Un Dieu, un Roy (One God, One King)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The D\u2019Arcy family of Galway claim descent from French nobility near Paris, originally taking the name from Ch\u00e2teau d\u2019Arcie. They came to England with William the Conqueror, and Sir John D’Arcy was appointed Justiciar of Ireland in 1323. There were Normans with the name who settled in Leinster. However, the Connacht antecedents of the Galway D\u2019Arcy tribe were the O\u2019Dorchaidhe of Partry, Co. Mayo.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The earliest reference to the family in the Galway city records occurs in 1578 when \u2018James Dorsey\u2019 was bailiff. From him descended the family which became noted in Galway. James Riabhach D\u2019Arcy consolidated the Galway branch during Elizabeth I\u2019s reign, when the family moved into Galway\u2019s upper ranks enabled through marriages, property acquisition, and changing from Catholic to Protestant. Distinguished for political influence and trade, their residences included Kiltullagh and Newforest.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Martin Darcy was the second of the seven sons of James Riabhach Darcy (d.1603), who was vice-president of Connacht in Elizabethan times. <\/span><\/span>The mansion house of Martin Dorsi, citizen, <\/b><\/span><\/span>was one of the fourteen eminent private houses listed on the mid-seventeenth century Galway city map. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Pictorial Map clearly depicts his house as a tower within a courtyard, in the Galway manner. It was fronted by an elaborately decorated doorway dated 1624, which was transferred to the Sisters of Mercy convent in the mid-19th century. Apart from the doorway which is still extant, no visible remains of the castle have survived on site. (Marked as <\/span><\/span>a <\/b><\/span><\/span>on the map)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The house of James Riabhach Darcy <\/span><\/span>was also on A<\/span><\/span><\/span>bbeygate St Upper, roughly where \u2018Electric\u2019 nightclub now stands.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The other noted seats of the D\u2019Arcy family were at Kiltullagh and Newforest in Co Galway, but their most remarkable achievement was the building of the new town in the county, Clifden. This town was established after the Napoleonic wars and is the capital of Connemara. It was established by John D\u2019Arcy of Kiltullagh.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

1651 Map<\/strong>: https:\/\/galwaycivictrust.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Cantec_Scan-of-1651-map.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Sources Consulted<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Books<\/b><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

Dargan, Pat, Galway \u2013 City of Heritage<\/i>, Eastwood Books, Dublin, 2024<\/span><\/p>\n

Dowd, Peadar, \u201cA Family Heritage in Stone\u201d, Galway Roots- Journal of the Galway Family History Society West<\/i>, Summer 1993, (pp6-8)<\/span><\/p>\n

Hardiman, James, Hardiman\u2019s History of Galway,<\/i> 1820 (reprint, Connacht Tribune 1985)<\/span><\/p>\n

Larkin, Patrick \u201cSOME TOWN CASTLES OF GALWAY.\u201dJournal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society<\/i> 72 (2020): 157\u201372. <\/span><\/p>\n

Martyn Adrian, The Tribes Of Galway; 1124- 1642<\/i>, Galway; Adrian Martyn, 2016<\/span><\/p>\n

O\u2019Neill T.P., The Tribes and other Galway families<\/i>, (1984), reprint, Galway Civic Trust, 2013<\/span><\/p>\n

Prunty, Jacinta; Walsh, Paul, Galway- Irish Historic Town Atlas No 28<\/i>, Royal Irish Academy, 2016<\/span><\/p>\n

Walsh, Paul, Renaissance Galway- Delineating the Seventeenth Century City<\/i>, Royal Irish Academy, 2019<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h1>\n

Internet<\/b><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome to County Galway Guide, \u2018\u2019Tribes of Galway\u201d, (2007), https:\/\/www.galway-ireland.ie\/galway-tribes.htm<\/a><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.houseofnames.com\/<\/a><\/u><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Motto: Un Dieu, un Roy (One God, One King) The D\u2019Arcy family of Galway claim descent from French nobility near Paris, originally taking the name from Ch\u00e2teau d\u2019Arcie. They came to England with William the Conqueror, and Sir John D’Arcy was appointed Justiciar of Ireland in 1323. There were Normans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2374,"parent":2281,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2396","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nTribes of Galway - Darcy - Galway Civic Trust - D\u00fachas Na Gaillimhe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/galwaycivictrust.ie\/index.php\/tribes-of-galway\/tribes-of-galway-darcy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tribes of Galway - Darcy - Galway Civic Trust - D\u00fachas Na Gaillimhe\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Motto: Un Dieu, un Roy (One God, One King) The D\u2019Arcy family of Galway claim descent from French nobility near Paris, originally taking the name from Ch\u00e2teau d\u2019Arcie. 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