Fitzpatrick Irish Family Gifts & Heritage

Fitzpatrick comes from the Irish Mac Giolla Phádraig, “son of the servant of Patrick,” a name taken from Giolla Phádraig, a tenth-century lord of Ossory. His descendants ruled a kingdom that once took in nearly all of County Kilkenny and part of Laois. After the Anglo-Norman invasion the Butlers and other settlers pressed the family back into Upper Ossory, and there the Mac Giolla Phádraig chiefs held firm in what is now County Laois.

In 1541 Brian Mac Giolla Phádraig was created Baron of Upper Ossory by Henry VIII, and the family entered English records as FitzPatrick, a Norman-sounding form for a thoroughly Gaelic line. His son Barnaby grew up at the Tudor court as a companion of the young Edward VI. A later Brian Mac Giolla Phádraig, a Laois priest and poet, copied the great bardic collection known as the Leabhar Branach. Branches of the family also settled in Clare, Cavan and Leitrim.

The range carries the name in Fitzpatrick, FitzPatrick and Fitz-Patrick spellings. Wrap up in a woven blanket or a soft printed throw on the Irish National Tartan, pour a brew into the heritage mug, fly the garden flag or hang the framed Christmas ornament, and wear the Celtic harp T-shirt. Read the full Fitzpatrick surname history.