Distribution of the Freeman Surname
The Freeman surname appears in 28 of the 32 counties across Ireland as recorded by the Griffith Valuation, a comprehensive post famine listing of rental holdings which was taken between 1847 and 1864. The entries that concern the Freeman-Seery Y DNA Project appear in the north-eastern corner of the County Mayo, at a point where County Roscommon and County Sligo meet, the Connaught Cluster. Here there is the largest single concentration of the surname found in the whole of Ireland, 52 individuals within a 25 km radius (see figure 1). Within the cluster are 2 civil parishes that contain the highest numbers, namely Aghamore with 14 individuals and Tibohine with 10 (Tibohine civil parish comprises of the 2 Catholic Parishes of Loughglynn & Tibohine). The two red dots show the locations of mine and my first matches earliest Freeman ancestors.
The Connaught Cluster
This high concentration within the 2 adjacent parishes is possibly indicative that the Freeman arrival in the area was a relatively recent event. Imagine a stone being thrown into a pond. Initially there would be a great amount of movement of the water at the centre with the rings of ripples not reaching out so far. Over time the centre settles down and the rings would radiate out across a wider area. If this is the case it naturally leads to the question, where did they originally come from?
Continue reading: What’s in a name?