Bissett family (Ireland)
| Mac Eoin Bissett | |
|---|---|
.svg) Armorial of Bissett |
|
| Country | Gaelic Ireland |
| Parent house | Bissett family |
| Titles |
|
| Founded | 13th century |
| Founder | John Byset the Elder |
| Dissolution | 16th century |
The history of the Bissett family in Ireland can be studied independently from that of the originally identical family in Scotland, because of their unique experience following their arrival in Ulster in the early or mid-13th century. Here, while still remaining involved in Scottish affairs, the Bissetts would establish themselves as the Lords of the Glens of Antrim and quickly become equally, then eventually more involved in the politics of the Irish province, becoming among the most Gaelicised of all the so-called Anglo-Norman families in Ireland. The heads of the leading branch of the family soon adopted the Gaelic lineage style Mac Eoin Bissett (of the Glens), by which they are known in the Irish annals, and which translates as "Son/Descendant of John Byset", after a prominent ancestor born in Scotland. In a number of English and Anglo-Norman sources the same head of the family is referred to as the Baron Bissett, also with variants.
This family style or title eventually split, in a manner, to provide both the modern County Antrim surname Mac Eoin, anglicised McKeon/McKeown, and the surname Bissett itself (in Ireland), the latter not easily distinguishable from the typically Scottish Bisset, for which the doubling of the final -t-, the typical practice in Ireland from the 16th century, has become more common in modern times. In the Irish language Bissett is usually written Bised (Biseid).
Precisely when John Byset arrived with his family from Scotland is unknown, but he appears in the (surviving) English documents relating to Ireland in 1245, when Henry III of England orders 50 marks to be given out of the treasury to him as a gift. Byset's activities from then on can only be guessed from the short description of his career in Ireland offered by the terse Annals of Ulster, reporting his death twelve years later in 1257. This entry at least proves that he had established himself prominently in the region with fire and sword:
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