Origin of the Name
The Gaelic origin of McMurtrey,
McMurtray, McMurtery and MacMurtrie is Mac Muircheartaigh (son
of Murtagh) with Muir meaning “sea” and
cheartaigh meaning “navigator”. Hence, Muircheartaigh
translates to “sea navigator”.
Muircheartach
(nominative) and Muircheartaigh (genetive) are names seen
through hundreds of years of Irish and Scottish history with a
number of Irish kings bearing the name.
Dr. Edward
MacLysaght, author of
Irish Families: Their Names, Arms,
and Origins,
says 'MacMurty
has been confused with MacMurtrie which is a sept of the
Scottish clan Stuart of Bute. MacMurtry and MacMurtry are found
in Antrim.'
Reverend
Patrick Woulfe, author of Irish Names and Surnames,
points to MacMurtry as indigenous Irish. However, he also
writes that this distinctly Irish MacMurtry (and MacMurty) have
been largely overshadowed by the families who brought the name
to Ireland from Ayrshire and the Isle of Bute during a series of natural
migrations as well as the during The Plantation of Ulster.
Dr. George
Fraser Black, author of
The Surnames of Scotland,
notes that MacMurtrie is
a form of MacKirdie, and that 'Gilbert Makmurtye was a witness in
Edinburgh, 1508.' This Gilbert Makmurtye witnessed a land transaction
from Sir John Kennedy of Blairquhan to John Stewart of Ardgowan.
Waves of
MacMurtries settled in Ulster in the 1600's where the the "a"
in "Mac" dropped and the "trie" became "try". Ulster Ancestry says
"MacCurdy is common on the islands of
Arran and Bute, where it is a variant of MacMurtrie, a sept of
Clan Stuart of Bute.”
Which
Tartan?
Over the
centuries, the McMurties of Scotland were allied to two major
families: the Earl of Cassilis and his Kennedy Clan of Ayrshire,
and the Clan Stuart of Bute based on the Isle of Bute.
If you bear one
of the variations of MacMurtrie, then you are entitled to wear
the tartan of Clan Stuart of Bute as the family is an considered
a sept of this clan.
The Stewart's,
an Anglo-Norman family, came to Scotland in the 11th century and
took their name from the office of Hereditary Stewards to
successive Scottish Kings. In the 18th century the branch of the
family associated with the Isle of Bute family adopted the
French spelling of the name - Stuart.
The tartan of Clan Stuart of Bute
Spelling
There
are many modern spellings of the name. McMurtry is by far the
most common in Ireland, the USA and Canada. McMurtrie is
the most common in Scotland and the rest of the world. The
spelling McMurtrey and McMurtray developed in the Southern
United States where they are seen almost as often as McMurtrie.
The spelling MacMurtrie is used by a few families.
In
America, the McMurtry, McMurtrey, McMurtray, and McMurtery
spellings are used by descendants of individuals thought to have
come from Northern Ireland. However, in one of these families
that came to New Jersey in 1735, one branch used McMurtry and
the other two branches used McMurtrie.
Other early spellings include
MacMurhyrtay, MacMurarty, MacMuerchyay, MacMuryrty, MakMurtrie,
MakMurtre, MakMurrarty, M'Urartys, M'Wartye, McMurthre,