Origin of the Henneberry Surname

        As with most genealogy searches, disagreements regarding the origin of the surname is common.  Some accounts indicate the family came from Germany to Ireland.  Irish Roots Magazine indicates an emigration of Palatine Germans to the Limerick/Tipperary about 1709.  There is a village in the Palatinate called Henneberg.  Henry Hennebery and his wife Mariah, both from Germany, were living in Franklin County, MO from the 1850 census.     See the Norman invasion of 1169 for De'Alton or D'Alton and others.   Also research the old Gaelic Surnames of Henry.   The surname is also claimed to be De Hindeberg from Denmark in a Germanic form.   After the English occupation of Ireland in the 12th century, many Irish surnames were required to be changed to English names.  In 1465, the English King Edward IV demanded all Irish  take a surname of an English town such as Sutton, London and perhaps Henbury. 

     After the defeat of the Stuart forces by William of Orange during the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, the Irish forces continued to fight the English.  The Irish were defeated at the Battle of Limerick, and The Treaty of Limerick in 1691 gave the Irish army the option to sail to France.  Over twenty thousand Irish soldiers left for France and fought in European armies over the next 200 years.  Several of the soldiers came from the Galbally area of County Limerick.  The "Wild Geese"  often returned to Ireland with European wives.   These Henebrys and others were not German, Spanish or Danes, rather they were Irish returning to their native land. 

Hennebry Photo Shop in Waterford Ireland (June 2001)

    The Viking Origin of the Surname:

    By the early 700's, the Vikings' ship building technology had developed the capability to allow masts and sails on their ships.  This advancement allowed them to travel farther distances, and they begin attacks on Ireland in 795.  The native Irish did not build towns.  It was the Vikings who established Dublin and Limerick and other towns and villages in Ireland.  The Vikings (Norsemen) were often called Danes by the Irish, but the majority were Norwegian.  The land of the Vikings was called "Lochlann". 

    During the 9th century, the Vikings had established strongholds in Ireland.  A village called Cu was located near Galbally in County Limerick and the Cussen surname may be linked to the early Vikings.  Galbally (An Gallbhaile) in Irish, means the foreigner's town.  Although most of the Vikings were from Norway, some  were from Denmark, and they settled near Limerick in the 9th century.  The Gaelic term for the Danes was "Dubh-gall" or dark foreigner, and the term for the Norwegians was "Finn-gall" or fair foreigner.  Galbally: bally = (Townland) and Gall =  (foreigner) = Townland of the Foreigners.  The Vikings (Norseman) settled in Ireland married into Gaelic families and adopted the native language, religion and customs.  These Gaelic-Vikings fought their distant relatives a few hundred years later during the Norman invasion.

    The Normans were Vikings who established settlements in France during the late 9th century.  The consistent attacks on the Franks  in 888 provided opportunities for new settlements in what later became known as Normandy.   The medieval Latin name for Viking is "Northmannus" and the name for Normandy is "Northmannia" (Viking Land).

    William the Conqueror (a Norman duke) defeated the Anglo-Saxon forces at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and assumed the English throne.   The Norman invasion of Ireland started in 1169 and within the next century, they controlled 75% of the country.  The majority of Irish towns were established by the Normans who spoke Norman-French.  The province of Munster became one of the most predominant French (Norman) settlements outside of France.  Galbally is located within Munster.   These Norman-Vikings were probably related to some of the Gaelic-Vikings who had been there for over 200 years.  The Normans, like the Norseman before them, intermarried with the Irish and also adopted the language and customs of the Gaels.  This led to the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1366 which prohibited the families of the Anglo-Normans from intermarriage with the native Irish or the adoption of Irish surnames, language and customs.  The first Irish were neolithic users of flint and then bronze.  About 350, the Gaelic Celts from southern France and Spain conquered Ireland.  The Celtic traditions and culture have held on longer in Ireland than any other country, and the Vikings and Normans became absorbed into the Gaelic world.   Bibliography

    The surname de Hindeberg or de Hynteberge  would seem to have roots from the Viking-Norman-Frank surnames.  This name appears in Ireland by 1250, and when translated to Irish became Henebry/Henneberry.    

The Anglo-Saxon origin of the surname: Another view.

       The English origin of Henneberry follows below.

        Serious research would indicate the surname, Henneberry, has a well-authenticated Anglo-Saxon origin.  Any European origins would be speculative at best.    The most reasonable answer would appear to be the name of the town as a surname.  See the town of Broadhembury, England.  Examples:  Jack from/of  London - Jack London; William from/of  Atberry - Bill Atteberry.

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