Contents [hide]

Dun History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Dun History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Ireland
Scotland-Alt
Scotland

Hundreds of years ago, the Gaelic name used by the Dun family in Ireland was Ó Duinn or Ó Doinn. Both Gaelic names are derived from the Gaelic word donn, which means brown. Ó Doinn is the genitive case of donn. 1

Early Origins of the Dun family

The surname Dun was first found in County Meath (Irish: An Mhí) anciently part of the kingdom of Brega, located in Eastern Ireland, in the province of Leinster. The family was descended from O'Rigain one of the ancient "Four Tribes of Tara" in the Kingdom of Meath, now the county of Meath. The Kings of Meath in turn traced their regal history back to the Heremon Kings.

Early History of the Dun family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dun research. Another 291 words (21 lines of text) covering the years 1180, 1268, 1642, 1651, 1691, 1692, 1695, 1700, 1713, 1733 and 1758 are included under the topic Early Dun History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dun Spelling Variations

Names from the Middle Ages demonstrate many spelling variations. This is because the recording scribe or church official often decided as to how a person's name was spelt and in what language. Research into the name Dun revealed many variations, including Dunn, Dunne, Dun, O'Dunne, O'Doyne, Doine, Doin, O'Dunn and many more.

Early Notables of the Dun family

Notable among the family name at this time was

Sir Patrick Dun (1642-1713), five times President of the Royal College of Physicians, eponym of Sir Patrick Dun's Hospital, Dublin

Dun migration to the United States +

To escape the religious and political discrimination they experienced primarily at the hands of the English, thousands of Irish left their homeland in the 19th century. These migrants typically settled in communities throughout the East Coast of North America, but also joined the wagon trains moving out to the Midwest. Ironically, when the American War of Independence began, many Irish settlers took the side of England, and at the war's conclusion moved north to Canada. These United Empire Loyalists, were granted land along the St. Lawrence River and the Niagara Peninsula. Other Irish immigrants settled in Newfoundland, the Ottawa Valley, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The greatest influx of Irish immigrants, however, came to North America during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s. Thousands left Ireland at this time for North America and Australia. Many of those numbers, however, did not live through the long sea passage. These Irish settlers to North America were immediately put to work building railroads, coal mines, bridges, and canals. Irish settlers made an inestimable contribution to the building of the New World. Early North American immigration records have revealed a number of people bearing the Irish name Dun or a variant listed above, including:

Dun Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Peter Dun, who arrived in Virginia in 1622 2
John Dun, who landed in Maryland in 1675 2
Quintin Dun, who landed in New Jersey in 1685 2

Dun Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

William Dun, who landed in Carolina in 1705 2
Hickthrif Dun, who landed in Virginia in 1711 2
Darby Dun, who arrived in Virginia in 1719 2
Thomas Dun, who arrived in Baltimore, Maryland in 1720 2
Patrick Dun, who landed in Virginia in 1723 2
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Dun Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Robert Dun, who landed in New York in 1803 2
Mr. Benjamin Dun, (b. 1802), aged 34, Cornish laborer departing from Falmouth aboard the "Royal Adelaide" arriving in the United States on 11th May 1836 3

Dun migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Dun Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Barclay Dun who was convicted in Edinburgh, Scotland for 7 years, transported aboard the "Bengal Merchant" on 4th August 1836, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 4
Margaret Dun, aged 19, a servant, who arrived in South Australia in 1852 aboard the ship "Charlotte Jane" 5

Dun migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 6

Dun Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

William Dun, aged 16, who arrived in St Christopher in 1633 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Dun (post 1700) +

Edwin Dun (1848-1931), American diplomat, United States envoy to Japan (1892)
Angus Dun (1892-1971), noted United States clergyman and author
David Dun, American thriller writer
Dennis Dun (b. 1952), Chinese American actor
Sir Patrick Dun (d. 1713), famous Irish physician, and president of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
Len Dun (1916-1989), English footballer
Jeremy Dun (b. 1973), British author
Dmitri Dun (b. 1989), Ukrainian ice dancer
William Sutherland Dun (1868-1934), Australian palaeontologist, geologist and president of the Royal Society of New South Wales
Tan Dun (b. 1957), Chinese contemporary classical composer
... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Dun Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Mullach a-bu
Motto Translation: Victory for the Dunns.

Citations +

MacLysaght, Edward, The Surnames of Ireland. Ireland: Irish Academic Press, sixth edition, 1985. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2366-3)
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 30). Emigrants to New York 1820 - 1891 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_new_york_1820_1891.pdf
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 7th October 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/bengal-merchant
South Australian Register Tuesday 3 February 1852. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) CHARLOTTE JANE 1852. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/charlottejane1852.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies