Assistance Welcomed
In gathering this information I am indebted to a number of people and I have done my best to acknowledge their contributions. I would appreciate any further help, which I will happily acknowledge.
Do you know of an early reference to the name in some historical record or know of a famous Cartin Carton etc. in history?
I have had some excellent feedback from the visitors to this site. If you have any suggestions please email me at
For example, I am collecting early references to Cartins (Cartons etc) and if you come across any please let me know. The earliest I have are Roman Catholic clergy in the Banagher diocese e.g. Donal O Cartain or O’Carthean in 1401.
Again information on the forts at Dungorkin and Ballycarton would be appreciated. Any feedback on relevant DNA samples which have been processed for genealogical purposes would of course be interesting.
Among the issues to be addressed are the origins of the Cartins and Cartons in Wexford and Leitrim. Most likely they are McCartans from Co Down but the spelling and even the variations of the spelling leave open the possibility that they are Ui Mhic Carthainn displaced in the 1600's as the plantation was strengthened or under the influence of the Marquis of Waterford who owned freeholds around Ballycarton. If you have any insights or information or comments it would be gratefully acknowledged.
And thanks to Christopher and Andrew Cartin for their work on website design and implementation.
Edward Cartin
Contact Edward@Cartin.com
Belfast Northern Ireland
PS Edward Cartin is the author of Cartinpaintings.com which deals with a series of paintings of scenes and images from the poems of Seamus Heaney.