Power

Language & meaning

Meaning & Irish forms

Hiberno-Norman Hiberno-Norman: an Anglo-Norman nickname surname, le Poer, brought to Ireland by a follower of Strongbow and rooted above all in Co. Waterford.^[1][2]

Place

Where the Powers lived

How common the name was in each county, as a share of the population, in the three surviving full censuses of Ireland. Use the buttons to compare years.

Origins

Septs & territories

Many Irish surnames were adopted independently by unrelated families. These are the distinct Power lineages described in the sources.

A surname can point you towards a place. On its own, it cannot establish a pedigree.

The name over time

History

A Norman nickname

Power began as an Anglo-Norman byname, written le Pover, le Pouer, le Poer and in other ways, meaning 'the poor'. Woulfe thought it unlikely to describe ordinary poverty, which was far too common to single anyone out, and followed the English scholar Bardsley in linking it to a vow of poverty. Wikipedia makes the same point and notes that the name was widespread in medieval England and Ireland. Other explanations exist: Wiktionary also gives a place-name origin in the Pays de Poix in Picardy, and romantics have claimed a link with Poher in Brittany.^[1][2][10]

Arrival with Strongbow

The founder of the Irish family came over with Strongbow at the Anglo-Norman invasion. Woulfe says Strongbow granted him the territory of Waterford, and Wikipedia dates the grant to about 1172. The details vary from source to source. Burke names him Sir Roger le Poer, quotes Giraldus Cambrensis praising his courage and says he governed the district around Leighlin and Ossory before he was killed in 1188. The Curraghmore article has Henry II granting the estate to Roger in 1177, while the Gurteen article names the founder Robert and has Henry II granting him the city of Waterford.^{[1][2][7][5][8]}

Medieval Powers

By the 14th century the family had spread well beyond Waterford. Arnold le Poer, seneschal of Kilkenny, helped defeat Edward Bruce's invasion, but he defended his kinswoman Alice Kyteler during the Kilkenny witchcraft trials and had the bishop of Ossory arrested. He was in turn charged with heresy and died in Dublin Castle in 1328, awaiting trial. A Robert le Poer, said to be his younger son, served as Lord High Treasurer of Ireland and Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. In Waterford, Nicholas le Poer of Kilmeadan was summoned to parliament three times between 1375 and 1380.^[11][2]

Barons of Curraghmore and Earls of Tyrone

Under Henry VIII, Richard Power of Curraghmore was made Baron Power by a patent dated 13 September 1535. He married a daughter of the Earl of Ormond and was killed in 1538 by Connor O'Callaghan during a rising. His descendant Richard, the sixth baron, was created Earl of Tyrone and Viscount Decies in 1673. A Jacobite, he commanded a regiment at Cork when it surrendered in 1690 and died that year in the Tower of London. The earldom died out with his younger son James in 1704.^{[12][13][6][7]}

From Power to de la Poer

James, the last earl, left only a daughter, Lady Catherine Power. The barony should have gone to a cousin, Colonel John Power, but he had been outlawed as a Jacobite, so Catherine kept the lands and in 1717 married Sir Marcus Beresford, later Earl of Tyrone. In 1767 the Irish House of Lords accepted her claim to a 'barony de la Poer', a decision Wikipedia describes as legally doubtful, and her son became Marquess of Waterford in 1789. The feminine spelling 'de la Poer' comes from her petition, and some Power families later took it up as well.^{[2][14][5][7]}

De Paor in Irish and a widespread name

In Irish the name became de Paor, keeping the Norman particle in Gaelic dress, and Irish-language writers and sportspeople such as the poet Louis de Paor and the Galway footballer Seán Óg de Paor use that form. Woulfe found the name very common and widespread in his day, particularly in Munster and Leinster. Later Power families of note included the baronets of Kilfane in Kilkenny (1836) and of Edermine in Wexford (1841), both recorded by Burke.^{[1][15][16][7]}

Places linked to the name

• Curraghmore, Co. Waterford — Estate near Portlaw held by the le Poer family for over 500 years and since 1717 by their Beresford heirs.^[5]
• Castle Gurteen de la Poer, Co. Waterford — Victorian castle near Kilsheelan built in the 1860s for Edmond de la Poer, head of the Catholic Gurteen line.^[8]
• Kilmeadan (Cill Mhíodáin), Co. Waterford — Seat of Nicholas le Poer, summoned to parliament in the 1370s, and of a Power branch recorded by Burke.^[2][7]
• Dunhill (Dún Aill), Co. Waterford — Burke records a Power styled Baron of Donhill in 1273, from whom the Kilmeadan Powers descended.^[7]

Everyday lives

The Powers in the census

Who the Powers were in the 1901 and 1911 censuses (and 1926 where recorded), set against everyone in Ireland in the same census.

Powers All of Ireland Ireland's figure marked on the Power bar

Given names

First names among the Powers

All three censuses combined. Top five in 1926: John, Patrick, James, Michael, Thomas; Mary, Bridget, Margaret, Ellen, Catherine.

Spellings

Spellings

This page combines the spellings below, which census enumerators and families used for the same name.

Related forms

• le Poer, Poer — The medieval Norman spelling, still used by Burke for the Curraghmore family.^[1][7]
• de la Poer, La Poer — A feminine spelling that arose from Lady Catherine Power's 1767 petition and was later adopted by the Beresfords and by the Gurteen Powers.^[2][7]
• Poor — Woulfe lists it among the English forms of de Paor.^[1]
• de Paor, Paor — The Irish-language forms.^[1][3][4]

Diaspora

The Powers abroad

Emigration carried the name worldwide. In the 2010 United States census:

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 surname file (public domain).

Heraldry

Is there a Power coat of arms?

People

Notable people named Power

• Richard Power, 1st Baron Power (died 1538)
  Lord of Curraghmore, created Baron Power in 1535 and killed during a rising.
• Richard Power, 1st Earl of Tyrone (1630–1690)
  Waterford peer made Earl of Tyrone in 1673; a Jacobite, he died in the Tower of London.
• Marguerite, Countess of Blessington (1789–1849)
  Novelist and literary hostess, born Margaret Power, who wrote about her conversations with Byron.
• Tyrone Power (1797–1841)
  Irish stage actor, comedian and theatre manager, forebear of the American acting Tyrone Powers.
• John O'Connor Power (1846–1919)
  Fenian and Home Rule MP for Mayo, later a barrister and penal reformer.
• Edmond de la Poer, 1st Count de la Poer (1841–1915)
  Liberal politician, born Edmond Power, who built Castle Gurteen de la Poer in Waterford.
• Jennie Wyse Power (1858–1941)
  Nationalist, feminist and businesswoman; a founder member of Sinn Féin and Inghinidhe na hÉireann.
• Albert Power (1881–1945)
  Sculptor best known for his statue of the Irish-language writer Pádraic Ó Conaire.
• Tyrone Power (1914–1958)
  American film star of swashbuckling and romantic roles in the 1930s to 1950s.
• Samantha Power (born 1970)
  Irish-American journalist and diplomat, US ambassador to the United Nations from 2013 to 2017.
• Louis de Paor (born 1961)
  Cork-born Irish-language poet and a former editor of the journal Innti.
• Seán Óg de Paor (born 1970)
  Galway Gaelic footballer from An Cheathrú Rua in the Connemara Gaeltacht.

Questions

Questions about the Power name

Evidence

Sources

1. Patrick Woulfe, de Paor, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
2. Wikipedia, Baron La Poer (2026)
3. Patrick Woulfe, Paor, in Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
4. Gaois research group, Dublin City University, Sloinnte: Irish surname dataset (version 2) (2022)
5. Wikipedia, Curraghmore (2026)
6. Wikipedia, Earl of Tyrone (2026)
7. Sir Bernard Burke, The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales (1884). Entries 'Poer, Le', 'Poer', 'Power, formerly Le Poer' and the Power entries for Donhill, Kilmeadon, Kilbolane, Corheen, the earls of Tyrone, Gurteen La Poer, Kilfane and Edermine.
8. Wikipedia, Castle Gurteen de la Poer (2026)
9. Wikipedia, Edmond de la Poer, 1st Count de la Poer (2026)
10. Wiktionary contributors, Power (2026)
11. Wikipedia, Robert le Poer (2026)
12. Wikipedia, Richard Power, 1st Baron le Power and Coroghmore (2026)
13. Wikipedia, Richard Power, 1st Earl of Tyrone (2026)
14. Wikipedia, Marquess of Waterford (2026)
15. Wikipedia, Paor (2026)
16. Wikipedia, Power baronets (2026)
17. Census of Ireland 1901 and 1911, and Census of Population 1926, National Archives of Ireland. Counts compiled by surnames.ie from the irishcensus.com transcription (dataset 20260831130351). 1926 data © National Archives of Ireland, CC BY 4.0.

How we compile these figures: methodology.