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 Barrett is a well known Irish clan which
includes various septs including MacPadine, MacWattin, MacEvilly
(Mac an Mhileadha), and MacAndrew. There are two Barrett clans
in Ireland which are believed to be completely unrelated. The
most common are the Munster Barretts of Co. Cork who are Norman in
origin. The other is the Barrett clan of Connacht, most
numerous in the Mayo-Galway mountain region. This clan is
Gaelic in origin although they came to Ireland with the Norman
invasion at the end of the twelfth century. They were hired
mercinaries from Wales. To this day the Barretts and the
Barrys of Connacht are known as "the Welshmen of Tirawley".
The similarity of the names of the two Barrett clans is purely
coincedental. The Barretts of Cork derived their name from the
Norman-French "Barratt" while the Barretts of Connacht
derived their name from the gaelic name "Bairéad" which
means quarrelsome or warlike . In fact, many daughters and
sons of the clan, living in Connacht, are still called Bairéad (or
mac Bairéad, as the case may be). In any case, both Barrett clans
were fully assimilated into Irish culture and married into many old
Irish families, they are said to have become "more irish than
the Irish themselves". You will find many Barretts/Bairéads in
Irish history serving the Irish nation such as Col. John Barrett who
raised a regiment of infantry for King James' army in Ireland,
afterwards he and his clan suffered a wrath of genocide and land
confiscations dealt by the Williamite armies in 1691. There
was Ríocard Bairéad "The poet of Erris", a prominent
United Irishman; to name a few.
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