Stephen de Barrett

Lord Stephen de Barrett of Pendyne was the father and grandfather of the first Barretts to arrive in Ireland towards the end of the 12th century. he was a Welsh Marcher lord and the 1st Lord of Pendyne in Carmarthenshire aka the small, coastal village of Pendine (Welsh: Pentywyn, “end of the dunes”) today.

The Cambro-Norman Barretts are descended from one Stephen Barrett [who] came into Wales with Gilbert “Strongbow”, in A.D. 1110 (according to Hamon) or in 1120 (according to Clark), and had the lordships of Pendyne given him. A Barrett “Lord and Lady of the Manor of Pendyne” succeeded well into the 15th century (see Peter Barett).  The name of Pendyne eventually became extinct in the 17th century (due to the lack of a male heir).

The Barretts of Pendyne became a powerful and influential family in Wales with many interests in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. The Barretts were followers of de Carew (in Pembrooke) and de Cogan (in Glamorgan). As there could only be one successor to the lordship of Pendyne, Stephen Barrett’s other sons and grandsons, had to seek out other opportunities as underlords (i.e. tenants) of Raymond ‘Le Gros’ de Carew in the neighbouring shire of Pembroke.  

In 1170, a colonel-of-horse named Barrett from Pembrooke was among the Knights who followed Richard Strongbow to Ireland.  In the wake of this invasion, five Barretts from Pembrooke followed ‘Le Gros’ to Ireland namely: William fitzStephen Barrett and four sons (which included William Barrett Jr., and Phillip Barrett). The literature infers that Phillip Barrett may have been the original “colonel of horse who came to Ireland with Strongbow“.

Consequently, Stephen de Barrett of Pendine is the progenitor of both the Cork and Mayo lineages of Barrett in Ireland.