Grace

Grace is primarily a Norman Irish surname, the de Grás family who came with the Anglo-Norman conquest. By the 14th century, the Graces of Kilkenny were thoroughly Gaelicised — one of the great examples of the Norman absorption into Irish culture.

Origins and History

Grace in Ireland is primarily of Norman origin. The de Grás family came to Ireland with the Anglo-Norman invasion of the late 12th century and settled in County Kilkenny, where they became lords of a significant territory centred around Tullaroan in the north of the county. The original Norman name le Gras (meaning the fat, a physical descriptor used as a nickname) was quickly Gaelicised in the Irish manner, and by the 14th century the Graces were thoroughly embedded in Irish Gaelic culture — one of the many Norman families who became, as the phrase went, more Irish than the Irish themselves.

The Graces of Kilkenny maintained their position through careful political navigation of the complex 15th and 16th century politics of the Butler earls of Ormond, to whom they were frequently allied, and the Gaelic chieftains of Tipperary. They appear in the records as castellans, lawyers, and local lords throughout the medieval period.

Gaelicisation

By the 15th century, the Graces were speaking Irish, using Irish law, and marrying into Gaelic families. The Statutes of Kilkenny (1366), which attempted to prevent such cultural absorption by Norman settlers, were largely ignored by families like the Graces who had already fully integrated. This Gaelicisation is one reason the Grace surname survived as a distinctly Irish name despite its Norman origin.

17th century and after

The 17th century wars devastated Kilkenny. The Graces, as a Catholic landowning family, lost significant holdings in the Cromwellian settlements of the 1650s. Some family members went with the Wild Geese to France and Spain. Others retained smaller holdings and continued as Catholic professionals and farmers through the Penal era.

In the Diaspora

Princess Grace of Monaco — born Grace Kelly (1929–1982) — had Irish ancestry through her grandfather, John Henry Kelly, who emigrated from County Mayo. Her family name was Kelly, not Grace, but her fame brought unprecedented attention to the Grace name's Irish associations.

The Graces of the Kilkenny diaspora went primarily to the United States and Australia in the 19th century. William Russell Grace (1832–1904), born in County Cork of a Kilkenny Grace family, became the first Irish Catholic mayor of New York City (1880 and 1884) and founded W.R. Grace and Company, one of the most important American trading companies of the 19th century.

Notable Graces

• William Russell Grace — 1832–1904, first Irish Catholic mayor of New York City, founded W.R. Grace and Company
• James Grace — 16th-century Kilkenny lord, ally of the Butler earls
• Oliver Grace — 19th-century Irish-American merchant, brother of William Russell Grace