De Paor

Rev Patrick Woulfe

1923

de PAOR—XII—Poer, Poor, Power; Norman 'le Pover,' 'le Pouer,' 'le Power,' 'le Poer,' 'le Poor,' i.e., the poor (Old French 'povre, paure,' Latin pauper), a sobriquet hardly bestowed because of ordinary poverty, which must always have been too common to be a mark of distinction, but probably, as Bardsley suggests, of poverty consequent on a vow. The ancestor of this family came to Ireland with Strongbow, from whom he obtained a grant of the territory of Waterford. In 1535, Sir Richard le Poer was created Baron of Curraghmore, but through failure of the male line, at the beginning of the 18th century, the estates of Curraghmore passed by marriage into the family of Beresford. The name is now very common and widespread, especially in Munster and Leinster.

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