Introduction

This website presents the results of research into the Winters families of England whose origins were in Co. Limerick in Ireland.

It includes research into related Winters descendants from Co. Limerick who emigrated to other countries, as well as research into several Family Lines that are related by marriage to Winters descendants, namely: Meredith ; Wilkinson ; Strong ; Barrer ; French ; Robinson; Chapman; Naylor; Higgins.

Information about each family line can be found by clicking on the Family Lines menu item on each page. A Schematic Diagram shows the connections between the various Family Lines documented on this website.

The Winters surname and its variant Winter were relatively uncommon in Ireland. The surnames of Winters and Winter were recorded a total of 746 and 283 times respectively in the 1901 census for the whole of Ireland (including all household members). There were only seven households with the surname Winters and three with the surname Winter in the census of Co. Limerick for that year, as listed in the following table:

The focus of this website is on the ancestors and descendants of the family of Andrew Winters of Upper Sunville, and their families related by marriage.

The question arises, given the small number of Winter(s) households on Co. Limerick, whether they are all related, say within the last 300 years. The combination of Y-DNA testing of descendants and documentary evidence indicates that the Winter(s) of Co. Limerick may fall into at least two unrelated groups over that timescale. The first group comprises the ancestors and descendants of the family of Andrew Winters of Upper Sunville in the above table, the subject of this website. A second group comprises the Winter(s) families documented in several Ancestry Trees (see for example the Winters Family Tree on Ancestry). The ancestors and descendants of Samuel J. Winter of Caherconlish in 1901 may comprise a third group (they lived later at The Priory, Kilfinane).

A common ancestor may of course exist beyond the timescale of the Irish records. For example, a Y-DNA test of 67 markers shows that two descendants of the first two groups described above have a Genetic Distance of 6; they are estimated to share a common paternal line ancestor who was, with a 95% probability, born between 650 and 1700 CE. The most likely year is rounded to 1250 CE. It is hoped that further DNA studies will throw more light on this question.

Site Navigation

The Site Navigation page gives details of how to explore the various features of this website, and explains the meaning of various icons that are used. There is a link to the Site Navigation page at the foot of each page of the website.

Note: for privacy reasons, the website excludes individuals who are known (or thought) to be living.