Trace your ancestry
Gribbin Family
About Me
This site is dedicated to all things Gribbin. I shall be sharing regular posts on aspects of the Gribbin story and I’m hoping that Gribbin readers will share their genealogical findings also. My blog posts will be fed by 20-odd years of research into the Gribbins. In the months that follow, I will post every few weeks, focusing on one aspect of the picture at a time.
My BOOK on the Gribbin family!
My book, Gribbin: An Ulster Family History, has finally arrived! We launched it last Wednesday, 15th November, 2023, in the Old Museum in College Square North, Belfast, only yards from where my grandfather had his shoemaker’s shop. Some details about the launch, the book and the business of purchasing a copy can be had by clicking here.
Different Spellings
If you write your name as Gribbin, Gribben or Gribbon it is most likely the same name. The original Gaelic name was Ó Gribín, but I don’t know of anyone who uses that form now, apart from some Irish language enthusiasts. There is also a possibility that the name Cribben is, in some cases, a deformation of Gribbin.
The double-B seems to have been introduced quite early, during the seventeenth century, probably under the influence of English language orthography, and Gribbin was the most common spelling until the nineteenth century, when Gribben became more common, again probably because it looks more “correct” as an English name.
Gribbin Family Blog
NEW YORK GRIBBINS AND THE EMIGRANT SAVINGS BANK
THE GRIBBINS OF NEW YORKAs I pointed out in my blog on the American Gribbins, they are strongly represented on the East Coast, particularly in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. This is very likely because most of them have ancestors who arrived in New York from...
THE BOOK HAS ARRIVED!
And on Wednesday last, the 15th of November, we launched it in the Old Museum in the centre of Belfast. Here are some reviews of the book: “Part puzzle, part history, part family chronicle but always an engaging read. This exploration of the world of one Ulster family...
GRIBBINS IN CANADA
Genealogy of Gribbins in Canada Having looked at the Gribbins of the US last time, I thought I'd have a go at summarising what we know about the Gribbins of Canada. There is nothing in my book, Gribbin: A Family History of Ulster, about this, so this is all new...
American Gribbins
The name Gribbin (or Gribben or Gribbon or whatever) almost certainly originated in Ulster, but it spread throughout the world, especially during the nineteenth century when the Irish emigrated to Britain, the United States, Australia and beyond. The US census of 1790...
Edward Gribbon: An Architect Of Distinction
Magee College, Derry - designed by Edward P. Gribbon of DublinEdward P. Gribbon, Architect, Surveyor, Mentor!In an early chapter of my book, Gribbin: A Family History of Ulster, I spend some time on the Gribbins of Dublin. In 1901, there...
The Gribbins of Down
The Gribbins of Down 22nd Feb. 2023 I trace my own family back to Banbridge, a small town in the centre of County Down, and my great-great grandfather married Lizzie O'Neill there in 1851. That is as far back as I have been able to take my own family, since...
Welcome To the Gribbin Family Blog!
If your name is Gribbin, Gribben or Gribbon (or even some other variation, like Cribben or Ó Gribín) you will find out here about its origins.My name is John Gribbin and I live in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I have been researching the Gribbin family name for about...
Contact Me
Get In Touch
iAre you a Gribbin or do you have any information that could contribute to the Gribbin Family Blog? Are you interested in getting a copy of Gribbin: A Family History of Ulster? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch by clicking the button below.