Fleming

An Irish surname of Antrim, Cork, Dublin, Galway, and Mayo. In the 2010 US census it was carried by 90,677 people, the 342nd most common surname in the country.

Pléamonn, Pléimeann. This family stood in Co. Meath.

Where the name comes from

A Fleming is a native of Flanders, and the road here was long. Towards the end of the 11th century an irruption of the sea compelled many Flemings to seek shelter in England. They were at first allowed to settle on the Scottish borderlands, then removed by Henry I to the south coast of Wales and granted a fertile district which had been wrested from the Welsh.

From there they came at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion. Richard le Fleming obtained from Hugh de Lacy a grant of the barony (an old land division, several parishes across) of Slane and other estates in Co. Meath, which stayed in the family down to the Cromwellian and Williamite confiscations. The name is now common in many parts of Ireland.

The Giant's Causeway at twilight with wet hexagonal basalt columns stretching to the sea and long exposure blurred waves
The Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim

The Fleming counties, photographed

Antrim

The Antrim coast road runs about 25 miles between the cliffs and the sea, with nine glens coming down to it. The rock is basalt, the same flow that formed the Giant's Causeway. Scotland is 12 miles off at the narrowest point and visible on a clear day.

The iconic Dark Hedges beech tree tunnel near Armoy in County Antrim with intertwined branches forming a brooding canopyThe Dark Hedges, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim Long exposure of Pan's Rock with its footbridge at dawn on the Antrim Causeway Coast, silky water and blurred clouds, Rathlin Island on the horizonPan's Rock, Co. Antrim Co. Antrim

Cork

Cork is the largest county in Ireland. Three peninsulas run west into the Atlantic: Beara, Sheep's Head and Mizen, with the population thinning the further out you go. My gallery is in Glengarriff at the head of Bantry Bay, so it's the ground I photograph most.

Rugged Atlantic coastline at Allihies, Cork, Ireland, with layered slate cliffs, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxAllihies Coast, Cork Co. Cork Sunset over Dun an Oir ruins and sea stacks on Cape Clear Island, Cork, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún an Óir, Cape Clear Island, Cork Co. Cork The Fastnet Lighthouse standing proud on a calm summer evening off West Cork in black and white panoramic viewThe Fastnet Lighthouse, Co. Cork Co. Cork

Dublin

Dublin is a county as well as a city. The bay has Howth at the north end and Killiney Hill at the south, the Muglins are a pair of rocks off Dalkey, and the Dublin Mountains start about half an hour from the city centre.

Moonlight reflecting on the sea near the Muglins lighthouse off Dalkey Island, Dublin, with the Kish light on the horizonThe Muglins by Moonlight II Co. Dublin Long exposure panoramic view of the White Rock swimming platform at Killiney Bay, Dublin, floating in misty high-tide watersThe White Rock, Killiney Bay, Co. Dublin Co. Dublin

Galway

Connemara takes up the west of the county: the Twelve Bens, blanket bog, and fields walled off into very small squares. The Aran Islands sit at the mouth of Galway Bay. The Gaeltacht starts a few miles west of Galway city.

Enormous waves sending spray over 30-metre sea cliffs at Poll an tSeidein on Inis Meain, Aran Islands at sunsetPoll an tSéideáin, Inis Meáin, Aran Islands, Co. Galway Co. Galway The rusting Plassey shipwreck on Inis Oirr, Aran Islands, seen from above with the Atlantic Ocean beyondThe Plassey, Inis Oirr, Aran Islands, Co. Galway Co. Galway

Mayo

Achill is the largest island off the Irish coast and is joined to the mainland by a bridge. Clew Bay is full of drumlins that were drowned when the sea rose, which is where the story about an island for every day of the year comes from. Croagh Patrick stands over the south side of the bay. Mayo's population is still less than half what it was before the Famine.

Black and white view across Doo Lough towards Ben Gorm and mountains, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDoo Lough, Co. Mayo Co. Mayo Black and white view of Dun Briste sea stack from a sea cave, Co. Mayo, fine art landscape photograph by Peter CoxDún Briste from the Cave Co. Mayo

All Antrim prints · All Cork prints · All Dublin prints · All Galway prints · All Mayo prints

Notable bearers

Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), physician, inventor, and surgeon.

Ian Fleming (1908-1964), writer, screenwriter, and journalist.

Victor Fleming (1889-1949), film producer, director, and cinematographer.

Williamina Fleming (1857-1911), astronomer.

John Ambrose Fleming (1849-1945), university teacher, physicist, and inventor.

About this page

The counties on this page are where the name was thickest on the ground in Ireland a century and a half ago, not a claim about any one family. Names moved around inside the country as much as they left it. The photographs are mine, made in the counties named.

More Irish surnames: Smith · Brown · Miller · Wilson · Anderson · Thomas · Taylor · Moore · Jackson · Martin · Lee · Thompson

How common the name was

In 1890, 170 births were registered under Fleming in Ireland, most of them in Antrim, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Londonderry, and Mayo.

Ulster 63
Leinster 42
Connacht 37
Munster 28
Ireland 170

Londonderry is the one I haven't worked in.