Power is one of the more unusual origin stories among common Irish surnames: rather than a Gaelic patronymic, it descends from le Poer or de la Poer, Norman-French names carried to Ireland by the Anglo-Norman settlers who arrived from 1169 onward. The family put down roots in the southeast, above all in County Waterford, alongside Wexford, Kilkenny and Tipperary — the heartland of Norman settlement in Ireland.
Over the following centuries the Powers did what several Norman-Irish families did so thoroughly that history coined a phrase for it: they became more Irish than the Irish themselves, intermarrying with Gaelic families, adopting local customs, and gradually shifting their name from le Poer through the medieval Poer to the modern Power, with de Paor surviving as the Irish-language form. Their unusual family motto, Pore bi Pore — "Power by Power" — simply restates the name itself, a small but telling sign of a family confident enough in its identity to need no further boast. The Great Famine later scattered Power and Powers families from Waterford's ports to the United States, Canada and Australia, where the name remains well established.
This collection brings that Norman-Irish heritage into everyday pieces: a polyester tartan throw blanket, a wall pennant, a garden flag, two styles of Christmas ornament, and an accent mug, each set with the Power family crest against the Irish national tartan. They make a natural gift for a family reunion, a St. Patrick's Day present, or anyone tracing Power roots back to Waterford and the southeast.
For the fuller account of the Power name's Norman origins and its journey into Irish life, see our Power surname history.
