Early Life
"A scion of one of the most respectable families in the West of Scotland" (
A True Narrative, page
xxx), my research seems to indicate that
Patrick Adair was the third son of
John Adair of
Genoch in Galloway (but many others place him as the son of William Adair of Corghie/Ayr - however when I tried to map the various relationships, the connection to John makes more sense for me; it is also in agreement with J Barnett Adair
5). Most sources agree that he was born around 1625, presumably in Genoch.
From boyhood he took an interest in ecclesiastical affairs; and, on the 23
rd of July 1637 — when the famous Janet Geddes threw the stool at the head of the Dean of Edinburgh as he was proceeding to introduce the Service Book, and when the promoters of the Liturgy were balked by a mob of women — Patrick Adair was in the Scottish metropolis, and a witness of the uproar.
From
Patronymica Brittanica1:
ADAIR. A branch of the great Anglo-Hibernian family of Fitz-Gerald settled at Adare, a village in co. Limerick, and thus acquired the local surname. In the XV century Robert Fitz-Gerald de Adair, in consequence of family feuds, removed to Galloway, in Scotland, and dropping his patronymical designation, wrote himself "Adair" a name which has since ramified largely on both sides of the Irish Channel. In temp. Chas. I., the senior branch transferred themselves from Galloway to co. Antrim, where they resided for some generations, until on the acquisition of English estates they again settled in Britain. The migrations of the family may thus be stated:
- England before the Conquest
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Scotland cum Ireland
- Ireland
- Ireland cum England
- England cum Ireland
From:
Patrick Adair of Cairncastle:
The Adairs of the North of Ireland, of whom the eminent Presbyterian minister above named [i.e. Patrick Adair] was one, and whose present head had been ennobled under the title of Lord Waveney, are commonly said to be of Scotch extraction. And they certainly did come from Scotland to Ireland in the seventeenth century. But it is equally certain, although not so well known, that, like most ‘Scots’ (so called), they had previously gone from Ireland to Scotland. Their family name originally was not Adair, but Fitzgerald, and their founder was a young man called Robert Fitzgerald, a son of the Earl of Desmond. This Robert Fitzgerald lived in the latter part of the fourteenth century, and was the owner of the lands of Adare, in the South of Ireland. Having, in a family feud, killed a person of distinction, he was obliged to leave his native country.
He took refuge in Galloway, in Scotland, where he assumed the name of Adare, or Adair, from his forfeited Milesian patrimony, and obtaining for himself, by means which were not uncommon in those days, a Scotch estate in place of the Irish one he had lost, he founded a family, which, for some time, was known as the Adairs of Portree, afterwards of Kinhilt, and, most recently (on their return to Ireland), as the Adairs of Ballymena, in this country, where they have been for many generations respected and beloved.
Career
Patrick entered divinity classes at Glasgow College in 1644 and when licensed, he went to Ireland as a preacher; and on the 7
th of May 1646 he was ordained to the pastoral charge of the parish of
Cairncastle, near Lame, in the County of Antrim. In 1674 he moved from Cairncastle to Belfast — where he officiated about twenty years.
He wrote
A True Narrative of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland3 which was published post mortem. The version I have has an introduction and notes from WD Killen who I think is a Brice cousin and was published in Belfast in 1866. There's a little more info (and a podcast about it)
here.
From
A True Narrative of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland::
The Rev. Dr. James Kirkpatrick, the author of Presbyterian Loyalty, was the son of a Presbyterian minister well acquainted with [Patrick Adair] and [had] himself [moved to the] congregation over which Mr. Adair presided in Belfast about twelve years after [the latter's] decease. He is, therefore, competent to bear testimony to the character of his distinguished predecessor. His attestation is remarkable. " Mr. Adair," says he, " was a man of great natural parts and wisdom, eminent piety and exemplary holiness, great ministerial gravity and authority, endowed with savoury and most edifying gifts for his sacred function, wherein he was laborious, painful, and faithful ; was a constant, curious, and accurate observer of all public occurrences ; and, with all these rare qualities, he had not only the blood and descent, but the spirit and just decorum of a gentleman."
Family Life
Patrick Adair married first Margaret Cunningham. Then he married his first cousin
Jean Adair4, the second daughter of
Sir Robert Adair of
Ballymena (the latter being one of the most influential landed proprietors in the country). Lastly he married a widow, Elizabeth Anderson (née Martin). From the combined marriages, he had at least five children but it's not known who was the mother of each, except for William who was born to Margaret. I have assumed that the other children were born to Jean Adair.
- William, also a priest, ordained in Ballyeaston in 1681, who transcribed much of Patrick's "A True Narrative..." and died 1698
- Archibald (may have moved to US)
- Alexander (may have moved to US)
- Patrick Adair jnr of Carrickfergus (1670-1717)
- Helen (may also have moved to US)
- Possibly, James Adair of Belfast (see here)
- Who had son Patrick Adair who d. 1764 in Old Jewry, London
There are whole dynasties of Adairs in America, some of whom are genetic cousins of ours - it's possible that many of these are descendends of Archibald, Alexander or Helen.
Death
Patrick Adair died in 1694 and his will was proved in Belfast on the 6
th July 1695.
From
Patrick Adair of Cairncastle:
His will was dated 26 January 1693, but probate was not taken out until 6 July 1695, more than a year after his death. ‘In his will’ says Classon Porter, ‘Mr Adair mentions a sum of four hundred pounds belonging to him which was in the hands of Lord Donegall, and the interest of which he leaves to his wife as a jointure.’ This was his third wife, Elizabeth Anderson, a widow whom he married while he was minister at Belfast. Her maiden name was Martin. He had four sons: William, Archibald, Alexander and Patrick, and a daughter, Helen. Gordon says that Patrick junior was a minister at Carrickfergus and that he died in June 1717. William, his eldest son by Margaret Cunningham, was an executor of his father’s will, and his third son Alexander, a witness to it.
...
By which wife Patrick Adair had his second, third and fourth sons, and his only daughter, we do not know. Possibly they were all born at Cairncastle, for Adair was fifty years of age when he relinquished his charge there. He was buried in Belfast in accordance with the terms of his will; but (says Porter) ‘we have not heard of any monument of any kind having been erected to this faithful pastor, this brave sufferer for what he believed to be the truth, this able negotiator, this honest man.’. No likeness of Patrick Adair has survived – if indeed any was ever drawn or painted.
Footnotes
[1] Patronymica Brittanica, A Dictionary of the Family Names of the United Kingdom, Mark Anthony Lower, London 1860
[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Adair
[3] A True Narrative of the Presbyterian Church in the North of Ireland, Patrick Adair, edited by WD Killen, Belfast 1866
[4] There are some disagreements on the order of marriage. The DNB (1921, pages 72-73) has him marrying first Jean, then Elizabeth Anderson, but doesn't mention Margaret Cunningham. Adair History & Genealogy (J Barnett Adair, page 25) only mentions Jean.
Antrim History makes Margaret Cunningham his first wife with a marriage in 1650, Jean second and Elizabeth Anderson 3rd. This source is clear that his son William was by Margaret Cunningham, and he was the eldest.
[5] Adair History & Genealogy, J Barnett Adair, Los Angeles, 1924, page 34
Abt 1625 - Abt 1694 (~ 69 years)
[1] 
