Scottish or Irish???

[hutcircles]

Hello Chris,
If you ask over here in the Northeast of Scotland about the name Duff then I would say the name comes from Banffshire and the town of Banff, and in particular along the coast towards Peterhead there seems to be a lot of Duffs even these days. At Banff there is also Duff House built in 1740.
Many not be you Duffs of course but I just thought you might be interested.
Cheers
Hut

[chrisduff]

I've read the messages and am quite happy with the origins of the Clan MacDuff. I think I have to accept the DUFF name may have derived from a branch of MacDuffs, but in all probability may be an entirely separate family of names linked to how a person looked, e.g. dark-skinned or swarthy.

Historically, there has been an interchange of peoples between Ireland and Scotland and maybe some DUFF lines originally came from Ireland. But I am more inclined to believe the Irish Duffs originated in Scotland, and not necessarily from the traditional Duff country of North-East Scotland. My great-grandfather, Patrick Duff, was born in Limerick around 1816 and he lived with his family there until his death in 1886. As I've said before, I can find no trace of ANY Duffs in or around Limerick or County Clare.

So, where are the Duffs of Western Ireland and where did they come from? Where can I find some information? Are there any web sites I can explore? Has anyone else explored the Irish Duffs?

Chris Duff