This an English spelling form of the pre 10th century Gaelic name MacPhiaraic. Recorded in the spellings of Ferrick, Feerick and Fearick, the derivation is from 'mac' meaning 'son of' and the personal name 'Pierce or Pearse' - an Irish development of the famous hebrew name 'Peter', meaning 'The Rock'. With this surname the 'Mac' is now long obsolete having 'disappeared' as early as the 16th century. The name holders are particularly associated with the town of Ballinrobe, in County Mayo, eleven families being recorded there in the register of the province of Connacht in 1783. It is said that they were not amongst the major landowners, but the fact that they appeared at all in the records indicates a certain status in the community of the time. Examples of early recordings are rare as unfortunately the registers of Counties Mayo and Galway were destroyed in 1922 when the IRA. in one of their original acts of mindless vandalism, destroyed the Dublin Public Records Office, containing Irelands priceless treasures pre-dating British 'occupation'. Examples of recordings include Mary Feerick, christened at Ballinrobe, County Mayo, on May 5th 1864, Ann Ferrick, christened at Dunmore, Galway, on August 28th 1868, and John Fearick, who married Jane Hayes, at Leigh, Lancashire, on June 11th 1892. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Dermot MacFeyrick which was dated C.1550 in the register known as 'Fiant Litterae Payentes', during the reign of King Edward V1, known as 'The boy king', 1547 - 1553. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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