Risteárd de Tiúit

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Tuite family crest. Due to the origins of heraldry in Norman culture, a distinguishing feature of Norman coat of arms is their simplicity

Risteárd de Tiúit (died 1210) was a member of Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke's Irish invasion force, and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. De Tiúit was granted land in the western part of Meath (present-day Westmeath and Longford) under the authority of Hugh de Lacy in Trim.

He built one of the largest Motte and Bailey settlements in Ireland in Granard in 1199 and later founded the Cistercian abbey in Abbeylara. His death, while Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, is recorded in Athlone by the Annals of the Four Masters under the year 1210 and his remains lie today in Abbeylara's Cistercian abbey.

De Tiúit is also the ancestor of those who bear the de Tiúit/ Tuite surname. He is variously recorded as Tiúit, Diúit and Tuit. Numerous placenames in Meath (Tuiterath), Cavan (Droim Thiúit/ Drumyouth), Westmeath (Tuitestown in Fore; Tuitestown in Moyashel and Magheradernon, and Ballysallagh Tuite), Kilkenny (Baile an Tiúigh Thoir/ Tuitestown and Baile an Tiúigh Beag/ Tuitestown Little) and elsewhere are named after him and his descendants. There are two claimed sources for the Tuite surname. The first is derived from the old Norwegian words for two and one. "Tu ete" .In viking times disputes were often settled by a duel. The preferred method for measuring strength was to connect the combatants at the waist with a large belt, give them each a knife and let them fight to the finish. One can imagine a large group of Vikings shouting "two-one" at two angry vikings.(Two men start - one man survives) These sort of duels were often over a woman or livestock. Obviously the "Tuete" klan had an ancestor who appeared in these duels frequently and survived whereby the name "tuete" stuck. Even today the Norwegians and Swedish pronounce the letter "e" in the same way as english speaking people pronounce the letter "i". There is a famous statue in the "Bältespännaren parken" (the belt stretchers park) in the city of Gothenburgh in Sweden. Another suggested source is that the surname is from the Eure department of Normandy where the word "Tuit" indicates a clearing in a wooded area and is clearly the local development of the old Scandinavian placename, Thveit, brought by the Normans (Men of the North) when they settled in Normandy. Even this source could be connected to the Tuete duels as these would presumably have been fought in a clearing.