In Scotland and Ireland, family history and surnames are incredibly important. So I got briefly obsessed with the Scotch Irish history of the Allen name. I even spent time in Belfast in the PRONI—Public Records Office of Northern Ireland—attempting very unsuccessfully to research my family (I should have come more prepared).
However, across Scotland and Ireland, I managed to find a few gems about my surname in souvenir shops. Only one had the Allen coaster, pictured.
A Scottish surname in the origin form is spelled ’aluinn’ and it means handsome or little rock. Variant spellings include Alan and Allan.
Family motto: Virtue is to be preferred to gold.
Doesn’t the dog look a lot like Nali? She and I were meant to be.