Formerla is near Ennis, about 20 miles from Liscannor, County Clare. Although a Perry family have lived here for over 200 years there would not seem to be any connection between this family and their neighbours the The Perry family of Liscannor. The earliest known ancestor of the Formerla Perrys is George Perry, who died in 1800 and is buried in Ballysheen. George's wife was called Catherine and their eldest son, to whom he left property at both Formerla and Ballysheen was also called George. This George's family lived in the area around Formerla until relatively recently. As far as we know the male line has now died out, but if anyone knows otherwise then we would love to know about it! George the elder's second son was called Thomas and was also left property on his father's death. Amongst Thomas' descendants was Jeremiah Perry who wrote a memoir of the family in the 1930s on which much of this information is based.

Jeremiah claimed descent from the Limerick Perys, who later became Earls of Limerick. He hypothesised that George the elder was the son of Hugh Pery, who was son of Edmond Pery who married settled in Ireland in 1613. However, it is now unsure whether or not this is the case. A seemingly unconnected Perry family settled in County Clare in the 17th century. A document in the Genealogical Office in Dublin reveals that a Captain George Perry, son of John Perry of Gloucester settled in Clare in 1639. Captain George's son was Ambrosius and Ambrosius' son was Bartholemew. As far as we know Bartholemew only had a daughter, but there could be branches of this family that are unrecorded in this particular document. What we do know is that there are three near-contemporary men by the name of Perry living in Clare in the 17th century. Hugh Perry of Feakle parish fl. 1687-9, Ambrose Perry on Clonmoher, parish of Kilnoe fl. 1682-7 and George Perry fl. 1682-8. These men often appear in documents and deeds together and are doubtless related. It is therefore likely that the Formerla Perrys descend from the Gloucestershire branch of the family and research in the Registry of Deeds in Dublin may help to confirm or disprove this theory.