[1] The Anglo-French Saint Aubin family arrived in Ireland in the wake of the Norman invasion in the 12th century[2] and settled in Counties Tipperary and Kilkenny, and subsequently spread to the neighbouring counties of Cork and Waterford.
[3] An early bearer of the surname is Irish-born John Tobyn, who appeared in patent rolls in 1413.
[1] By the 1440s there were three major Tobin clans established in south-east Tipperary, as well as the senior line in Kilkenny.
The 14th century Annals of Ireland, by Kilkenny Franciscan John Clyn, described the Tobins as a turbulent sept more dreaded by the English settlers than the native Irish.
[1] Tobin is also an English surname, derived from the name Tobias or Toby.