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The Irish Documented in Spanish Archives

15 Sep By Leave a Comment

An interesting and important collection for the Irish who went Spain, and then perhaps elsewhere, is “The Irish in Spanish Archives” hosted by The Irish Genealogical Research Society. This collection was compiled by society member Samuel Fannin who lives in Spain, and researches in the Spanish Archives.

Why the Irish Went to Spain

The Irish went to Spain for several reasons. After the Treaty of Limerick (1691), Irish swordsmen joined the Spanish Army. Others came for Catholic religious schools in Alcala de Henares, Salamanca, Seville and Lisbon. Still others came as merchants or seeking wealth, as Spain was a world power opening up trade with the New World. There was a presence of Irish gentry among the immigrants. The strongest presence of Irish came from Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick and Waterford.

Genealogical Possibilities

There are few records from which to document the Irish in Ireland itself for the 1600s and 1700s. However, there is much available to document their presence in Spain itself. This means an Irish birth place for an ancestor who settled in Spain or in its colonies may be preserved in a Spanish record. That literally may be the only place you will find it.

Irish in the Spanish Archives Primary Sources

Sanuel Fannin’s compilation, arrangements, and indexing of the Spanish Archives material is nothing short of priceless. The source material is divided into three separate pdf files on the website free of charge:

Spanish Archives of Primary Source Material

  • Malaga
  • Cadiz
  • Cordoba
  • Granada
  • Seville

Spanish Archives of Primary Source Material

  • Bilbao and LaCoruna

Index: Individuals by Irish County

The two main pdf extractions provide the historical background needed to understand the context for the Irish in a particular location. For example, in the 1700s, the Irish merchants were organized and working in the trade of sugar, iron and copper in Malaga. If you are researching an early Irish family with Spanish connections, then Samuel Fannin’s contribution to the world of Irish genealogy is the first place to stop! It is highly recommended.

If you would like help with your Irish in Spain or in the Spanish colonies call 385-214-0925.

 

Two Little Known Penal Colonies Where Irish Were Sent

7 Jul By Leave a Comment

Court records at the National Library of Ireland:  www.nli.ie detail prisoners who were transported to the penal colonies at Bermuda, Gibraltar and Tasmania (Van Dieman’s Land). Classified as Ms. 3016, this amazing set of transportation records covers 1849-1850. They show the Irish court a person was convicted in, the addresses of friends and relatives, religion and the prisoner’s age. While transportation to Australia is well known, the other penal colonies, including Bermuda and Gibraltar remain relatively unknown.

In Bermuda, the convicts were used for labor in the dockyard and aboard ships anchored in the bay off Boaz Island. Convict labor was also used to build the dockyard and Royal Naval Dockyard on Ireland Island. Conditions were harsh and many prisoners died of yellow fever. This lead to prison revolts and the execution of many of those involved.

The “convict establishment” was closed in 1865. The men were taken to England or carried to Australia on “tickets of leave.” Records documenting the lives of these convicts are in the Assignment Lists and Quarterly Returns of the Hulk Establishments (Series HO11) at the National Archives, Kew: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk The HO series have been indexed on a searchable database on the State Library of Queensland as “Convict Transportation Register Database”: www.slq.qld.gov.au/info/fh/convicts 

The British used prisoners to work on the docks in Gibraltar. They began sending convicts to labor on fortifications in 1842. These prisoners lived on ships in the harbor and were not allowed to associate with the local population. When one escaped the town bells would ring until he was recaptured. They were shipped back to Great Britain and Ireland after their terms expired. 

The history of Irish convicts is both fascinating and heart wrenching at the same time. The reasons people were transported can be both sobering and mindboggling.

The Irish in the Greek Ionian Islands

5 Jun By Leave a Comment

Greece is a place you usually don’t associate with the Irish; however, the Greek Ionian Islands (Eptanisa) were at one time occupied by the British and used as military outposts. Scores of Irish soldiers and merchants were also part of this. The Ionian Islands consist of seven individual islands which constitute the western borders of Greece with Europe. These are Cephalonia (Kefalonia), Corfu (Korfu or Kerkira), Paxoi (and the small island of Antipaxos), Leykada (Lefkada), Ithaki, Zakynthos (Zante or Zakinthos), and Kithira.

The British came in 1809 and following the Congress of Vienna in 1815 the Union of Ionian Islands was set up under their protection. By 1864 all the Ionian Islands had joined an independent Greece. The British generated records often use the term Ionian Islands rather than the name of the specific island.

On these islands, especially Corfu, many of Irish heritage, were born, married and died. Many of the cemeteries have been transcribed by the Society of Genealogists in London: www.societyofgenealogists.com in their journal Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica.

The Irish also intermarried with the local population. The Greek Orthodox Church is the largest denomination on the islands. Soldiers and merchants can be found in the registers. Also keep in mind there were Eastern Rite (Greek Catholic) parishes and Roman Catholic parishes, so you must check all. These as well as Protestant registers will be at the Family History Library (FHL). Also be aware the Irish intermarried with the Italians living on the islands. Do not neglect the FHL as a major resource for your Ionian Island research.

From a family history perspective, don’t be surprised if your Greek or Italian ancestors were actually Irish at some point!

Who Were the Wild Geese?

1 Jun By Leave a Comment

The conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland began in the 1530s. As Protestantism would emerge as the ruling group, many Catholics left for sympathetic Catholic countries on the Continent. Those who fled were termed “Wild Geese.” However, Protestants also followed.

Many date this immigration to 1607 and the “Flight of the Earls” after the Irish defeat at Kinsale. However, out migration was already under way. Estimates are that between 1585-1625, some 10,000 Irish Catholics fled to the Continent. Another wave occurred after the Protestant Cromwellian victory of 1649-1651. A particularly high period of out migration occurred between the Treaty of Limerick (1691) and the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), with an estimated 50,000 left. Most would go what is now Austria, France, Portugal and Spain. Others would go to a lesser degree to Eastern and Central Europe and the Papal States (now Italy).

Both rich and common people left, in a strange mix of Catholics and Protestants. They would live and intermarrying with each other on the Continent; doing what they could not do back in Ireland. They can be divided into four groups: 1) soldiers and officers in continental armies, both Catholic and Protestant; 2) Catholic gentry and nobles who fled Protestant Ireland; 3) merchants both Catholic and Protestant, and 4) Catholic priests and seminarians studying in colleges.

Many works document these migrations. A classic text is Matthew J. Culligan and Peter Cherici’s The Wandering Irish in Europe: Their Influence from the Dark Ages to Modern Times (1999). The “Irish in Europe Project”: www.irishineurope.com seeks to document this fascinating piece of Irish history. 

Due to the early migrations of these families, don’t be surprised if your nineteenth century French or Spanish immigrant to North America were actually Irish!

Palatine Germans in Ireland

18 May By Leave a Comment

If may be surprised to learn your Irish ancestor actually had German roots. This is a fascinating story.

The Rhineland Palatinate is now a part of Germany. In 1709 many left seeking a better life.Of the 10,000 Protestant immigrants, one third emigrated to New York and North Carolina. Another third went to England and the Caribbean. The last third went to Ireland. About 800 families were settled on the estates of Protestant landlords. Most were on the Southwell Estate near Rathkeale, County Limerick. Descendants would immigrate to what would become Ontario. A second colony went to County Wexford at Old Ross and Gorey. 

For genealogical purposes, much reference material is available. These include: Henry Z. Jones The Palatine Families of Ireland (1990); Patrick J. O’Connor’s People Make Places: The Story of the Irish Palatines (1996) and Carolyn A. Heald’s The Irish Palatines in Ontario: Religion, Ethnicity and Rural Migration (1994), and Eula C. Lapp To Their Heirs Forever (1977). Each of these explores migrations of the Palatines in and then out of Ireland. Carolyn A. Heald’s article “Researching Irish Palatines in Ireland and Ontario” in The Irish At Home and Abroad, 4, #2 (1997): 64-71, brings together sources from which to trace these families.

The Internet is an excellent place to begin your research. The Irish Palatine Association in Rathkeale operates the Irish Palatine Heritage Centre: http://irishpalatines.org Their goal is to preserve history and culture. The Ontario Genealogical Society has a special Irish Palatine Interest Group dedicated to research: http://web.mac.com/bobfizzell/SIG-IP/HomeSIG-IP.html Use the key words “Ireland Palatine” or “Irish Palatine” and you will discover fascinating websites.

The Scots-Irish in The Netherlands

7 May By Leave a Comment

We usually don’t think of Holland as a place for immigration from Ireland. However, if you consider the historical context, it makes sense. I’ve had the chance to trace several cases, most Scots-Irish from Ulster, which connected into The Netherlands.

In 1568, the war of independence for The Netherlands against Catholic Spain was begun. Scottish regiments arrived serving under the Protestant Prince of Orange. The Netherlands became a solid Protestant county with the Reformed Church as the main faith. From 1572 to 1782 there were always Scottish regiments and their descendants in The Netherlands. The key to this piece of history is that many of the Scottish regiments were actually Protestants from Ulster. These Scottish regiments eventually were transformed into Dutch regiments, officially ending the Scots and Protestant Irish presence. Their descendants can still be found in The Netherlands today.

Records of marriage for these families, taken from Reformed records have been published in Dr. IR. J. MacLean’s De Huwelijksintekeningen Van Schotse Militairen in Nederland 1574-1665 (Zutphen: De Walburg Pers, 1976). Some baptisms can be found in James Ferguson’s Papers Illustrating the History of the Scots Brigade in the Service of the United Netherlands 1572-1782, 3 Vols.  (Edinburgh: University Press, 1899, 1901). Other works also exist. A lineage society for the Scots regiments is the Caledonian Society: www.caledonian.nl/

Do not be surprised if your Dutch immigrant ancestor named Visser is really Fisher, Verbaas is really Forbes, de Jong is really Young and Kroeders is really a Crowther.

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