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Irish Genealogical Research | Dwight Radford

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An Introduction to ScotlandsPeople

15 Aug By Leave a Comment

If there was ever a one-stop-shop in genealogy, it would be ScotlandsPeople: www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk  Here you will find scores of Irish immigrants. The primary sources we all used on microfilm in years past has now been indexed, scanned and available online for a fee at this website. ScotlandsPeople has developed into one of the largest online sources of original genealogical information with about 90 million records on this government website.                      

The major collections which affect your immigrants from Ireland to Scotland would include the 1841-1911 censuses. The website has indexes to the government recording of births, marriages and deaths from 1855 through 2009. More recent images are scanned due to right-of-privacy concerns. A major collection from which to document Irish Catholics is the index and scanned images to the Catholic parish registers. This includes births/baptisms, banns/marriages, deaths/burials, communicants, confessions, confirmations, seat rents, sick calls and Status Animarum (a census).

ScotlandsPeople also has an index and scanned images to the Old Parish Registers (OPR) which are the records of the main Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). Because this was the state religion, persons of all faiths can be found in its records, so don’t neglect it as a source for non-conformist research. This includes Irish Catholics also.

Other important collections include an index and the images to the wills and testaments from 1500-1901. Then there is the Coat of Arms indexes which is the “Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland 1672-1907.”

More keeps being added to ScotlandsPeople so you need to constantly refer back to the website. This website is among one of the best I have ever used. As a genealogist, I use it constantly, and I have no difficulty recommending it! Don’t forget to check out the link to the sister website ScotlandsPeople – The Center: www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk

Scottish Naming Patterns

9 Aug By Leave a Comment

Scots-Irish research is affected by the traditional Scottish Naming Patterns. By the latter part of the nineteenth century, the patterns began to break down, so you have to be careful. The traditional formula and their variations are as follows:

1st son named after the father’s father (variation is after the mother’s father)

2nd son is named after the mother’s father (variation is the father’s father)

3rd son is named after the father

4th son is named after the father’s oldest brother (variation is after the father’s paternal grandfather)

5th son is named after the mother’s oldest brother (variation is after the mother’s paternal grandfather)

1st daughter named after the mother’s mother (variation is after the father’s mother)

2nd daughter named after the father’s mother

3rd daughter named after the mother

4th daughter named after the mother’s oldest sister (variation is after the mother’s maternal grandmother)

5th daughter named after the father’s oldest sister (variation is after the father’s maternal grandmother)

The formula looks good on paper, but there are factors to take into consideration. Foremost is the typical Presbyterian register in Ireland only begins in the 1820s or 1830s, so you miss so older children to even know what the first child may have been named. Another factor is the gaps within the existing registers, so you don’t always know if you have full list of the children. It’s complicated further if you add in renaming children the same thing at the death of an older child. Then again, there are those families who didn’t care one way or another about a naming pattern, as a child could have been named after the popular local minister!

My rule of thumb is the Scottish naming pattern is real, but you still have to remain careful and not set anything in stone.

Why was Greenock, Scotland so Popular?

5 Aug By Leave a Comment

Map of Greenock, Scotland

The Irish immigrated and formed a community in Greenock. Knowing why the Irish were drawn to this city, may help you in finding your ancestors.

The fares from Ireland to Greenock were relatively inexpensive, making it a destination place even prior to the Potato Famine. The Famine years in 1846-7 saw immigrants flood to Scotland in general. Immigration consisted of both Irish Catholics and Protestants. The “Mother Parish” for Roman Catholics was St. Mary’s which can be traced to 1808, and the Famine swelled its numbers. Protestants had any number of Presbyterian and non-conformist churches to choose from. 

Greenock is in the historic county of Renfrewshire. It is a seaport, and major industrial area. Under the Act of Union (1707), Greenock became the main port on the West Coast, where it prospered through trade with the American Colonies, especially through importing and processing sugar from the Caribbean.

Historically, Greenock was a center for shipbuilding, sugar refining and wool manufacturing. The Irish worked in all these industries. It’s the sugar industry that most researchers do not associate with the Irish. Sugar refining began in 1765. Fourteen refineries operated in the city, and by the end of the nineteenth century, about 400 ships a year were transporting sugar from the Caribbean to Greenock for processing. The 1851 Census showed that 44.3% of the female textile workers were Irish women. The Irish took jobs such as this because many were less skilled, lacked education, and often only spoke Gaelic. This with local prejudice kept them under represented in more skilled trades.

Cardwell Bay and The Holy Loch, Lyle Hill

As a major historical port, Greenock provided the jumping off point for many Irish elsewhere around the world. Don’t be surprised if you find that your Irish immigrant family spent time in Greenock for a short time or for several generations.

 

 

 

Professional Links

Dwight Radford, visit me at: www.thejourneyhomegenealogy.com

Leland Meitzler Publisher of genealogy products and books: www.FamilyRootsPublishing.com

Irish Genealogical Society International: www.irishgenealogical.org  I write articles for their journal The Septs

Kelowna & District Genealogical Society located in beautiful British Columbia: www.kdgs.ca I will be speaking at their conference in September

Mike O’Laughlin author of Irish family history books: www.irishroots.com

Sharon DeBartolo Carmack, MFA, CG professional book editing: www.nonfictionHelp.com  

Come enjoy the December research tour: www.SaltLakeChristmasTour.com I am one of the consultant’s at this wonderful event

 

Irish Settlement in Scotland

11 Jun By Leave a Comment

In the nineteenth century, it was common for the Irish to first settle in Scotland, and then move elsewhere. You can see the coast of Scotland from the Antrim Highway in Northern Ireland.  Yes, it’s close. Although there was back and forth between the Presbyterians or seasonal workers of Ulster and Scotland, large scale immigration occurred during the Potato Famine. In 1841, before the famine there were 126,000 Irish born and in 1851, after the famine there were 207,366 Irish born in Scotland.

The Irish concentrated in the urban areas of Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Coatbridge and Greenock. This included both Catholic and Protestant Irish. Concerning Catholics, while there were Catholic chapels in Scotland which survived the Reformation, they remained small and quiet. The influx of the Irish into these areas changed the very nature of Scottish Catholicism. In an odd twist, it was among the Protestant Irish in Scotland that Mormon missionaries had great success, thus initiating a further move to the American West of its members.

We often think of immigration from Scotland to Ulster in the 1600s as creating what we have come to define as the Scots-Irish. However, think of the descendants of these

immigrants to Ulster returning to Scotland some 150-200 years later. So while the Scots-Irish may have had the same shared DNA as their distant relatives in Scotland, 200 years later, they had a different culture and worldview.

From Scotland, immigrants often continued their journey worldwide. Many stayed, and it was their children and grandchildren who continued the journey to greener pastures. It’s a fascinating story, with so many odd twists and turns, that it’s sometimes hard to keep straight. However, this particular migration out of Ireland to Scotland, whether it was a stopover or not was an important piece of Irish immigration history.

Odom Library

6 Jun By Leave a Comment

Officially known as the Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library: http://mccls.org/odom_gen.htmthis is a major genealogical archive located in Moultrie,

Georgia. While it is advertised and known as a repository for Scottish clan genealogies, most researchers don’t realize, it’s also is a center for Scots-Irish research. It has become the official repository for 130 Scottish clan organizations, and a listing of the organizations can be found on their website. The library is housed in the west wing of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library. It is also an approved AAA attraction in the North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia AAA Tour Guides.

The Odom Library was made possible by a bequest from Ellen Ashby Payne Odom, a Trustee of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Library. She had an interest in genealogy, an author and member of the Huguenot Society and the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

While the library is known for its Scottish clan genealogies, the library holds many more treasures. They have been collecting Southwest Georgia historic newspapers on microfilm. There is a wide range of reference books, Civil War material and the “Emmett Lucas Collection.” This collection consists of the library of Mr. Lucas of Southern Historical Press. It concentrates on the Eastern United States, Civil War and migration studies. The library is also documenting veterans from various conflicts and those stationed at Spence Air Base in their “Veterans History Project.”

Because the Odom Library is the official repository of Scottish clan organizations, never neglect the collections as a source for your Scots-Irish research. This is a library worth your time and effort to get to know better.

Who Were the Scots-Irish?

2 Apr By Leave a Comment

The Scots-Irish were for the most part, tenant farmers who were planted on cleared Irish Gaelic lands by the Crown. The idea was to plant the area with small farmers from Scotland who were 1) Protestants, and 2) loyal to the Crown. Most came from the Scottish Lowlands of Galloway, Ayrshire and the Scottish Border Country. The planting process began 1609 when the colonists were transported to the Ulster Plantation mainly in what is today Northern Ireland. Migration continued with a major one in the 1690s, this time because of famine in Scotland. It was from that period forward, the Scots-Irish began to be a majority in Ulster.

The Test Act of 1703 caused widespread discrimination for those who didn’t conform to the Anglican tradition. This included the Scots-Irish Presbyterians.

Due to discrimination, economic conditions, and the raising of rents; by 1718, the Scots-Irish began leaving. The first wave went to New England, where they founded Londonderry, New Hampshire. Between then and 1775 it is estimated that some 200,000 came to the colonies. This gave them a powerful presence. They became the builders of the new United States at every turn as pioneers and statesmen. Both Americans and Canadians owe much to these early ancestors.

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