The Irish Connection to Bermuda

The Caribbean Island of Bermuda was first settled in 1609 by a group of shipwrecked colonists who were sailing for the Jamestown settlement in Virginia. Many Irish prisoners were transported to the island during the mid-seventeenth century. However, six months after a thwarted revolt in 1658, a resolution was passed making it illegal “to buy or purchase any more of the Irish nation upon any pretense whatsoever.” In 1684 Bermuda became an English colony, with close connections to the colonies of Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia.

In 1767 it became a base for the British Caribbean fleet and home for traveling British militia. The military and the accompanying infrastructure continued to bring Irish to the island.  During the American Revolution, Bermuda became home to many Loyalists fleeing the mainland.

The majority of Bermuda’s records are at the Bermuda Archives in Hamilton: www.gov.bm (click on archives), which houses 400 years of records. Many of their primary collections are on microfilm at the Family History Library: www.familysearch.org

There are also many websites which can provide help and have databases of extracted records, such as “Bermudian Genealogy & History”: www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bmuwgw/bermuda.htm There are also reference works such as Helen Rowe’s A Guide to the Records of Bermuda (1980) and two works by Clara Hollis-Hallett Early Bermuda Records 1619-1826 (1991) and Bermuda Index 1784-1914 (1989). A recent guide is John Titford’s My Ancestors Settled in the British West Indies: Bermuda, British Guiana and British Honduras(2011).

When considering Bermuda research, for colonials, consider migration to the southern mainland a possibility. Also, the strong British military presence makes this a natural place for your ancestor to have spent some time.