HISTORY - IRELAND

About Later Scots-Irish links, 1575-1725 part 3

The plantation of Ulster by Scots in the seventeenth century is a well established fact. Genealogists, however, require very specific reference material which is generally missing from the published accounts of the migration of up 100.000 Scottish Lowlanders to northern Ireland at the time.

Scots -Irish links 1575- 1725 attempts to identify some of these Scots settlers and is based mainly on contemporary primary source in Ireland, Scotland and
England. Sometimes the individuals listed are described as Scots or the scotch nation ,and on other occasions their identification is circumstantial and based onsurname, place and time. Many of the early Scots listed have been granted, orhave applied, for denization.this was a direct result of the legal position thatmany of the original Scots found themselves in that it was illegal for them as"aliens" to buy and eventually bequeath land in Ireland.Consequently ,most of them applied to be declared denizens of Ireland, which in effect naturalised themand enabled them to grant or purchase land there, Between 1603 and 1634 a number of residents of Ireland, particularly Ulster,2 all of the Scotch nation or descent" were recorded in the Irish Patent Rolls as having been granted deization.for example of November 22 1605 there was a recorded" The Grant of English liberty to Sir Hugh Montgomery ,of Scotland ,and his issue, to be of free state
and condition, and from all yoke of servitude, Scotch, Irish ,or otherwise ,quit and free, to use and enjoy the English laws, preeminences .rights and customs,
with permission to acquire lands and possession"

While it was generally assumed that these settlers were protestants, it should be noticed that many of the initial wave of emigrants were more inclined to
Episcopalianism, but from about 1640 the settlers were overwhelmingly Presbyterian, while a few seem to have converted to Catholicism.

Their descendants, within a few generations ,emigrated in significant numbers across the Atlantic where ,as the Scots- Irish, they made a major contribution to
the settlement and development of colonial America.

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As proof that the McCaws were part of this Ulster plantation, and subsequent ownership of land, I found McCaws in a book titled  Landowners in Ireland 1876.
There are McCaws listed in the province of Ulster, County Down:

NAME               ADDRESS             A.R.P.  VALUE 
McCaw, Alexander Craiganee, Ballintoy  51 2 35  24 5
McCaw, John      Ballinlea, Moyarget   21 0 20  10 5
McCaw, William Lisrodden, Port Glenone 203 2 10 168 15
McCaw, Daniel   Greenage               15 3 33   19 10
McCaw, Eliza Jane  King's Hill,Warington 2 2 25  2 15

Londonderry County

Dr. James McCaw  Bushnells
James McCaw      Ennis...(unreadable), Port Glenone
Kennedy McCaw,   Ennis....  '  '''   , Port Glenone

note:  A.R.P  - A. may stand for acre, R. for rod, P.  ?      Value  - pounds and pence, I'm thinking.

All of these McCaws have been included in our family tree.

A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF HOW LAND SEPARATIONS WORKED

Townland = 350 acres - a small rural division of a province.

Parish   = There wer 2 kinds:  civil and ecclesiastical

Barony = A division of great antiquity based on great Gaelic family holdings.  they were turned into civil divisions by the English for the purpose of the 19th century land evaluations.

Scots-Irish Origins, 1600-1800 A.D.

Genealogical gleanings of the Scots-Irish in county Londonderry, Ireland.

PART TWO - THE PLANTATION OF LONDONDERRY, c.1600-1670
INCLUDING APPENDICES:

l. PHILLIPS' SURVEY OF 1622 AND TIIE 1630 MUSTER ROLL OF TIIE
CITY AND COUNTY OF LONDONDERRY.

2. TIIE SUMMONISTER ROLLS/COURT RECORDS OF COUNTY
LONDONDERRY, 1615-70.

By Bob Forrest, B.A Hons; Economic and Social History (Queen's University,
Belfast). 65 pages + 3 maps + 1 illust.

Part two in the series Scots-Irish origins, this volume focuses on the
seventeenth century plantation of county Londonderry and makes available for
the first time two important genealogical sources, the 1630 Muster Roll and
the Summonister (Court) Rolls c.1615-1670 for county Londonderry. Mr.
Forrest has utilised the Summonister Court Rolls, the 1622 survey by Phillips
and Hadsor, the 1630 muster roll and the 1641 depositions to write a short
history of the 'Plantation of Londonderry c.1600-1670.' He traces the
development of the Londoners' twelve plantations, as well as the growth of
urbanization within the county focussing primarily on Londonderry, Coleraine
and Limavady.

In his history of the Londonderry plantation, Mr. Forrest attempts to trace the
origins and development of the Scottish colony in Londonderry in the early
seventeenth century. Although the early plantation was undoubtedly English in
character, Londonderry was attractive to the Scottish given its close proximity
and the ease of mobility given the trade links that had been developed between
the ports ofDerry and Coleraine with Scotland's western seaboard. Mr.
Forrest traces several migratory waves of Scots colonists during the
seventeenth century. Many of the settlers were, undoubtedly, economic
migrants forced to leave Scotland with its expanding population, rising prices
and rising unemployment. The increasing numbers of Scots, especially from
1630, was vital to the maintenance of the plantation. The response of the rural
inhabitants in Scotland to the Plantation was in sharp contrast to that in rural
England where relatively few people opted to move to Ulster. The surveys of
1619 and 1622 reveal that the English settlement was small and in decline
even before the devastating impact of the native uprising in 1641. The
diminution of the English colony contrasts significantly with rise of the
Scottish presence. Mr. Forrest argues that without the continuous migration of
Scottish settlers, the Londonderry plantation would undoubtedly have failed.
However, by the end of the seventeenth century a self sustaining settlement of
British colonists (primarily Scots-Irish) had established itself in the county.

The roll of the individual is also analysed, especially the contribution of Sir
Thomas Phillips, the servitor responsible for the new town of Limavady, and
he was also an overseer of the Plantation. Sir Robert McClelland ofBombie,
Kirkcudbright, Scotland became a major landlord controlling the
Haberdashers' and Clothworkers' proportions from 16.18/19, which in effect
was a massive estate that ran from Coleraine into the heart of the Roe Valley
at Limavady, which became a bridgehead for Scottish entry into the north of
the county, thus facilitating a process known as 'colonial spread'.

This book contains the names of hundreds of British settlers and native Irish
from the early seventeenth century, which will be of enormous interest to
genealogists, family and local historians alike. In this volume, there is a
transcript of the Summonister Court Rolls for County Londonderry, which are
extant for the period 1615-1670 (Appendix 2). The rolls appear to be fairly
intact apart from a lengthy interval from 1641-1653, which reflects the impact
of the native rising upon administration. The rolls are a useful source of
surnames containing as they do, hundreds of names (629 variant surnames) of
those English, Scots and Irish who came to the attention of the courts and
provide a local window through which we can view life in seventeenth century
Londonderry. The 1630 muster roll lists the names of 1,930 British men of
arms-bearing age (Appendix 1) and identifies their location in the county. The
local historian will also find much of interest in the Summonister Rolls, the
1622 survey, the 1630 muster roll and the deposition material, which contain
much detail at the micro-historical level. This volume makes these unique
sources available for the first time in a collective account.

V ALUABLE SOURCE OF SURNAMES:

In this book are the names of many Lowland Scots who migrated to
Londonderry during the seventeenth century. These early settlers can be
considered to be the founding fathers of the Scots-Irish in the region. One
hundred years later, after the first colonies of British settlers were established
in both Virginia and Londonderry, the descendants of Ulster planters began to
emigrate in increasing numbers to the colonies of New England, Pennsylvania,
V irginia and the Carolinas. Between 1718 and the War ofIndependence, half a
million Scots-Irish left Ulster for the British colonies in North America. Many
of their forbears can·tmce-t1ie;-~rigins to the early period of British settlement
in county Londonderry. Surnames can provide much useful insight, if not
proof, offamily origins in Ireland and this volume now brings those Scots­
Irish pioneers within the grasp of the researcher.

There are 1,727 variant surnames contained in this volume that locate name to
place including: (HIGHLIGHTED in bold the Scots names using 'Black's
surnames of Scotland') ...................................................................

........................


McCARTER, MCAW, McCLARTY, McCLANE, McCLELLAN, McCLELAND,
McCLELLAND, McCLEMOND,'KrcCLERY, McCLOSKY, McCLOYDD, McCOLE,
McCOLLON, McCOMBE, McCONAGHIE, McCONMOY, McCONNELL, McCONRY,
McCORBE, McCORDALL, McCORMACKE, McCORMICK, McCOTTER, McCOURTY,
McCOW AN, McCOWELL, McCOY, McCRACANE, McCRACKEN, McCRAlN, McCRAISE,
McCRANNEL, McCRANNY, McCREKEL, McCRISTY, McCRONELL, McCULLEN,  ..........................
.............................


Recommended Reading:
The Last House of Ulster:  A family in Belfast  by Charles Foran
 ISBN  0-00255311-2  
 Lib. no.  941.670828 F

Red Hand:  The Ulster Colony  by  Constantine Fitzgibbon
ISBN: 
Lib. no.  941.6  F