Dear List,

Thanks to Paul for his kindly reference to the link discussing how  
unexpected good things can come from lpostings scattered around the  
web.  It is undoubtedly true, but those happy events are nearly  
balanced by the frustration of picking up a post that really fits  
your search, only to find out that the e-address given is long out of  
date.

But let's go to Ireland and Virginia, I mean pre-1700 Virginia.  I  
recently put a post regarding my desire to share notes with others  
looking at early Irish immigrants on my local (Northumberland) web  
list, only to be greeted with a long silence.  Leaving me to wonder  
if all the clearly Irish surnames from those early years had defected  
to parts unknown or, worse yet, had degenerated into non- 
genealogists. Outside the list, I've had good contact with some  
Westmoreland McCarty descendants, so I know I'm not completely  
alone.  In any event,  this may be one of those searches that really  
does fit our larger, all Virginia, list.  Here's my bit on early  
Irish immigration (forgive my own family references -- they are  
intended just as an example), coupled with a request to hear from any  
others working similar issues:

PRE-1700 IRISH INQUIRY:

Thanks to all the work by others, I have no real gaps my own,  
FALLIN,  line. While I've been able to add a few post-arrival  
entries, my main effort has been in trying to identify pre-migration  
origins.

Our first real VA record is a land purchase by our Charles  
"Fallon" (the Fallin spelling didn't take over until about the 2nd  
generation) in 1671 Northumberland County. Fallon, Fallin, Fallen  
etc. are all variations on a Gaelic Irish surname ( "Ua Fallamhain").  
Pre-1700, the clan lived and owned property in a very specific area  
of Ireland that included the City of Athlone and the area between  
that town and Galway City, primarily in County Roscommon. This sort  
of information is available for most "propertied" Irish families of  
the time (indeed the records can be far more extensive than those  
availabe after the English finished breaking up nearly all the  
Catholic, (both Gaelic and Anglo-Norman), holdings).  But, of course,  
my "evidence" is purely circumstantial for genealogical purposes,  
only slightly better are a number of tantalizing, but timely,  
references to Fallin, Fallon and Fallan in the fragmented records of  
the West Indies. My current best guess is that the family's migration  
came through Galway, an Atlantic port city, proceeded through the  
West Indies (most likely Montserrat and Barbados), and thence to  
Northumberland County.

But we were not alone. There are a number of Northumberland County,  
Lancaster County [and other Virginia] names from 1700 and earlier  
that are also of uniquely Irish origin. Additionally, there are names  
that were originally English (or more properly Norman) but by the  
1600s were more prominent in Catholic Ireland than in England. I may  
be able to help researchers for these families in finding a path back  
to Ireland, and, along the way we may find some common patterns that  
help all of us:

IRISH IN NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY (1679)
(drawn from the list of 1679 Tithables so ably discussed and defined  
by Thomas A. Wolf in the 2005 NCHS Bulletin, pp. 24- 35)

Dennis CONOWAY: Gaelic - Mac Conmhaigh, Mac Conmidhe, Mac Conbhul.  
Currently most common in Counties Mayo, Kilkenny and Limerick. Dennis  
was, at the time, an almost uniquely Irish given name.

James CREAN: Gaelic - Ó Corraidin, Curraoin, Ó Croidheáin. Most  
common in Counties Roscommon and Mayo.

Walter DUNN: Gaelic - Ó Duinn. Most common in Counties Laois, Kildare  
and Kilkenny.

Walter GRADY: Gaelic - Ó Grádaigh. Most common in Counties Clare,  
Limerick and Cork.

William KEENE [more commonly KEANE]: Gaelic - Ó Catháin, Ó Céin. most  
common in Galway and Mayo.

Charles Vallond [FALLON]: Gaelic - Ó Fallamhain (Fallúin). Most  
common in County Roscommon.

In addition to those  Gaelic-based names, the 1679 List also includes  
a number of names that by 1679 had been in Catholic Ireland so long  
as to make it definitely one of their possible points of origin.  
Those include: BARRY, BRERETON, EUSTAS, EVERARD, GILL, HARROLD,  
JOICE, JONES, MOORE, RICE, ROACH.

IRISH IN LANCASTER COUNTY (1700)
(Drawn from Rootsweb's transcription of 1700 Tithables in Lancaster  
County, http:/www.rootsweb.com [tilde] valancas/tiths1700.html; I  
haven't yet tracked the specific Gaelic versions of these names)

Peter KILGORE: Counties Derry, Tyrone
Hugh KELLEY: Widespread across southern Ireland.
John KELLEY: Ibid.
Edwin CONWAY: Also now widespread.
Denis ONEALE: As [O' Niel,O' NEALE] one of the most prominent of  
Ulster, Irish Gaelic names, now widespread.
George HEALE [if originally HEALY]: Ulster, Munster.

The other Lancaster County names that are as likely to be Irish as  
British are:
BUCKLEY, ROGERS, [Darby] DONAWAY, LAWRY.

I'm sure analysis would yield similar numbers for many other  
Counties.  I'd very much like to hear from listers working any Irish- 
named families as to whether they have information pointing to (or  
perhaps more aptly, away) from Ireland and perhaps we can uncover  
some pattern. Following on the heels of Cromwell's ravaging of  
Catholic Ireland, migration of propertied families in the mid-1600s  
generally accords with a "big" historic pattern, but its the smaller  
connections that may lead to something definite.


Jack Fallin

Walnut Creek, CA



On Apr 4, 2006, at 9:00 PM, Automatic digest processor wrote:

> Some beginning Irish genealogy


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