Virginia was first settled by white men in 1607. On the authority of a
work published recently, Francis Maguire, an Irishman and a Roman
Catholic, visited the colony a year later. “He wrote an account of his
voyage to Virginia and submitted it to the privy council of Spain.” From
this it is evident that he was not in the interest of England and did
not remain in the colony.
Virginia, even in its early days, was not friendly to those of the faith
of Maguire. In 1625 the same writer mentioned that “Symon Tuchin master
of the _Due Return_ having been banished out of Ireland was reported as
strongly affected to popery, and the Governor and Council of Virginia
sent him as a prisoner, in January, 1625, to the Company in England.”
This ended the career of Symon in the Old Dominion, and no further
mention is made of him.
Who the first actual settlers in Virginia from Ireland were, and the
period of their arrival, can be determined only from the names printed
in the early colonial records and in the calendar of state papers
following.
The population of the colony from 1609 to 1624, as given in the work
mentioned, namely, _The First Republic in America_, was as follows:
In 1609 one authority gives it as being, in July, not over one hundred
and nine persons.
In 1611 it is estimated at about two hundred and eighty persons. In 1616
it increased to about four hundred. In 1618 it had increased to six
hundred. In 1619 it had dropped to about four hundred. The census of
1620 gives it as eight hundred and eighty-seven. In 1621 it fell to
eight hundred and forty-three. In 1622 it had increased to one thousand
two hundred and forty, and in 1624 it was reduced to eleven hundred.
An idea can here be formed of the struggles of the first settlers of the
Old Dominion against disease, famine, and the attacks of the Indians. In
1621 or 1622, the year is in dispute, there was a terrible massacre of
the settlers by the Indians, the number of killed being given as “three
hundred and forty-seven men, women and children.”
If names are any indication of the nativity of the bearers, the first
Irish settlers arrived in Virginia during this troublesome period. Their
condition in the colony could not be much worse than it was in their
native land, for about that time the long struggle for the possession of
the land, beginning with the Reformation, had taken root, not to end
until the war between William and James.
In Hotten’s _Original Lists_ of emigrants, among others is published the
names of the following persons arriving in Virginia between 1616 and
1624: John Higgins, John Cannon, John Collins, John Healey, Francis
Downing, John Fludd, Tege Lane, “of Corke in Ireland”; Tege Williams,
“Irishman”; John French, of Washford “(Wexford) in Ireland”; Thomas
Cawsey (Casey), James Connor, James Dore, Ann Mighill, John Duffee,
Thomas Doughtie (Dougherty); John Moore, Giles Martin, Thomas Jordan,
Francis Butler, Thomas Burns, “and Bridget, his wife”; Thomas Dunn,
Edmund Blaney, John Burroughs, “and Bridget, his wife”; John Griffin,
William Lacey, Alice Kean, Thomas Farley, A. Conoway, Hugh Hughes, Bryan
Rogers, William Joyce, John Haney, Elizabeth Haney, Peter Jordan, Luke
Boyse, Thomas Oage, his wife and son.
Some, undoubtedly, of the foregoing came here as the servants of English
landed proprietors in Ireland, and there is no doubt that others came as
actual settlers, for there is mention later of grants of land to some of
them. Let that be as it may, however, here was quite an addition to the
scant population of the colony of a liberal mixture of Irish blood with
that of the early English settlers.
On the same authority, Hotten, there was a large increase of the same
blood some years later, in 1635. Hotten copied his lists from the
originals preserved in England. Many of the originals were either lost,
mutilated, or destroyed. In consequence, they are incomplete. The period
thus partly covered is between 1600 and 1700. The following names are
published among hundreds of others in the lists as arriving in Virginia
during the year 1635: Richard Hughes, Garrett Riley, Miles Riley, James
Bryan, Thomas Murphie, Christopher Carroll, Philip Connor, Jo Dunn.
As the ages of the foregoing are given and the average was twenty years,
it is fair to presume that they came over as servants. They are followed
by Richard Fleming, Charles McCartee, Owen McCartee, Bryan McGowan,
Patrick Breddy, Bryan Glynn, John Neale, William Redman, William Hart,
Elizabeth Riley, Daniel Flood, William Hickey, John Herron, Edward
Hughes, James Morfey, Robert Bryan, Dennis Hoggan (Hogan), Jo Dermott,
Jo Butler, Jo O’Mullen, Charles Gibbon, Richard Kirby, Humphrey Buckley,
Olough Berne, Daniel Vaughan, Bryan Hare, Thomas Connier (Connor), Jo
Tullie, Donough Gorkie, Gerald Butler, John Griffin, Thomas Purcell,
John Duffy, Edmund Butler, James Gavett and John Gavett, “Irishmen”;
James Fenton, Thomas Dunn.
Hotten’s book also contains many names, Irish in appearance, of persons
who went to Barbadoes during the same period, or later, and states that
permission had been given many of them to go to New England and other
parts of the English colonies between 1635 and 1680. That many availed
themselves of the opportunity, and migrated to Virginia is evident from
the names printed in colonial records and the state publications. That
the greater part were useful citizens, and not a few of their
descendants filled positions of honor and emolument in Virginia, and in
the territories settled by her people, is quite clear.
Thomas Jordan, bearing the name both given and proper, borne by one of
the emigrants of 1624, was a sheriff of Nansemond county, in 1718, and a
public-spirited citizen.
Col. Fleming, a namesake of another of these sturdy immigrants, bore an
honorable part in civil and military affairs before and after the
Revolution, and has frequent mention in the publications treating of
those stirring times.
The McCartys have been prominent in Virginia almost from the earliest
period in the history of the colony. Whether or not all were descendants
of Owen and Charles McCartee, who came over in 1635, cannot here be
determined. The name, with various spellings, has frequent mention in
the colonial and state records. It has been represented in the National
Congress, and one of the bravest of the Confederates during the Civil
War, noted for his courage, was Capt. Page McCarty of Richmond. He was
equally noted as a duelist.
In a letter to the writer, some six years ago, Capt. McCarty said there
was a belief in the family that the original immigrants of the name came
from Kinsale in Cork, but some of the name, as is the custom nowadays,
called their ancestors “Scotch-Irish.” He was an exception, however.
In an account of the death and funeral of Washington, by his private
secretary, Tobias Lear, a native of New Hampshire, he wrote that the
families of McCarty, McClanahan, and Callahan were especially invited to
attend the funeral by the widow, at the request of Washington on his
death-bed.
Daniel McCarty was a justice for Fairfax county in 1770. Capt. Richard
McCarty was in command of an expedition against the Indians in 1779.
With him as an associate officer was Captain Quirk. The name is spelled
indifferently as McCartee, McCarty, McCarthy, etc., which makes it
appear that there were others of the same name later and spelling their
names in accordance with the Irish method.
In 1742 there is a record deeding two hundred and ninety-eight acres of
land to Dennis Conneirs,—the good old name of Connor was undoubtedly
twisted by the scribe. Major William Lynn was an officer in the
Spottsylvania militia in 1757. Lynn is a name frequently met in Ireland.
Judge Wauhope Lynn, of New York, is a splendid representative of the
Irish Lynns of Antrim, in Ulster, Ireland. Daniel Lyon and Daniel Currie
were two of the defenders of Hickey’s Fort against the Indians in 1758.
Another old Irish name heads a list of signers complaining against the
Brunswick county court in 1764. It is Malone, spelled properly, and was
borne by Shakespeare’s great Irish commentator, Edmond Malone, who has
frequent mention in Boswell’s Johnson, and who flourished in London
about the same period as his Virginia namesake.
John Hooe (Hoey), Lynaugh Helm, Henry Gee, William Keenan, Daniel
Herring, Daniel McCarty, Philip Nowland (Nolan), Elijah McClenachan,
John Grattan, Walter McClerry (Clary), James McLaw, Nicholas W. Curie,
Jeremiah Glenn, Jeremiah Early, John Fitzpatrick, William Mead, Charles
Lynch, were all magistrates in the several counties of Virginia in 1770.
In a letter of George Mason, written in 1775, declining a nomination to
Congress, he writes his excuses to Mr. McCarty and other inquiring
friends. Capt. Richard McCarty has frequent mention during the
Revolutionary period. As showing the friendship of the Irish people in
Ireland for the Americans during that struggle, the following extract,
written by an American agent, Philip Mazzei, from France to Governor
Jefferson of Virginia, is of interest:
“I shall now tell you how that came about. Mr. Mark Lynch, merchant in
Nantes, came to me with a bill I had drawn in Ireland on Penet & Co.,
D’Acosta having refused to accept it. My old creditor, Mr. John P.
Cotter, of Corke, had ordered that in case of non-payment, the bill
should be returned without protest or molestation. Mr. Cotter’s generous
and delicate behavior had probably prepared Mr. Lynch in my favor and
the sight of my situation completed the business. His countenance
expressed his sensibility at the bad usage I had met with in that town,
and in the most genteel manner offered me the assistance I was in so
great need of, on the security I had proposed to others.”
This letter was written in 1780. It is evident from the closing part of
the quotation that Mr. Mark Lynch, the Irish merchant in Nantes, had
cashed the draft. It recalls a similar act of kindness extended to Ethan
Allen by the people of Cork while he was a prisoner on board an English
vessel in the harbor of that city. They were so lavish of their
hospitality in money and provisions to the American prisoner that the
British captain put an end to it, saying at the same time that he would
not allow the damned Irish rebels to thus treat the damned American
rebels. It also recalls an entry in the diary of John Adams, where he
mentions the hospitable treatment he had received in Spain from two
Irish merchants located in one of its maritime cities.
Between the years 1700 and 1800, many Virginians bearing distinctive
Irish names, and filling honorable positions in civil and military
life, are published in the records of the times. They reflected credit
on the community. John Daly Burk wrote a history of Virginia, and
during the Revolutionary period Thomas Burke was governor of North
Carolina, and Ædanus Burke was chief justice of South Carolina. In
connection with this it is of interest to note that in the report of
the part taken by his regiment, the Thirtieth Virginia Cavalry, in the
battle of Bull Run, Col. Radford credits his adjutant, B. H. Burke,
with capturing Col. Michael Corcoran, of the Sixty-ninth New York.
Beside Col. Radford’s report is that of Lieut.-Col. Henagin of the
Eighth South Carolina. Some of the officers of this regiment, Capt.
Harrington, Capt. Hoole, Capt. McLeod, and Capt. John C. McClenaghan,
are also mentioned. It will be noticed that the name of the
colonel—Cash—and the lieutenant-colonel—Henagin,—are also Irish in
appearance.
The battery attached to the regiment was commanded by a Capt. Shields,
one of whose lieutenants was a McCarty; possibly it may have been Page
McCarty, mentioned before. This battery was from Virginia. The
adjutant-general of Gen. Beauregard was Thomas Jordan. It will be
noticed that this name, given and proper, was borne by one of the
immigrants coming over before 1624. Shields and McCarty were also among
the early Irish names. Surgeon McClanahan is commended in a letter
written by Gen. Robert E. Lee, and in the report of Gen. Stonewall
Jackson. He also speaks in the highest terms of his surgeon, Dr. Hunter
McGuire. A Francis McGuire was in Virginia in 1608, and a Capt. Francis
McGuire, who was a commissioned officer in the Revolutionary War, was
the occasion of trouble between the states of Pennsylvania and Virginia.
McGuire was charged with taking away a free negro man from Pennsylvania.
The correspondence between the states in consequence, as given in the
state papers, is quite lengthy. From this it can be seen that the
McGuires have figured from an early period in the history of the Old
Dominion down to the present. Dr. Hunter McGuire was by the side of
Stonewall Jackson when the latter died, after receiving the fatal wound
from a volley fired by his own men at Chancellorsville.
Perhaps no name is more closely connected with Virginia for a certain
reason than is that of Lynch. John Lynch was the son of an Irish
immigrant who arrived in Virginia in the early part of the eighteenth
century. His son, of the same name, was one of the first settlers of the
town bearing his name, Lynchburg. His brother, Col. Charles Lynch, was
prominent during the Revolution. He commanded a regiment at the battle
of Guilford Court House. His son bearing the same name was governor of
Louisiana. Col. Lynch was a bitter enemy of the Tories. It is said that
the term “Lynch law” originated with him. He was credited with having
hung not less than one hundred Tories by his own hand. Hence the
expression “Lynch law.” This, however, is disputed by Irish writers, who
claim that it originated with a mayor of Galway in the olden times, who,
when the sheriff refused to hang his son convicted of murder, took the
law into his own hands and executed him himself, following the example
of Brutus, who performed a similar act during the existence of the Roman
republic. One of the family, whether or not a descendant it is not
necessary to know, was Lieut.-Commander William F. Lynch of the navy,
who explored the valley of the Jordan some time before the Civil War. He
was a officer in the Confederate navy in the War of the Rebellion.
Capt. John Fitzgerald was Washington’s favorite aide. It is stated that
he was “the finest horseman in the American army.” His home was in
Alexandria. During the trouble with France after the Revolution he was
appointed to command the defences of that city. He was a man of the
highest character and was universally respected. Col. Alexander
McClanahan was one of a family, or clan, which furnished not a few
useful men to Virginia for over a century. His brother, Capt. Robert
McClanahan, was killed at the battle of Point Pleasant in 1770. This was
called one of the bloodiest Indian engagements on record.
Surgeon McClanahan, who has been mentioned in the letter of Gen. Lee
quoted, is undoubtedly of the same family. Within a few years, a Miss
Virginia McClanahan was president of the Daughters of the American
Revolution of the city of Washington.
John Lewis was an immigrant from Ireland who came to Virginia before the
Revolution. Two of his sons, Col. Andrew Lewis and Capt. Charles Lewis,
were in the battle of Point Pleasant, also. Charles was killed. The
colonel afterwards served in the War of the Revolution, reaching the
rank of general before the struggle was over.
Major William Croghan was an officer of the Virginia line in the
Continental army. The name was borne by many men who had distinguished
themselves during the Revolutionary period, and are well known to the
readers of American history.
Among other officers of the line were Captains James Currey, Lawrence
Butler, Michael Wallace, John McCoy and Matthew Carney; Lieutenants
Joseph Conway, Timothy Fealey, Peter Higgins, John Jordan, John Rooney
and William McGuire. Luke Cannon, Robert Hayes, William D. O’Kelley,
Patrick McElroy and Patrick Lockhart are also mentioned. Major Ferdinand
O’Neal was a distinguished officer of dragoons during the same period.
The name occurs frequently as O’Neal, McNeil, Neal, Neale, and Neilly.
A Captain Sullivan was also an officer in the Virginia forces, with a
Major Charles McGill. His company was known as Sullivan’s Militia. Capt.
John O’Bannon was major of Farquier’s battalion of militia of
Williamsburg. Col. William Fleming was one of the well-known officers
and a representative of the name was among the first settlers in 1635.
John Moylan was appointed clothier-general, and as such was sent to
Boston to get clothing.
Among those who were killed at Point Pleasant with McClanahan and Lewis
were Capt. McBride and Lieut. McGuire, and privates John MacMurdrey,
Francis McBride, Hugh Cunningham, John Foley, Andrew McConnell and John
O’Neal. About fifty in all were killed in this engagement.
These names are signed to petitions, appeals, or other papers on the
records from 1782 to 1786: George Flynn, Malcolm McGee, David Looney,
John Adair, Partick Wright, Anthony Geoghegan, Patrick Joyce, James
Sullivan, Richard Whelan, James Murphy, Joseph Delaney, William Kelley.
Alexander Drumgoole was sent on a mission to the Cherokee nation by
Governor Randolph in 1787.
Major Andrew Donnelly was a gallant officer during the Revolutionary
period. Capt. McMahon, who was mentioned, served with Wayne as a major
in the expedition against the Indians, and like Gen. Butler, who had
served through the Revolutionary War, was killed during that engagement.
Other names appearing on the records, either as magistrates or signers
to various papers, were James Corran (Curran), Patrick White,
Christopher McConners, Edward McCarthy, Cornelius Conway, Arthur McCann,
John McLoghlin, William Flood, Edward McGuire, Anthony Murphy, James
Goggins, John Connor, William Brennan, Major Thomas Healey, Capt. Samuel
Brady, Col. William Finnie (Feeney), James Dougherty, Joseph Carroll,
Archibald Casey, Capt. Daniel Mullins, Patrick Saggert, John Sexton,
John McCormick, Thomas Mulledy, David Dungan, Cornelius Brady, Thomas
Brannon, Abraham Donovan, Edmond Grady, John Dunn, Francis Kelly,
Bernard Gallagher, Thomas O’Hara, William Malone, Dennis Ramsay, Thomas
Reardon, George Sweeney, William Fitzgerald, Robert Fitzgerald, Edmund
Moran, Dennis Croghan, Philip Boyle, John Butler, Cornelius O’Laughlan,
Charles O’Neale, William McManahan, James Connell, Joseph McCaughey,
Alexander Leary, Richard Byrne, Thomas McGuire, John Lowery, Joseph
Hensey (Hennessey), Anthony Fitzpatrick, Bernard McCord, John McNeill,
Henry Garrett, Dan McCarthy, Thomas Burke, Nat Murphy, Charles Connor,
Edward Hart, William Danahan, John Casey, James Kelly, Michael Burke,
Patrick Wilson, John Cavanaugh, Richard Nugent, Andrew Donnelly, Jr.,
Lawrence Bryan, Michael Delaney, James Byrne, Michael Tiernan, James
Quinn, James Daley, John McEnery, Francis O’Meara, Henry Fitzgerald,
John McMullen, James McGonegal, John Hagerty, Pat Donohue, James
McCoughlin, Patrick Butler, Cornelius McGuire, Josiah McGuire, Cornelius
McKinley, John Lawless, William Doherty, Alexander Dugan, Cornelius
Harnett (Hartnett), Patrick Roche, Cornelius Fenny (Feeney), Simon
McLaughlan, Thady Kelly and James Murdaugh.
The foregoing, from appearance, were men of standing in the communities
in which they lived. As but comparatively few names appear in public
records, there must have been many others in Virginia of the same
nationality before the beginning of the nineteenth century. Those
mentioned were officers in the militia, justices of the peace, judges,
or holding other positions which had occasioned their names being
printed in the state papers. It will be noticed that the names can be
classed as Irish, distinctively. How many more there might be bearing
English names, but who may have been as Irish as the others, cannot be
determined.
When Ramsay’s _History of the United States_ was written in 1789, or
thereabouts, the following Virginians were among those who subscribed
for it in order to guarantee its publication: Patrick Gill, William
Carroll, Edward Cunningham, James Fleming, H. H. Lacey, John McDermott,
John McBride, M. Sullivan, Thomas H. Mitchell, J. C. Vaughan, A. Jordan,
W. C. Moore, H. H. Redman, Edward Sexton, Francis Riordan, John Bowery,
William Matthews. On examination it will be found that a majority of
these surnames appear among the early settlers of the Old Dominion.
Thomas Fleming, whose name has been mentioned, was colonel of the Ninth
Virginia regiment. One of its field officers was Major M. Donovan.
It is related in the Historical Collections of Virginia that Gen. Andrew
Lewis was born in Ireland, and came here with his father and two
brothers. They were obliged to fly from their native land on account of
the resistance made by them against being evicted by their landlord.
Another prominent man in Virginia in 1753 was Dr. James O’Fallon. He is
supposed to have been the ancestor of the O’Fallons of St. Louis, Mo.,
who were among the latter city’s first settlers. One of the latter, Col.
John O’Fallon, served on the staff of Gen. Harrison at the battle of
Tippecanoe. Another well-known Irish name was that of Michael Dillon,
whose death is recorded from a fall from his horse in 1704. Richard
Donnahan was concerned in Bacon’s Rebellion in 1677, and with him was a
Capt. Hubert Farrell, who is mentioned as being one of Bacon’s majors.
Philip Connor was an associate justice of the Provincial court in 1650,
and Robert Managan (Monaghan) is recorded as taking an apprentice Sept.
24, 1690.
In the main, the first settlers of Kentucky were Virginians. The wife of
Daniel Boone was the first white woman to stand upon the banks of the
Kentucky river. This was in June, 1775, and in the September following
she had for company Mrs. McCary and Mrs. Hogan.
Col. William Casey, born in Virginia, was one of the pioneers of the
dark and bloody ground. Col. Joseph M. Daviess, who fell at Tippecanoe,
was born in Virginia. His grandfather was an Irishman and his mother
Scotch. It is written of him that he had marked peculiarities of both
races. “The hardy self-reliance, the indomitable energy, and
imperturbable coolness which had from earliest times distinguished the
Scotch, were his; while the warm heart, free and open hand, and
ready-springing tear of sensibility, told in language plainer than words
that the blood of Erin flowed fresh in his veins.”
It is clear that this eulogy was not written by a “Scotch-Irishman.” His
name undoubtedly comes from Wales, so it is fair to presume that he had
in his veins commingled the blood of the three kindred races,—the Welsh,
the Irish and the Scotch.
William T. Barry, a noted lawyer, a soldier, an educator, and
postmaster-general under Jackson, was a Virginian of Irish parentage.
Michael Cassidy, born in Ireland, emigrated to Virginia, and finally
settled in and became one of the prominent citizens of Kentucky.
The descendants of the Irish settlers in Virginia in many instances
became eminent in the southwestern states and territories organized
after the Revolution. One of them was Gen. Benjamin Logan, a Virginian,
both of whose parents were Irish. He was one of Kentucky’s greatest men.
Three counties bear the names of Casey, Daviess, and Logan, in honor of
the three men mentioned.
Brig.-Gen. James Hogan, a native of Virginia, served in the Continental
army. He was commissioned Jan. 9, 1779.
In March, 1756, the Provincial Assembly of Virginia passed an act making
provision for protection against the enemy, the French and Indians, and
further enacted a bill providing for the raising of money, £25,000, for
the payment of the militia of the several counties, and for provisions
furnished by sundry inhabitants of the said counties. Among the names to
whom payments were thus made, nearly twenty years before the Revolution,
were the following: John Daley, Elizabeth Birk, Richard Murray, James
Nevil, John Bryan, John Burk Lane, John McAnally, Alexander McMullen,
Bryan Ferguson, John Fitzpatrick, William Cunningham, Robert Carney,
Darby Conway, Thomas McNamara, Michael Mallow, Hugh Divar, William
McGill, Robert Megary, John Shields, Cornelius Sullivan, Michael Dickie,
John Farrell, James Burke, John Jordan, George Farley, Adam McCormick,
Thomas Boyne, William Shannon, Bryan McDonnell, Robert Looney, Robert
McClanahan, Michael Doherty, Peter Looney, John McNeal, William Curry,
John McGowan, Ralph Lafferty, Patrick Frasier, Patrick Campbell, Michael
Kelly, Patrick Porter, James Kennedy, Patrick Lowery, Patrick Savage,
Patrick McCloskey, Charles McAnally, John Kilpatrick, James Boreland,
Hugh Martin, Patrick Cargon, James Mulligan, John Caine, Dennis McNealy,
Lawrence Murphy, Dennis Getty, William McMullen, William Garvin, William
Doherty, Joseph Looney, Patrick McDade (Dowd), John Casey, John Macky,
Thomas Sexton, Head Lynch, Patrick McDavitt, Ambrose Bryan, William
Meade, John Riley, Reuben Keef, Jeremiah Early, Joseph McMurty, Patrick
Hennessy, Edward O’Hare, Luke Murphy, James Murphy, Patrick Vance,
Patrick Hallogan, James McFall, Patrick Johnson, John Patrick Burks,
Thomas Dooley, James Dooley, Thomas Maclin, Thomas Connelly, Michael
Poore, James Lynch, David Kelly, Michael Lawler, William Collins, Miles
Murphy, John Hayes, Richard Burke, Cornelius Mitchell, William Gerrett,
Michael Ryan, Garrett Bolin, William O’Donnell, Patrick McKenny, Richard
Murphy, Francis Maginnis, Bryan Mooney, John Hickey, John Sullivan,
William Murphy, Thomas McGuire, Cornelius Cargill, Michael Dixon,
William Splane, Thomas Doyle, Michael Lynn, Edward O’Neal, Thomas
McClanahan, James Doyle, John Donnelly, William Fitzgerald, Henry Dooley
and Bryan Nolan. The people whose names are here given were soldiers in
the militia fighting against the French and Indians between 1738 and
1758, as well as citizens furnishing them provisions.
In the poll for the election of burgesses for the several Virginia
counties in 1741 are the following, among other names: Morgan Donnell,
Daily Callahan, Edward Barry, John Carfey (Coffey), Simon Carnel, Dennis
Connors, Edward Fagin, John Murphy, Patrick Hamericka, Michael Dermond
(Dermott), James Cullen, William Butler, Michael Scanlan, Gabriel
Murphy, James Dulaney, William Hogan, Henry Murphy, John Madden, Dennis
McCarty, Thomas Carney, William Buckley, William Reardon and Philip
Nolan.
The greater part of the names here given are in appearance Irish of the
Irish, of Gaelic, or of old Norman origin. An examination of the early
Virginia records will show, from 1619 to 1790, the entry of some of the
most ancient of the Gaelic names peculiar to Ireland, like O’Neil,
O’Donnell, O’Brien, O’Connor, accompanied by McMahon, McCarthy,
McClanahan, McGuire, etc.
In an address delivered by the venerable Dr. Thomas Dunn English to the
members of the American-Irish Historical Society, at one of its annual
gatherings in New York several years ago, he stated that when a young
man, over half a century before, he practised his profession in western
Virginia. He noticed while there the manners, customs, and phrases of
the mountaineers, and in later life, when he removed to New York, he was
surprised to see the similarity between them and the newly-arrived Irish
from the south, east, and west of Ireland. This for the first time
caused him to change his opinion as to the nationality of the ancestors
of the people in Virginia who had been classed as “Scotch-Irish,” for in
every respect they appeared more like the southern Irish whom he had met
later in New York.
Enough has been written to show what a large proportion of the people of
the Old Dominion before the year 1800 were of Irish descent. The mention
of any more names would simply be a tiresome proceeding.
While many of these people were distinguished in Virginia, the greater
part of their descendants were more eminent in the territories and
states to which they migrated. A distinguished Virginian, although not a
native of the state, was Major-General Benjamin F. Kelly of the Union
army. He was a native of New Hampshire, but went to West Virginia when a
youth. He was the grandson of Darby Kelly, who served three years in the
old French War in northern New York under Sir William Johnson. Darby was
a soldier, a schoolmaster, and a farmer, and his New Hampshire
descendants are, and have been, among the most useful citizens of the
old Granite state. Gen. Kelly is credited with raising the first Union
regiment and winning the first victory for the Union south of Mason and
Dixon’s line during the Civil War. His nephew, Capt. Warren Michael
Kelly, commanded a company in the Tenth New Hampshire Infantry,
commanded by Col. Michael T. Donohoe, and it is claimed that he led the
first white troops into Richmond after its evacuation.
Another distinguished Union officer, a West Virginian, if I am not
mistaken, was Gen. Milroy. Every Irishman is aware that this was the
good old Gaelic name of Mulroy, and in that form is borne by hundreds of
Irish persons in America to-day. On the Confederate side none of the
many distinguished officers serving under Gen. Lee had a better
reputation as a fighter than Gen. William Mahone. It is claimed that he
was opposed to the surrender of Lee, and that his troops were ready,
under his direction, to continue the fight.
That writers in time will do justice to those of the Irish race and to
Ireland for the part taken in the colonization of the country and in the
establishment of the republic, is unquestioned, but Irishmen and the
sons of Irishmen must interest themselves in this matter in each state
in order to accomplish that end. New England in this respect, through
its writers, has made known to the world the part taken by the Pilgrims
and Puritans in the building of this nation, and their example can well
be followed by people of our own race in laboring with the pen to show
that in the same work Irishmen and Irishmen’s sons have taken no small
part.
The authorities examined in connection with the writing of this paper
are Hotten’s _Original Lists_ of emigrants, the _Virginia Calendar of
State Papers_, the _First Republic in America_, Ramsay’s _History of the
United States_, Campbell’s _History of Virginia_; _Historical
Collections of Virginia_, _William & Mary College Quarterly_, _Gleanings
of Virginia History_, Collins’ _History of Kentucky_.