Chasing Our Tales - County Antrim, Northern Ireland

I have recently taken on the hosting of the the WorldGenWeb site for County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. You can find the beginnings of the page at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nirantri/.

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the Irish. My ancestors came from Scotland through Ireland. The English forced many Scots to live in Ireland, and they forced the Irish to be part of their country. There was many bloody battles fought over the small island, and, personally, I think it is a shame that the whole of the island is not free of the English.

Northern Ireland consists of six of the traditional nine counties of the historic Irish province of Ulster. It was created as a distinct division of the United Kingdom on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, and is part of the United Kingdom.  Situated in the northeast of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west. At the time of the 2001 UK Census, its population was 1,685,000, constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the population of the United Kingdom.

County Antrim is one of the traditional counties of Ireland. It is located within the province of Ulster and is part of Northern Ireland. It was named after the town of Antrim.

Covering an area of 2,844 km, it has a population of approximately 616,000, most of them in and around the Belfast area. The Glens of Antrim offer isolated rugged landscapes, the Giant’s Causeway is a unique landscape, Bushmills produces legendary whiskey, and Portrush is a popular seaside resort and night-life area. The majority of the capital city of Northern Ireland, Belfast, is also in County Antrim, with the remainder being in County Down.

Since I began as the host of County Antrim, I have received several queries about the genealogy of the area. Here they are:
“I'm trying to identify John B McClelland's (Born 1710) parents. His information is as follows: John B McClelland, Born 1710 in Antrim, Ulster, Northern Ireland, Died 1 Nov 1760 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

“It seems as though there are two likely possibilities (for his father anyway); John McClellan (Born 1690) or William McClellan (Born 1685): John McClellan, Born 1690 in Antrim, Ulster, Northern Ireland, Died Aug 1718 in Martha’s Vineyard, Dukes, Massachusetts.

“William McClellan, Born 1685 in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland,Died Oct 1751 in Worcester, Massachusetts.
“Would you happen to know if/how I can find documentation pertaining to John B McClelland's (Born 1710) parents? John McClellan.”

“My uncle met school teacher Josephine M. Gault in 1942, and later became engaged.  He died November 1944, and they did not marry.  We are trying to gather information about my Uncle, and wonder if there anyway to find this Josephine, who I imagine did marry, and may 80 +/- years of age.

“The following article was written around 1947 and published in a small town newspaper in Massachusetts, USA:

“‘IRISH SCHOOL TEACHER ENDS VISIT AT SUDBURY HOME OF DEAD FIANCE

“‘A country school teacher from County Antrim, Northern Ireland, visiting the parents of her dead fiance in Sudbury for the last month, yesterday took the TWA liner Taj Mahel for Shannon, Eire.

“‘Josephine M. Gault of Belfast, Northern Ireland, met Ray C. Smith, jr. 26, of Sudbury, when he was in Ireland in 1942 with the Army.  Smith was interested in looking up his ancestry and through Miss Gault's aid traced his ancestry back to the 1600's and even met a nine-year-old third cousin.

"’When Smith was transferred to England, the two corresponded and planned to marry.  Smith went through North African, Sicilian and French campaigns only to be killed at Eschweller, Germany, in November, 1944, when he went to the assistance of a wounded officer.  He was awarded the Silver Star posthumously. County Antrim, Northern Ireland’

“Any help you can offer would be welcome. Best regards, Elizabeth J Leatham.”

“I am looking for any records of John Horner who emigrated to the US in 1850.
Born:  1771 Place:  Ireland   Died:  10 Oct 1835 Place:  Niles, Trumbull, Ohio Horner Thomas.”

Then a personally interested email arrived:
“We came across your E-address while we were searching for more information about the location of my Dad's home in County Antrim. His parents were father............James Taggart ... Birthplace - Druinfin in County Antrim ... North Ireland; mother..........    Annie Dixan ...  Birthplace - Druinfin in County Antrim ...   However we cannot find Druinfin in any maps of County Antrim. We believe that Druinfin was a small hamlet very close to Ballymena and the family farm was similarly located within a short distance of Ballymena. We are not sure about the spelling for Dixan...could be Dixon. Can you help us collect more info about the Taggart's in and around Ballymena/Druinfin in the late 1800's - early 1900's. We are planning another trip over in 2010/11. Thank you   Donald Taggart, Guelph, Ontario, Canada”  

This last query was personally interested because my husband, Raf’s, grandmother, surname Haugh, had come from Guelph. I emailed Don back, and he looked in the telephone book to discover there are still four Haugh families in Guelph! He even advised that he would do research there for me!

By-the-way, the closest town I can fin to Druinfin is Druimfin on Mull in Scotland. Since there is an Irish/Scottish history, perhaps that is it!

Now on to some history about County Antrim. This history will give you a good idea of the original surnames of the county. Perhaps you have ones of these surnames in your genealogy.

At what date the county of Antrim was formed is not known, but it appears that a certain district bore this name before the reign of Edward II (early 14th century), and when the shiring of Ulster was undertaken by Sir John Perrot in the 16th century, Antrim and Down were already recognized divisions, in contradistinction to the remainder of the province. The earliest known inhabitants were of Celtic, and the names of the subdivisions, supposed to have been made in the 13th century, are all of Gaelic derivation. Antrim was exposed to the inroads of the Danes, and also of the northern Scots, who ultimately effected permanent settlements.

In ancient times, it was inhabited by a Celtic[ people called the Darini. In the early Middle Ages, southern County Antrim was part of the Kingdom of Ulidia, ruled by the Dål Faitach clans Keenan and MacDonlevy/McDunlavey; the north was part of Dål Riada, which stretched into what is now western Scotland over the Irish Sea. Dal Riada was ruled by the O'Lynch clan, who were vassals of the Ulidians. Besides the Ulidians and Dal Riada, there were the Dål nAraide of lower County Antrim, and the Cruthin, who were not Gaelic Celts but Picts.

In the late Middle Ages, it was divided into three parts: northern Clandeboye, the Glynnes and the Route. The Cambro-Norman MacQuillans were powerful in the Route. A branch of the O'Neills of Tyrone migrated to Clandeboye in the 1300s, and ruled it for a time. Their family was called O'Neill Clannaboy. A Gallowglass sept, the MacDonnells, became the most powerful in the Glynnes in the 1400s.

During the Tudor era, the Antrim coast was the scene of one of the 24 wrecks of the Spanish Armada. The Spanish vessel La Girona was wrecked off Lacana Point, Giant's Causeway in 1588 with the loss of nearly 1,300 lives.

Antrim is divided into sixteen baronies. Lower Antrim, part of Lower Clandeboye, was settled by the sept O'Flynn/O'Lynn. Upper Antrim, part of Lower Clandeboye, was the home of the O'Keevans. Belfast was part of Lower Clandeboye and was held by the O'Neill-Clannaboys. Lower Belfast, Upper Belfast, and Carrickfergus were also part of Lower Clandeboye. Cary was part of the Glynnes; ruled originally by the O'Quinn sept, the MacDonnell Galloglasses from Scotland took power here in the late Middle Ages and some of the O'Haras also migrated from Cinnaught. Upper and Lower Dunluce were part of the Route, and were ruled by the MacQuillans. Upper and Lower Glenarm was ruled by the O'Flynn/O'Lynn sept, considered part of the Glynns. In addition to that sept and that of O'Quinn, both of which were native, the Scottish Gallowglass septs of MacKeown, MacAlister, and MacGee, are found there. Kilconway was originally O'Flynn/O'Lynn territory, but was held by the MacQuillans as part of the Route, and later by the gallowglass sept of MacNeill. Lower Massereene was part of Lower Clandeboye and was ruled by the O'Flynns and the O'Heircs. Upper Massereene was part of Lower Clandeboye, ruled by the O'Heircs. Upper and Lower Toome, part of the Route, were O'Flynn/O'Lynn territory. Misc was first ruled by the MacQuillans. Later, the Scottish Gallowglass MacDonnells and MacAlisters invaded. The MacDonnells were a branch of the Scottish Clan MacDonald; the MacAlisters traced their origin back to the Irish Colla Uais, eldest of the Three Collas.

Islandmageehad, besides antiquarian remains, a notoriety as a home of witchcraft, and during the Irish Rebellion of 1841 was the scene of an act of reprisal, for the massacre of Protestants, against the Catholic population by the Scottish Covenanter soldiery of Carrickfergus.

Well, I hope you found a little Northern Ireland history interesting and that, perhaps, you found a family name in there somewhere.

Until next time...keep your toes warm!!!

©2009 Sue Seibert