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 ^°-^ IRISH COLONISTS 
 
 IN NEW YORK 
 
 A Lecture Delivered Before Tke New York 
 
 State Historical Association at 
 
 Lake George New York 
 
 August 22nd, 1906 
 
 By MICHAEL J. O'BRIEN 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 itir &l?amrork Sllrrarj} »Prirtg of Nrtu fork 
 
 4- 
 

JAMES DUANE, 
 First Mayor of the City of New York after the Revolution. Son of 
 Anthony Duane, of Cong, County Galway. Born, 1733. Died, 1797. 
 
IRISH COLONISTS 
 
 IN NEW YORK 
 
 1. THE IRISH ELEMENT IGNORED - PIONEERS OF 
 ALBANY COUNTY. 
 
 Students of the Colonial records will not 
 have to travel far before they find justifica- 
 tion for the statement of Ramsay, the his- 
 torian of North Carolina, when he wrote in 
 1789 that: 
 
 "The Colonies which now form the Unit- 
 ed States may be considered as Europe 
 transplanted. Ireland, England, Scotland, 
 France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, 
 Sweden, Poland and Italy furnished the 
 original stock of the present population, and 
 are generally supposed to have contributed to 
 it in the order named. For the last seventy 
 or eighty years no nation has contributed 
 nearly so much to the population of Amer- 
 ica as Ireland." 
 
 While it is generally conceded that Irish 
 immigrants played an important role in the 
 upbuilding of the American Republic, there 
 has been, somehow, a notable paucity of 
 recognition of their splendid services on the 
 part of the historians. Whatever honors they 
 received were given grudgingly, many writ- 
 ers giving merely a passing reference to their 
 unselfish patriotism, and, when others cov- 
 ered themselves with vicarious glory, it 
 pleased the average writer of history to let 
 the Irishman remain in partial oblivion. 
 
 But the tide has turned. When this schol- 
 arly body has tendered to me the invitation 
 to speak on the subject of "Irishmen in the 
 Colony of New York." I feel as though the 
 men of my race have at last received the 
 recognition denied them by the early his- 
 torians. The development was tardy, but 
 is none the less appreciative. 
 
 Although it does not appear that Irish im- 
 migrants settled in the Province of New 
 York as early as in other sections of the 
 country yet, as far back as the middle of 
 the seventeenth century, we find Irish names 
 mentioned frequently in the records of this 
 colony. The great exodus from Ireland dur- 
 ing the Cromwellian period steered its course 
 either in the direction of New England or 
 the Plantations of the Carolinas and Vir- 
 ginia, rather than to New York. Philadel- 
 phia was at that time the great port of 
 entry. New York had not then attained the 
 
 pre-eminence it now enjoys, though the 
 Irish exodus has considerably diminished, 
 thanks to the efforts of Dr. Douglas Hyde 
 and the Gaelic League. 
 
 In the pages of early American history 
 are many interesting sidelights relating to 
 the standing of Irishmen, not alone in the 
 centres of colonial life and activity along 
 the Atlantic Coast, but out along the bor- 
 ders of the forest, in the wild and unculti- 
 vated tracts of country where their implac- 
 able enemy was the ruthless redskin. 
 
 Everywhere do we come across them in 
 the early records. In the cities, merchants, 
 professional men and gentlemen of fortune ; 
 in the open country, farmers, laborers, arti- 
 sans, Indian traders and schoolmasters, all 
 engaged in the same work, advance agents 
 in the march of civilization. Only a 
 few, comparatively, are mentioned in offi- 
 cial records. These were the men who, by 
 their indomitable pluck and energy, demol- 
 ished the barriers of prejudice and bigotry, 
 and rose above the mass prosperous and tri- 
 umphant to take the place to which they 
 were entitled in the affairs of the day. It 
 would add considerably to the sum of hu- 
 man knowledge if we could trace the careers 
 of these humble but patriotic citizens, but 
 we shall be debarred from its enjoyment 
 until some qualified historian shall arise who 
 will undertake the task. 
 
 To present a really comprehensive account 
 of the great transatlantic migration which 
 set out from Ireland during the Cromwel- 
 lian period would need the substance of 
 many volumes. In the space allotted to 
 me, therefore, I shall simply skim over the 
 surface, and by the aid of qualified authori- 
 ites endeavor to indicate the proportion of 
 this Irish immigration which settled in the 
 Province of New York, the character of the 
 prominent settlers written down in the early 
 records and the localities which principally 
 profited by the settlements which they 
 founded. 
 
 The first mention of an Irishman in the 
 colony of New York is that of a sailor 
 named Coleman, who was killed by Indians 
 
in 1609 at Sandy Hook. O'Callaghan in his 
 "Documentary History of New York," states 
 that this place "was formerly called Cole- 
 man's Point in commemoration of the Irish 
 sailor." In the same historical work are 
 found men named Gill, Barrett and Ferris, 
 "settlers and Indian fighters in New Nether- 
 land in 1657," and, in 1673, Patrick Dow- 
 dall, John Fitzgerald, Benjamin Cooley, 
 Thomas Basset, L. Collins and Thomas 
 "Guinn" (Quinn) were enrolled in the 
 militia. In 1674 John Cooley was a wit- 
 ness on the trial of a Captain Manning in 
 New York. 
 
 In O'Callaghan's "Register of New Neth- 
 erland" we find in a list of physicians in New 
 York City in 1647 the name of Dr. William 
 Hayes, formerly of Barry's Court, Ireland. 
 A Dr. Hughes was also a surgeon in New 
 Netherland in 1657, Richard Gibbons and 
 John iMorris are mentioned as magistrates ai 
 Gravesend in 1651 and 1653; John Coch- 
 rance as overseer in 1663 ,and John Moore 
 in 1652. 
 
 Captain Christopher Goi¥e, of the ship 
 Catherine, was made prisoner in New York 
 in 1690 for speaking seditiously of the Eng- 
 lish Governor. 
 
 According to Brodhead, Captain Daniel 
 Patrick was the first white settler in Green- 
 wich, Conn. He had come from Boston with 
 forty men to assist the Connecticut troops 
 in the war with the Pequot Indians. In 1639 
 he and one Robert Feake established a settle- 
 ment on what is now Greenwich, which 
 was then portion of the Colony of New 
 York. Governor Peter Stuyvesant granted 
 him town rights in that year. His name is 
 said to have been originally Gilpatrick, which 
 is an Anglicized form of the old Irish clan 
 name, Mac Giolla Patrick. 
 
 In the "Census of the City of New York 
 of the Year 1703," appear such names as 
 Mooney, Dooley, Walsh, Carroll, Dauly 
 (Daly?), Corbett, Coleman, Curre, Kenne, 
 Gillen, CoUum, (McCollum), Morrayn, Mun- 
 vill, Gurney, Mogan (McGann), Buckley, 
 Jordan, Hardin, Waters, a Dr. Defany and 
 many others common to Irish nomenclature. 
 Thirty years after that date are found, in 
 addition to those mentioned, such names as 
 McLennon, Lynch, Raftry, Sutton, Hanlon, 
 Quealie, Ray, Darcy, "Dwire," Blake and 
 Devoe, as well as Clarkes, Whites and 
 Brownes, whose Christian names clearly in- 
 dicate their Irish origin. These names were 
 among others signed to a petition to the 
 Governor, dated September 23, 1737, de- 
 manding the removal of the Sheriff of New 
 York. 
 
 In the muster rolls of the militia of the 
 City of New York in the year 1737, are 
 
 •enumerated such Irish names as Welsh, Mc- 
 Dowell, Ryan, Baldwin, Mooney, Hayes, 
 Dorlon, Manning, "Murfey," Lowry, Magee, 
 Killey, Gill, Sutton, Farley, Sullivan, Mc- 
 Mullen, Ray, Hanley, O'Brien, Cansaly and 
 Morgan. There are also Smiths and Browns 
 and such like names, some of whom bore 
 Irish Christian names. 
 
 Andrew Meade, a native of Kerry, settled 
 early in New York, but subsequently re- 
 moved to Virginia, where he died in 1745- 
 He was the father of Colonel Richard K. 
 Meade, an aid-de-camp of Washington, and 
 was the grandfather of Bishop William 
 Meade, of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 of Virginia. 
 
 One would scarcely expect to find an Irish- 
 man in the old Dutch settlement of Bever- 
 wyck as early as the year 1645. The first 
 Dutchmen were very jealous of their prof- 
 itable trade relations with the Indians. They 
 were a very exclusive set, who drew entirely 
 within themselves when a stranger ventured 
 within their gates. One Irishman, however, 
 seems to have burrowed his way into their 
 affections. His name was John Anderson 
 from Dublin, and it is curious to fi.nd that 
 every mention of this old pioneer in the 
 early records is accompanied by the 
 description "the Irishman." He is men- 
 tioned in the old Dutch records as 
 "Jan Andriessen de lersman van Dub- 
 lingh," and as an instance of his popularity 
 among his neighbors he is affectionately re- 
 ferred to as "Jantie" or "Jantien," meaning 
 "Johnnie" or "little Johnnie." He bought 
 considerable land at Albany and Catskill. 
 He died at Albany in 1664. 
 
 John Connell was a soldier in Albany in 
 1666. He married and bought property 
 there, and in 1670 is recorded as selling his 
 house to one Stuart. Thomas Powel, an 
 Irishman, was a baker in Albany from 1656 
 to 167 1. Anna Daly married Everardus Bo- 
 gardus, grandson of the celebrated Anneke 
 Janse Bogardus, on December 4, i67S- 
 James Larkin was in Governor Don- 
 gan's employ in 1687 as "keeper of the 
 granary," and in the same year his country- 
 man, William Shaw, was surveyor of cus- 
 toms in Albany, and was later appointed 
 by Dongan sheriff of the county. William 
 Hogan was in Albany in 1692, where he is 
 described as "Willem Hogen van Bor in 
 Yrlandt in de Kings County." Hjs name is 
 on a list of jurymen who in 1703 tried 
 his countryman, "Johnnie" Finn, in an ac- 
 tion for recovery of rent. This Finn is de- 
 scribed in some of the old Dutch records 
 in this wise: "Jan Fyne (also as "Johannes 
 Fine"), cooper, van Waterfort in Irlandt." 
 
 From 1693 to i743 the names of many of 
 
the descendants of the pioneer, William 
 tfogan, appear in the baptisimal records of 
 the Dutch Reformed Church, although the 
 name is spelled ''Hoogen," "Hoggen," and 
 "Hoghing.". Robert Barrett was in 1699 
 appointed a night watchman for the city, 
 and in the following year Edward Cor- 
 bett and Robert Barrett received licenses as 
 city carters. In 1701, Nicholas Blake was 
 elected a city constable. Lieutenant John 
 Collins was a lawyer in Albany in 1703, and 
 his son vas Mayor in 17 33' and recorder 
 of the city in 1746. Patrick Martin married 
 Mary Cox at Albany on March 15, 1707- 
 
 In a list of Freeholders of the City of 
 Albany in 1720 the names of William Hogan, 
 Daniel Kelley and John Collins appear, and 
 seven years later the list contains the names 
 of William Hogan, Jr., Edward Collins, 
 Michael Bassett, and John Hogan. In 1755, 
 Philip Mullen was fire master of the city, 
 and Philip Ryley had the important post of 
 winder of the town clock. John McDuffie 
 was sheriff of the county and superintend- 
 ent of State prisons in 1765. Mrs. Grant, 
 in her Memoirs of an American Lady, men- 
 tions "a handsome, good-natured looking 
 Irishman in a ragged Provincial uniform," 
 named Patrick Coonie, who, with his wife 
 and children, settled near Albany in 1768. 
 The name of McCarthy is met with very 
 frequently in these old records. Patrick, 
 John and Dennis McCarthy were among the 
 earliest of the family, having been in Albany 
 between 1736 and 1748. 
 
 David McCarthy, a native of Cork, men- 
 tioned as very active in Albany's Commit- 
 tee of Safety, was a Revolutionary soldier, 
 and at the time of his death was a General 
 of militia. On May 6, 1771, he married a 
 granddaughter of Peter Coeymans, the foun- 
 der of an old Dutch family, and thereby 
 became possessed of much land in the Coey- 
 man's Patent. He is said to have been a 
 man of ability and influence and respected 
 by the entire community. He was a mem- 
 ber of the State Legislature in 1792, and 
 in 1804 became county judge. His son, John 
 B. McCarthy was State Senator in 1826, and 
 later, like his father, county judge. 
 
 Other McCarthy's also settled in Albany 
 County, two of whom, daughters of Captain 
 John McCarthy, of New London, married 
 into the celebrated Van Rensselaer family. 
 Hugh Mitchel was one of the ''Commission- 
 ers of Conspiracies" formed in Albany dur- 
 ing the Revolution. Hugh Dennison was a 
 prominent resident of Albany, where he is 
 referred to as "a true Irishman." For many 
 years he conducted the only first-class 
 hotel tliere, which became a place of meeting 
 for the liberty-loving citizens of Albany. 
 
 Washington was a guest of his hotel in 1782 
 and 1783, and was there presented with the 
 freedom of the city. 
 
 In Pearson's "Genealogies of the First Set- 
 tlers of the Ancient County of Albany from 
 1630 to 1800," are mentioned the names of 
 numerous Irish settlers. Many of them were 
 residents of the county long before the open- 
 ing of the eighteenth century, and the man- 
 ner in which the names of some of these 
 Irish settlers are given in this nomenclature 
 is a curious revelation into the way their 
 original Celtic names became changed. For 
 instance, we find "Swillivaun" for Sullivan, 
 Patrick "Weitli" for Patrick White, "Mec- 
 kans" for McCann, "Mourisse" for Mor- 
 rissey, "Coneel"' for O'Connell, "Reyley" 
 for Reilly, and so on. In the mutations 
 of time, even these incongruities in names 
 became still further changed, so that their 
 descendants of the present day cannot be 
 recognized at all as of Irish ancestry, and 
 they themselves probably think they are of 
 English or Dutch descent. The most pro- 
 nounced Irish names enumerated in this book 
 are Ahearn, Byrne, Butler, Burke, Bryan, 
 Barrett, Costigan, Connell, Collins, 
 '"Coneel," Conklin, Collier, Cassiday, Curtin, 
 Cooney, Cunningham, Cummings, Court- 
 ney, Cadogan, Cochrane, Connick, Connolly, 
 Conneway, Dempsey, Daily, Dillon, Down- 
 ing, "Dunnevan," "Dunnoway," Donovan, 
 Donagoe, Ennis, Flynn, Fallon, Farrell, 
 Fletcher, Fleming, "Glispy," "Glaspy," and 
 Gillespie, Garigan, Gilliland, Griffin, Haines, 
 Hogan, Heggerty, Humphrey, Holland, Har- 
 rington, Kelley, Keating, Kane. Kennedy, Lo- 
 gan, Lynch, Murphy, Morrow, Morris. Moore, 
 Milligan, Mitchell, McManus, McGinnis, 
 McNeal, McCleary, McGuire, McCoy, McEn- 
 tee, McCann. McVey, McMenny, McGahary, 
 McMullen, McKee, McCue, McFarland, Mc- 
 Bride, McCann, McCloskey, McCarthy, Mc- 
 Clure, McCay, McDonald, McKinney, Mc- 
 Cullough, McGuiness, McClellan, Maloney, 
 Mahoney, Magee, Mooney, Molloy, Mur- 
 ray, "Mourisse," Manley, O'Brien, O'Con- 
 nor and Connor, Norton, Nevin, Power, 
 Quinn, Reilly, Ryan, Reynolds, "Swilli- 
 vaun" and Sullivan, Tracy, Waters and 
 Welsh. Besides these were Patrick Clarke, 
 Patrick Kellinin. Patnick "Plat," Patrick 
 White and Patrick Constable. Many of 
 them were men of family. 
 
 These were merchants, farmers, miners, 
 millers and backwoodsmen; the pioneers 
 who, with their Dutch neighbors, blazed the 
 trail of civilization through that section, 
 rolled back the savage red man, and who 
 marked along the banks of the Hudson and 
 Mohawk Rivers the sites of future towns 
 and cities. 
 
Gove„„, 0, New York, ■a83..e38. B„„ i„ .^^i.^, ,„, „,^^ ^__ 
 
 London, 1715. 
 
II.-DONGAN, THE IRISH GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Early Settlers in Long Island and in Columbia, Westchester, Orange and 
 
 Ul^er Counties. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to remind this 
 gathering that such distinguished men as 
 Governor Thomas Dongan and Sir Wm. 
 Johnson were natives of the Emerald Isle, 
 except to say that their careers were such 
 that any American of Irish blood can point 
 to them with pride. It was during the ad- 
 ministration of Dongan, and under his direc- 
 tion that the charter decreeing that no taxes 
 should be imposed except by act of the As- 
 sembly was adopted by the Provincial Leg- 
 islature. This was a most radical change 
 from the truly English method previously 
 in vogue. His most prominent character- 
 istic was his tolerance toward all forms of 
 religion. He believed that one religious de- 
 nomination had as good a righ-t as another 
 to the free enjoyment of its creed and wor- 
 ship, and his whole career indicates that 
 he put that theory into practical execution. 
 In 1687 he promulgated the "Declaration 
 of Indulgence," which authorized public 
 worship by any sect, and abolished all re- 
 ligious qualifications for office. 
 
 As to Johnson I will only say that he 
 has been described by many unthinking 
 writers as an "Englishman," or else that 
 he was an Irishman merely "by accident of 
 birth." I maintain, however, that there is 
 no historical justification for either descrip- 
 tion. There are English Johnsons and Irish 
 Johnsons. The latter are of the purest na- 
 tive Celtic stock, and even to-day there are 
 families of Johnsons in Ireland who are 
 called "Mac Shane" by their neighbors al- 
 most as frequently as they are called "John- 
 son." By a law passed in the second year 
 of the reign of Edward IV. of England all 
 Irishmen who resided within what was 
 called the "Pale," that is, within the military 
 jurisdiction of England as it then existed, 
 were obliged to discard their old Irish clan 
 names and adopt in their stead English Sur- 
 names, under pain of the forfeiture of their 
 possessions. When taking on their new 
 names some of the Irish families adopted 
 their English synonyms. The Mac Shanes 
 were a celebrated fighting clan who took part 
 in the wars between the O'Neills and O'Don- 
 nells of Ulster and the English invader. Some 
 of them are known to have settled within 
 the Pale. Sir William Johnson was born 
 in the County of Meath. which was within 
 this charmed English, circle. In the Gaelic 
 language "Mac" means "the son of," and 
 
 "Shane" means "John," so that, when the 
 MacShanes were forced to change their 
 names, they naturally took that which bore 
 in English the closest resemblance to their 
 own, namely "Johnson." 
 
 A person uninformed of the unfortunate 
 history of Ireland, therefore, but more espe- 
 cially one without some knowledge of the 
 old Gaelic names, will find considerable dif- 
 ficulty in recognizing the descendants of 
 some of the early Irish emigrants as being 
 of Irish blood. 
 
 Dongan's estates were divided among his 
 nephews, John, Thomas, and Walter Don- 
 gan. Walter's son, Lieutenant-Colonel Ed- 
 ward Dongan, of the 3d Battalion of New 
 Jersey Volunteers was killed in an attack on 
 the British forts on Staten Island in Aug- 
 ust 1777. John C. Dongan, one of the de- 
 scendants of the Governor represented Rich- 
 mond County in the New York Assembly 
 from 1786 to 1789. Among the Irish who 
 settled early in Staten Island were Richard 
 Connor, who arrived from Ireland in 1760, 
 in which year he purchased a landed estate 
 there. He is referred to in Clute's His- 
 tory of the Island as "a man of respectable 
 acquireriients and superior business quali- 
 fications, who filled all the responsible posi- 
 tions on the Island." His son, Richard, was 
 a prominent surveyor and held various of- 
 fices of trust. He was a member of the 
 First and Third Provincial Congress. Jere- 
 miah Connor is mentioned as in Staten 
 Island in 1761. 
 
 Among the members of the Colonial As- 
 sembly from Richmond County who bore 
 Irish names were Thomas Morgan, Henry 
 Holland, John Dongan, John C. Dongan 
 and John Dunn. 
 
 Father Henry Harrison, an Irish Jesuit 
 priest, was in New York in 1683, having 
 been brought over by Governor Dongan, "to 
 treat with the Caughnawaga Indians." 
 
 Father Harrison went back to Ire- 
 land in 1690, but returned seven years 
 later, this time to Maryland, where he died 
 in 1701. Another Irish missionary who 
 labored among the Indians in New York 
 about eighty years later was Revd. Mr. 
 Kenny. 
 
 In a report to the Lord President, dated 
 September 8, 1687, Governor Dongan recom- 
 mends "that natives of Ireland be sent here 
 to colonize where they may live and be very 
 
happy." Numbers of them must have ac- 
 cepted the invitation, for we find many Irish- 
 men mentioned in the public documents of 
 the Province during the succeeding years. 
 
 In another of his reports to the ''Com- 
 mittee of Trade of the Province of New 
 York," dated February 22, 1687, he states 
 that very few English, Scotch or Irish fami- 
 lies had come over to the Province during 
 the preceding seven years, but that "on the 
 contrary, on Long Island they increase so 
 fast that they complain for want of land, 
 and many remove from thence into the 
 neighboring Province." As to the Irish on 
 Long Island, the official lists of the inhabi- 
 tants would indicate that there were large 
 numbers of them. In the rate lists of the 
 year 1675 of Long Island townships, appear 
 such names as Kelly, Dalton, Whelan, Hand, 
 Hare, Fithian, Condon, Barry and Shaw, 
 in Easthampton ; in Huntington, Powers, 
 Bryan, Goulden, Quinn, Canye, Kane and 
 White ; in Southold, Moore, Conklin, Lyman, 
 Coleman, Martin, Lee, White, Bradley, Grif- 
 fin, Terrell, Giles, Moore, Veale and Clarke ; 
 in Flushing, Harrington, Ford, Griffin, Ward, 
 Daniell, Clery, Patrick, Holdren and Hol- 
 drone. Edward Hart was Town Clerk of 
 Flushing in 1638. In Brookhaven, Ward, 
 Clarke, Norton, Davis, Sweeney, Murphy, 
 Lane and Rogers ; in Gravesend, Boyce and 
 Goulding ; in Jamaica, Creed, Ford and Free- 
 man ; in Hempstead, Sutton, Ireland, Dan- 
 iell, Lee and Reilly ; in Oyster Bay, McCor- 
 kel, Collins, Butler, Davis and Kirby; in 
 Southampton, Kelly, Kennedy, Mitchel, 
 Hughes, Cochrane, McCown, Butler, Bar- 
 rett, Moore, Hand, Shaw, Clarke, Norris 
 and Jennings. There were several families 
 of the same name scattered over the island. 
 Many other landowners bearing non^Irish 
 surnames, but Irish Christian names, such as 
 Brighid Clement, Brighid Roberts, Bridget 
 Scudder, Patrick Mott, and the like, I do 
 not include. The names of these doubtless 
 were changed before they left Ireland, under 
 the operation of the English law already re- 
 ferred to. 
 
 William Welsh, one of the counsellors 
 of William Penn, negotiated a treaty in 
 1683 with the Indians of Northwestern New 
 York. He represented the Governor of 
 Pennsylvania in negotiations with Gover- 
 nor Dongan in 1684 relative to a quarrel 
 with Lord Baltimore. Nicholas Cullen 
 signed a complaint of the inhabitants of 
 the City of New York to the English King 
 on June 11, 1687. In a letter from Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor Leisler, of New York, on 
 March 4, 1689, to the Governor of Maryland, 
 he refers to "the insolent but courageous 
 conduct of the Papists," and how he had 
 
 "suspected and apprehended two Irish re- 
 bellious traitors, placed them on a bark and 
 sent them to Maryland." In a report to 
 the same Leisler from Captain John Coode, 
 dated April 4, i6go, he speaks of certain 
 prisoners "lately in custody upon suspicion 
 of being Irishmen and papists." Two of the 
 prisoners, named Healy and Walsh, who 
 made their escape to Pennsylvania, seem 
 to have been particularly obnoxious to the 
 virtuous Captain Coode. These letters, in 
 themselves, prove that many Irishmen were 
 residents of the colony of New York at that 
 time, but of the names of many of them 
 and the places where they settled I ajn yet 
 unable to find any reliable record. 
 
 In Munsell's "American Ancestry," James 
 Murphy, who was born in Dublin, is re- 
 ferred to as a settler in Columbia County 
 in 1694. He was the owner of a large tract 
 of land, and is said to have had numerous 
 descendants. One of them, John Murphy, 
 who was born in 1767, served in the war 
 of 1812. Tunis Cochran, who was also born 
 in Ireland, was a later settler in the same 
 county. He fought in the Revolutionary 
 War, and his son, Tunis, upheld the fighting 
 record of the family by serving in the war 
 of 1812. John Scott came from Ireland in 
 1739, and settled in Spencertown, Columbia 
 County. He married Mary Hughes, an 
 Irishwoman. 
 
 Other early Irish settlers in Columbia 
 County were Daniel Downing, in 1749, who 
 commanded a company of New York militia 
 in the Revolutionary War; William Collins, 
 in 1767; Samuel McClellan and Samuel Hig- 
 gins, in 1783, and Joseph Daley in 1790. 
 James White, who was born in County 
 Down, settled in Chatham in 1765. He was 
 a lieutenant-colonel in the Revolutionary 
 Army, and served under Washington. He 
 was the son of James White, who was for 
 many years a member of the Irish Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 In a petition to the Governor of New 
 York of the residents of Columbia County, 
 dated January 7, 1695, praying for an inves- 
 tigation into Robert Livingston's title to 
 certain tracts of land in that county, I 
 find such names as Connor, Kilmore, Mc- 
 Lean, Crian, McDermott, Davis, Whalen, 
 Kilmer, Dennis, McArthur, "Cannay," Al- 
 lan, Drum, and Murphy Mclntyre. 
 
 Among the employees of the same Robert 
 Livingston, at the Ancram Iron Works, 
 were McCoy, McArthur, Furlong, Elliott, 
 Angus McDufiEey and Timothy O'Connor. 
 
 In a map of Columbia County, compiled 
 from actual surveys by John Wigram in 
 January, 1798, I find among the property 
 owners, Collins, Gill, Lynch, Roddy, Patrick, 
 
McCarthy, Moore, Kilmore, McFall, Morri- 
 son, Meghley, McDermott, Lane, McArthur, 
 Mclntyre, Irvine, Carroll, Brian, McClean 
 and Brofey. In order to have acquired prop- 
 erty I have no doubt many, if not all, of 
 these were there many years. In an old 
 churchyard at Kinderhook may be seen such 
 names as O'Dowd and O'Brady, dated 1740 
 and 1749 respectively. Other early settlers 
 in Columbia County were Powers, Blakes 
 and Buckleys. 
 
 Newtown, L. I., is said to be one of the 
 very oldest towns in the Province of New 
 York, its history antedating even that of 
 New Amsterdam. It seems to have been 
 a popular place with Irish settlers in the 
 early days. In 1664, John Cochran was 
 a constable and freeholder of the town of 
 Newtown. About the same period there 
 were several Moores, and families named 
 Hart and Jennings in Newtown. The na- 
 tionality of these is not given, but the 
 names are so common in Ireland that is 
 is probable they were of that nation. 
 
 Hugh O'Neale was a prominent resident 
 of Newtown in 1655, and in that year he 
 married a daughter of Dr. Adrian Van der 
 Donck, of Flushing, who is described in 
 the History of Newtown as a distinguished 
 Doctor of Laws. Van der Donck was one 
 of the early Dutch settlers of that town, and 
 was the first to obtain a patent for the Rap- 
 pelye estate at Astoria. The Rappelyes were 
 related by marriage to the celebrated Riker 
 family, and to-day the old Rappelye Ceme- 
 tery at Astoria is one of the most interest- 
 ing spots to students of old New York. 
 There one can decipher on the old tomb- 
 stones the names of many of the 
 Rikers and the Rappelyes, and of others 
 who married into these pioneer families 
 long before the Revolution. 
 
 It is remarkable to read of the number of 
 Irishmen who married into the Riker family. 
 Captain George Collins, married Elizabeth 
 Riker in 1742. Michael Hines married Ger- 
 trude Riker, and a Captain John O'Brian 
 married Jane Riker, one of whose daughters 
 later became the wife of the distinguished 
 American artist, Inman. Thomas Lynch, a 
 Galway man, also married into this family, 
 and the widow of Lynch afterwards became 
 the wife of Anthony Duane, also a Galway 
 man, who was a leading merchant of New 
 York, and the father of James Duane, dis- 
 tinguished as a member of the first Conti- 
 nental Congress and the first Mayor of New 
 York in the infant days of the American 
 Republic. 
 
 In later years, another lady of the Riker 
 family was married to Dr. William James 
 MacNevin, one of the leaders of the United 
 
 Irishmen, and who is known as the "Father 
 of American Chemistry." MacNevin was 
 buried in the old cemetery at Astoria. 
 
 Several families of McDonoughs were in 
 Newtown before 1750, and some of them are 
 mentioned as occupying leading positions 
 in the affairs of that then populous set- 
 tlement. Terrence Reilly, a New York mer- 
 chant, lived in Newtown in 1755. There 
 also settled McConnells, Shannons, Devines 
 and Haires. John Kearns taught school at 
 Newtown during the Revolutionary War, and 
 after the war one Thomas McFarran pur- 
 chased an estate there of an English officer 
 named Grant whose property became for- 
 feited. Daniel Bodle, a native of Armagh, 
 was in Newtown in 1740, but in 1742 he 
 settled at Little Britain in Orange County, 
 where he became a civil magistrate. He 
 married a cousin of Governor Clinton, by 
 whom he had a large family. He was one 
 of the most widely known and respected 
 men in that section of the country and 
 served in the Congress of the United States 
 as a representative from Ulster and Sullivan 
 counties. He lived to a sublime old age. 
 
 William Kelly, of New York, was owner 
 of a packet vessel plying between New York 
 and the Island of Barbadoes in 1750. It 
 was to this island that Cromwell exiled 
 thousands of the Irish race in the middle 
 of the seventeenth century, and from where 
 many of their descendants afterward came 
 to the American colonies. A Captain Ed- 
 ward Kelly, commander of a whaling vessel, 
 was also in New York at this time. His 
 family is mentioned in the History of New- 
 town as residents of that town. Another 
 of the Kelly clan was a lawyer in New 
 York in 1755. Daniel O'Brien is mentioned 
 in the Nezv York Weekly Gazette Review 
 as theowner of a ferry plying between New 
 York and Amboy, thence by stage coach to 
 Philadelphia, in the year i7S0- 
 
 W^illiam O'Dell was one of the first set- 
 tlers in Rye, Westchester County. He locat- 
 ed there in 1662, and became a large land 
 holder. William Collins was excise col- 
 lector of Westchester Comity in 1686, and 
 Bridget Ferguson was in that county in 1696. 
 
 In Baird's History of Rye Gabriel Lynch 
 is mentioned as a settler in 1688. He came 
 from England, which fact prompted another 
 historical writer to designate him an "Eng- 
 lisman." Another, Gabriel Lynch, was one 
 of the Commissioners of Highways in Rye 
 in 1765. Captain John Lynch was one of 
 the petitioners for a patent for the White 
 Plains Purchase in 1721. John Lynch was 
 a land owner in White Plains in i737- All 
 of these Lynches are said to be of separate 
 families, who settled early in New York. 
 
In Bolton's History of Westchester 
 County several members of the Hayes fa- 
 mily, settlers in Rye in 1721, are mentioned. 
 They were mine owners and also owned a 
 large tract of land. Other Irish settlers in 
 Rye, who are mentioned at various times 
 between the years 1710 and 1799, were Ken- 
 nedys, McCullums, Nealys, Moores, Sex- 
 tons, Suttons, Hares, Caseys, and Fitzger- 
 alds. Captain John Flood, of Rye, was 
 "voted twenty dollars by the Committee of 
 Safety in 1776 as a reward for his spirited 
 conduct in apprehending William Louns- 
 berry, a notorious enemy of America." 
 
 In Eastchester half a century before the 
 Revolution, were families styled "Gee" (Mc- 
 Gee), fitz giarral" (Fitzgerald), Ward and 
 Curry. 
 
 In the records of the neighboring towns 
 of Westchester County we meet with the 
 names of several settlers of the same names. 
 They were merchants, farmers and Indian 
 traders. Among the residents of New 
 Rochelle in 17 10 were nine Barretts, seven 
 "Moryces," five "Murros," and two Man- 
 nions. These "Moryces" were, no doubt 
 originally Morrisseys, and it is entirely 
 within the bounds of probability to say that 
 the "Murros" of New Rochelle were de- 
 scended from the MacMurroughs of Lein- 
 ster. We do know from Irish history that 
 the "Murro" and '"Morrow" families in Ire- 
 land are descended from the MacMurroughs. 
 
 In Orange County records of the earliest 
 pioneer days in that county mention is made 
 of Irish settlers. Lossing says "the City of 
 Newburgh was first settled in 1709 by Eng- 
 lish, Irish, New England and Huguenot fa- 
 milies." John Connor, who was born in 
 County Westmeath, in 1741, settled in 
 Orange Co. in 1767. He married one Han- 
 nah Dunn. He served as a private in a New 
 York regiment in the Revolutionary War. 
 One of his descendants, Dr. Leartus Connor, 
 of Detroit, was one of the leading medical 
 men of America. A family of Fitzgeralds 
 were prominent land owners in Orange Co. 
 in 1750. In 1729, Charles Clinton, father 
 of a distinguished family of Revolutionary 
 soldiers and statesmen, left County Long- 
 ford and settled the town of New Wind- 
 sor, Orange County, with 200 of his fellow- 
 countrymen. He married an Irishwoman. 
 Their daughter married Colonel James Mc- 
 Claughrey, a brave Irish officer of the Revo- 
 lution. It was the Clinton family that gave 
 New York its first Republican Governor. 
 They were originally of English descent, 
 who fled into Ireland during the regime of 
 Cromwell. In Ireland they became "as Irish 
 as the Irish themselves." In a map of that 
 section of the State along the Delaware and 
 Susquehanna rivers, filed in the Surveyor- 
 
 General's Office in 1690, I find the following 
 property owners in the year 1683: Butler, 
 McNeil, Croghan, McKee, Loudon, Byrne, 
 Alloon, Clarke, White, McFarlan, Kennedy, 
 Guerin and Crean. There were several fami- 
 lies bearing the same name. In 1720, there 
 were, in addition to these, land owners 
 named Hogan, Kelly, Collins, Lewis, Hol- 
 land and Feeley. 
 
 As early as 1676, there were Irishmen in 
 Ulster County, and in a petition sent by the 
 inhabitants of Esopus in that county to the 
 Provincial Governor in that year, praying to 
 have a clergyman sent to them, were such 
 signatories as Quirk, Shea, Gray, Danniell 
 and McGarton. In the "Journal of the Second 
 Esopus War" in 1663, Captain Martin Krie- 
 ger refers to an Irishman named Thomas 
 so frequently that we must conclude he acted 
 a very prominent part in the doings of the 
 early settlers of that section. 
 
 On the headstones in an old churchyard 
 at Kingston are inscribed several Irish 
 names dated as far back as 171 1, one, a 
 family named O'Neill, having been quite 
 numerous in that section. 
 
 The baptisimal and marriage records of 
 the old Dutch Church at Kingston contain 
 many Irish names, among which may be 
 mentioned Cane, Cavenagh, Connor, Con- 
 way, Carroll, Corkren, Carrick, Conneway, 
 Dailey, Dooley, Doyle, Ennis, Farrel, Flana- 
 gan, Garvey, Griffin, Gilliland, Hogan, Hol- 
 land, Haaley, Harrington, Haes, Kean, 
 Kehill, McGuiness, McKennie, McDonnell, 
 Moore, Magee, Makoun, McKeffie, McCabie, 
 Makartrie, McKie, McGahan, McFall, Mac- 
 pharlin, McKabe, McCarty, Mogan, Pouwer, 
 Reilly, Sweeney, Welsch, and so on. Some 
 of these run back to the first decade of the 
 eighteenth century. The Carrolls were quite 
 numerous, although the name is spelled, in 
 most cases, "Karel" and "Karole." Flana- 
 gan is down as "Flanninger" and "Flanen- 
 gen," McDonnell as "Mektonel," McMullen 
 as "Mekmollen," MdDonough as "Mekdon- 
 nog," Connor as "Konners," and other Irish 
 names are twisted into every conceivable 
 shape and form. 
 
 In a list of Freeholders in the same coun- 
 ty in 1728 are included such names as 
 Moore, McNeill, McCollum, Ward, Hum- 
 phrey, Shaw and a Dr. Golden. 
 
 In the muster rolls of the Ulster County 
 Militia of the year 1737 are to be found 
 such armed defenders of the colony as 
 Ennis, Magennis, McLean, Waters, Mc- 
 Gregory, Davis, Moore, McNeill, Gillespies, 
 (spelled "Glaspy" and "GHspy"), Milligan, 
 Coleman, Shaw, two Patrick Broder^icks 
 (both spelled "pathrick broodrick"), Mc- 
 
 10 
 
Collum, Hayes, Humphrey, Ward, Flanigan, 
 Patrick Gillespie, Lowry, Crane, McDonnell, 
 Blake, Boyle, McGowan, McDonnell, Mc- 
 Cloghrey, Sutton, Nealy, Cain, Neil, Read, 
 McKey, McDowell and McMichael. There 
 were several of the Humphreys, McNeills 
 and Gillespies. Last, but perhaps not least, 
 there was a forlorn soldier styled "pathcr- 
 
 ick mac peick," and if Patrick had any race 
 pride at all I shouldn't wonder if he were 
 not indignant enough to refuse to go out 
 and do battle with the Indians after his 
 name had been so badly slaughtered by the 
 poor scribe of a corporal ! Those were days, 
 however, when ''a rose by any other name 
 did smell as sweet." 
 
 <=[^^<}=> 
 
 11 
 
III.-THE IRISH BRIGADE. 
 Pioneers of Yates, Oswego and Washington Counties. 
 
 Among the earliest, some of them the 
 first, settlers in Yates County, were Hugh 
 Walsh, John Collins, Daniel Neven, John 
 McAuley, William McDowell, William Wall, 
 John Malley, Andrew Fleming, George Mc- 
 Murphy, Samuel McFarren, John O'Brien, 
 John Reynolds, and Parleys, Fintons, Glea- 
 sons, Gilmores and McMasters. 
 
 In the neighboring county, Oswego, Irish- 
 men are also found about the time of the 
 Franco-English war. They were not alone 
 among those settlers who followed the peace- 
 ful pursuits of tilling and building, but they 
 were "the men behind the guns" who held 
 the marauding Indian in check, and who, 
 although fighting under the English flag, re- 
 pelled the advances of the French through 
 that territory. It does not follow from this 
 that all of those soldiers bearing Irish names 
 came over with the English regiments. 
 Some of them seem to have been laborers 
 and backwoodsmen, but who "for love of a 
 fight," joined the forces of Sir William 
 Johnson which had been operating against 
 the French in that territory. 
 
 In the "Manuscripts of Sir William John- 
 son" is found an interesting item indicat- 
 ing that large numbers of Irishmen were ac- 
 tive participants in the fighting along the 
 Northwestern frontier of New York in the 
 middle of the eighteenth century. In a re- 
 port dated May 28, 1756, from the comman- 
 der of an English regiment, he says that 
 "a great number of Irish papists and trans- 
 ports who were enlisted from Pennsylvania 
 and Maryland, deserted at Oswego and other 
 garrisons, sheltered themselves among the 
 Indians of the Six Nations, who passed 
 them through their country on their way 
 back to the provinces, whence they enlisted, 
 and where they have acquaintances and con- 
 federates." That "there are great numbers 
 of these Irish papists among the Delaware 
 and Susquehanna Indians who have done 
 a world of prejudice to English interests." 
 Doubtless these Irishmen had been forcibly 
 impressed into the English service, which 
 they had every reason to despise, and grasped 
 the opportunity of their close contiguity 
 to the French and friendly Indians to make 
 their escape in large bodies. This circum- 
 stance seems to have caused general alarm 
 among the English officials, who, undoubt- 
 edly, depended much on these impressed 
 Irish soldiers to fight their battles, as Eng- 
 
 land has on many occasions since in her 
 campaigns of aggression and conquest. 
 
 The contests between the French and 
 English at this time along the Canadian bor- 
 der were of the fiercest character. Both 
 employed friendly Indian tribes, but the 
 commanders on neither side could restrain 
 the savages from ravaging the settlements 
 of the white man. In these raids the peace- 
 ful settler suffered many hardships, and 
 from the New York papers of the day, we 
 glean some idea of the strife of the con- 
 tending parties. The New York Mercury 
 on June 14, 1756, gave an account of an 
 Indian attack on settlements near Oswego, 
 and among a number of artizans and far- 
 mers killed at that place were James Flana- 
 gan, Michael Murray, John Mitchell, John 
 Jordan and James Grant, and among those 
 who were made prisoners were William 
 Drewry, Thomas Gleddon, James Dawson, 
 Thomas Hogan, James Cavenagh, Samuel 
 Miles and William Mullett. 
 
 Colonel James Barrett, who commanded 
 the patriots at Concord, was a Captain of 
 Provincials at Oswego. 
 
 Another interesting item pertaining to 
 American history of this period, is one con- 
 tained in the "Journals of the Marquis of 
 Montcalm," commander of the French troops, 
 relating to the Irish Brigade in the service 
 of France. In August, 1756, the French 
 laid siege to Chouaguen, on Lake On- 
 tario, opposite Oswego. After a fierce en- 
 gagement, the English surrendered with all 
 their armaments and vessels of war, and 
 among the prisoners were "two English 
 regiments which were at the Battle of Fon- 
 tenoy." It so happened that the regiment 
 which compelled their surrender was one of 
 those which comprised the Irish Brigade 
 which administered such telling defeat to 
 the "bloody Duke of Cumberland" on that 
 historic battlefield. In the Canadian cam- 
 paign, it was commanded by a Colonel 
 Beam (Byrne?), and, whether or not the 
 same identical men made up its muster roll 
 when at Oswego as had been at Fontenoy 
 . eleven years before, the capture of the two 
 English regiments must indeed have been a 
 source of grim satisfaction to those Franco- 
 Irish soldiers. Beam's regiment receives 
 special mention in the "Journals of Mont- 
 calm" for its bravery in this engagement. 
 "The leaders in the attack on the fort," to 
 
 12 
 
Governor of the Province of 
 New York. Born at Smith- 
 town, County Meath, 1715. 
 Died at Johnstown, N. 
 Y., July 11, 1774. 
 
quote the words of a deserter from one of 
 the English regiments, "were the French 
 soldiers who were clothed in red, faced with 
 green, wihich, I imagine, belong to the Irish 
 Brigade." This description coincides exact- 
 ly with the uniform worn by the Irish Bri- 
 gade in the service of France at that time. 
 
 In the French-English War, Irish sol- 
 diers fought on both sides. They were at 
 Lake George in I7S7 under Sir William 
 Johnson, and in the ranks of Montcalm's 
 army there were many exiles of Erin 
 scattered through the different regiments, 
 besides the distinct corps commanded by 
 Colonel Beam. 
 
 Lossing relates that in the attack on the 
 garrison at Long Point, on Lake George, 
 by General Montcalm on March i6th, 1757, 
 "the garrison made a vigorous defense. 
 The garrison and fort were saved by the 
 vigilance of Lieutenant (afterwards Gen- 
 eral) Stark, who, in the absence of Rogers, 
 had command of the Rangers, a large por- 
 tion of which were Irishmen. On the even- 
 ing of the 1 6th he overheard some of them 
 planning a celebration for St. Patrick's 
 Day." He goes on to say that the Irish in 
 the regular regiments usually became hila- 
 rious on the occasion of such celebrations, 
 and Montcalm, anticipating that they would 
 be hors de combat, planned his attack on the 
 night preceding St. Patrick's Day, but that 
 "Stark, with his sober rangers, gallantly de- 
 fended and saved the fort." 
 
 Most assuredly the Irish must have been 
 in great force in the army to warrant an 
 assertion such as this on the part of 
 this noted American historian. Amons 
 
 the officers killed in the battle of Lake 
 George were Captains Maginn, Farrell, and 
 McGinnis. To the last named, who com- 
 manded the New Hampshire militia, is given 
 the credit of turning the fortunes of the 
 day. "At the head of 200 men he fell on 
 the French and completely routed them." 
 
 Roger's Rock, on Lake George, was the 
 scene of more than one stubborn fight with 
 the Indians in the campaign of 1755. Major 
 Rogers, from whom it took its name, is 
 described by Lossing as "the son of an 
 Irishman," who was an early settler in New 
 Hampshire. 
 
 John Savage, who was born in Derry in 
 1707, settled in Salem, Washington County. 
 He was captain of a company of volunteers 
 in the French War. One of his descend- 
 ants, Edward Savage, of Salem, was a mem- 
 ber of the New York Legislature for 21 
 years, and his grandson, John Savage, of 
 Utica, was Comptroller of the State from 
 1 82 1 to 1823, and from the latter year to 
 1836 was Chief Justice of the Supreme 
 Court of New York. Other settlers in 
 Washington County were Harringtons, 
 Powers, Griffiths and Nortons, who located 
 at Granville; in White Creek, Kennedys, 
 Lyons, Savages and Grays, and in the neigh- 
 boring settlement of Dorset (now Vermont) 
 we find Manly, Powell, Ward, Gill, Brad- 
 ley and Clarke. All of these were farmers. 
 In the same neighborhood lived Robert 
 Cochran, one of the "rioters" with Ethan 
 Allen in 1771. David Mooney received a 
 grant of 2,000 acres of land in Washing- 
 ton County in 1765. It was known as the 
 Mooney Patent. 
 
 <=pco^ 
 
 14 
 
IV.-CHURCH RECORDS IN EVIDENCE. 
 
 How Irish Names Became Changed. 
 
 In the collections of the New York Gen- 
 ealogical and Biographical Society covering 
 marriages solemnized in the Dutch Re- 
 formed Church of New York between the 
 years 1639 and 1801, are records of mar- 
 riages of numerous Irishmen and Irish- 
 women. The earliest seems to be the mar- 
 riage of William Moore and Margaret Feen 
 on October 8, 1685. George Walker, de- 
 scribed as "from lerlant," was married to 
 a Miss Van Hoeck on September 23, 1692, 
 and Miss Aeltje Jans took the more eupho- 
 nious name of Flynn on July 7, 1693. Cath- 
 erine Stridles demonstrated her aesthetic 
 taste when, on April 18, 1701, she married 
 Willem Doulen, who is described as "from 
 Jerlandt." There are many curious entries 
 such as this : "Denys Costula, j. m. v. ler- 
 landt, met Elisabeth Rendal, Wed. v. Bar- 
 ney Hamilton, v. Jerlandt, byde woonende 
 alhier, December i, 1730." Translating 
 this it says that "Dennis Costello, who was 
 born in Ireland, married Elizabeth Rendal, 
 who was the widow of Barney Hamilton, 
 born in Ireland, both residing here," and 
 in reading it we wonder how Denny Cos- 
 tello's friends in Ireland could ever have 
 recognized him by that twist in his name ! 
 Another example of a Dutch description of 
 an Irish marriage is this : "John O'Bryan, 
 j. m., en Margary Flingh, j. d., byde ge- 
 boren in Jerlandt, en nu wonende in New- 
 york." This interesting incident took place 
 on June 7, 1761. 
 
 Between 1685 and 1700 there are hundreds 
 of persons bearing Irish names recorded, 
 and in many cases they are referred to as 
 immigrants from Ireland. In a few cases, 
 their particular place of birth, such as 
 "Dubblin" and "Kork," are mentioned. 
 Such names as O'Brien, O'Neill, Sullivan, 
 McCarthy, McGinnis, Murphy, Flynn and 
 Lynch, and others that are as distinctively 
 Irish are mentioned frequently. 
 
 On the other hand, a great many names 
 are spelled phonetically, which gives them 
 an odd appearance at first glance, but which 
 does not entirely rob them of their origin. 
 The full list would make most interesting 
 reading, and is one of the best illustrations 
 that could be produced of the varying meth- 
 ods that were used in changing the origi- 
 nal names of the early Irish settlers. 
 
 It must not be forgotten, however, that 
 this list is that of only one church, and it 
 is fair to assume that similar examples ap- 
 
 pear on the records of other old New York 
 churches. 
 
 The majority of the Irishmen and Irish 
 women who were married in this church 
 bore the most distinctively Celtic names. 
 Now, many of these people, particularly 
 those who came here in the earliest years, 
 could not express themselves in the Eng- 
 lish language. The language best known 
 to them was their own, so that it is not 
 strange to run across such a name, for 
 instance, as "Kallye," in the early records, 
 and it requires but little introspection into 
 old Gaelic nomenclature at once to conclude 
 that the person so recorded was properly 
 named O'Ceallaigh, or, in its modern form, 
 O'Kelly or Kelly. "Okeley" was also one 
 of the peculiarities which this name took, 
 and there is not much doubt but that, on 
 account of its singular appearance, it came 
 to be pronounced as if it were "Oakley." 
 The names were written down phonetically, 
 the consequence being that the ministers and 
 their clerks, and other persons who kept 
 such records, produced, in many cases, the 
 most ludicruous and meaningless orthog- 
 raphical results. 
 
 It all depended on how the people them- 
 selves pronounced their names. The Irish 
 language sounded strangely in the ears of 
 the Dutchman, and, as some of the O'Kelly's 
 and Kellys pronounced the name correct- 
 ly, that is to say, as if it were spelled "Kall- 
 ye," while others pronounced it in the mod- 
 ern method, they naturally wrote it down on 
 the records either as "Kallye" or "Okeley 1" 
 
 There are many instances like this to be 
 found. The name of Brady is written down 
 in the Dutch records in several different 
 ways, as for example, "Jeams Braddys," 
 who married Hannah Manning in New York 
 on July 28, 1659, and Effie "Bready," who 
 was united to "Patrik Queen" (Quinn), 
 from Ireland, on March 19, i770. 
 
 Martin "Coin" and Hannah "Boyl" were 
 married on January 6, I7S7- Such varia- 
 tions as "Boil" for Boyle, and "Coil" for 
 Coyle are also found. ^ _ ^^ 
 
 The name of Byrne is written "Burrin, 
 as for instance, the marriage, on October 5. 
 1770, of David Narel, described as an Irish- 
 man' to Elizabeth "Burrins," who came 
 from Barbadoes. 
 
 The name of Ryan was the target ^^for 
 many peculiar changes. John F. "Rein" is 
 recorded as having been married on April 
 
 15 
 
13, I7i6, but, if it would possibly be incor- 
 rect to say that he sprung from the old race 
 of the O'Ryans, there can hardly be any 
 doubt about the nationality of Richard 
 "Rian," who married Rebecca Ervin on July 
 3, 1783, or of Elizabeth "Ryen," who 
 changed her name to the less euphonious 
 one of Ryd on November 13, 1760. Nor can 
 there be any mistake about Hannah "Ryn," 
 who was married to William Hayes on Fel)- 
 ruary 3, 1772, for the good reason that they 
 are both recorded as natives of Ireland. 
 And as if to round out this series of changes 
 I find in "New York in the Revolution" the 
 name of John "Ryne," who was a lieutenant 
 in the Fourteenth Regiment of New York 
 Militia. 
 
 Besides the common forms of Carty and 
 Carthy, some of the McCarthy family are 
 recorded as "Cartee" and "Charty," and we 
 even find such a monstrosity as "Magkar- 
 tay" taking the place of this old historic 
 name ! 
 
 Here is a sample of many entries which 
 appear in these old records : "Zyn van ons 
 in den Huwelyken Staat bevestigt, Patrick 
 Fox en Magdalena Sheredewyn beide van 
 Nieuw York." Translating this, it reads : 
 "Invested by us in the holy state of matri- 
 mony Patrick Fox and Magdalena Shere- 
 dewyn, both of New York." It doesn't 
 need much of a stretch of the imagination 
 to conclude that the lady's name was Sheri- 
 dan. 
 
 The name of Daly is also one which 
 had to stand the brunt of many changes. 
 "Alargrite Dally," from Ireland, married 
 "Patrik Follon," also described as from 
 Ireland, on December 22, 1774- In. other 
 entries the name is given as "Dayly," "Dae- 
 ley" and '"Dailee." Some of the Carrolls 
 are recorded as "Corol,' "Carell and "Car- 
 rel. There are two revolutionary soldiers, 
 who sprung, no doubt, from the O'Learys, 
 down as "Laere" and "Lary." The former 
 was in the Third Battalion of the Tryon 
 County Militia, and the latter in Brincker- 
 hofif's regiment of State troops. 
 
 Other methods by which the old Irish 
 names became disguised were : McManness 
 and McMoness for McManus, McMulland 
 for McMullen, MacKnult for McNulty, and 
 so on, and while these cannot be said to be 
 violent departures from the originals, yet, 
 when the prefix was subsequently dropped 
 from the substituted name, it will at once 
 be seen what a complete change resulted. 
 Many of the McLoughlins are down as 
 "McClocklin" and "Maglaghlin," McGee is 
 written down "Megee" and "Magey," Mc- 
 Afee as "Mekafee," McGill as "Mekill," and 
 McNeill as MaKneel." The name of O'Neill 
 is also given as "Okneel." 
 
 Jeremiah "Shansee's" ancestors would 
 hardly recognize him in that guise, although, 
 for other reasons, they would be quite proud 
 of him, for Jerry was a brave soldier who 
 served in Van Rensselaer's regiment of New 
 York State troops, in the Revolutionary 
 War. Sergeant Michael "Opherl" of Can- 
 tine's regiment of State troops would also 
 have a hard time proving his Irish ances- 
 try if it depended alone on the appearance- 
 of his name. There were several of this 
 family serving in the New York Line dur- 
 ing the War of the Revolution, although the . 
 names of the others were spelled either 
 O'Ferril or O'Ferrell. 
 
 The name of "Moorey," doubtless, was . 
 formed by the addition of the final "y" to 
 Moore, while, on the other hand, the "y" 
 was dropped from Mooney, thus making it 
 "Moone." The name of "Murfee" appears 
 very frequently in the old Colonial records, 
 as well as "Huyse" and "Hues," meant for 
 Hughes ; "Kayse" for Casey, "Mak Guire" 
 and "Gwire" for McGuire, "MkMihon" for. 
 McMahon, "Makre" for McCrea, and "Dwir" 
 for Dwyer. Patrick Ma Har was a soldier 
 who served in the "Corps of Invalids'. En- 
 sign "Solivan" was in the Second Regiment; 
 from the Schenectady District, and Peter 
 "Fitchpatrick" served in Colonel Fisher's 
 regiment of the New York State troops. 
 How simple it must have been for Peter's 
 descendants to drop the "patrick" from the . 
 name and call themselves "Fitch." 
 
 The name of O'Brien also had its troubles 
 in these changeful days. John "Brine," a 
 mariner, was married to Elizabeth Van Clyff 
 in the Dutch Reformed Church in New York 
 on August 4, 1696, and in these records 
 there are also entries about which one is 
 apt to be suspicious, such as "Bryn" and 
 "Bryen," but it is possible these may have 
 been of the Dutch family of Bruyn, which 
 was quite common in New York. In "New 
 York in the Revolution" there are two sol- 
 diers named "O'Briant" recorded. The 
 dropping of the historic prefix would have 
 made the change complete, and if some of 
 the "Briants," descendants of these revo- 
 lutionary soldiers, were to be told they 
 came from a family that can trace its Irish 
 ancestry in a direct line back for more than 
 a thousand years they would probably be as- 
 tonished ! There were many O'Briens in the 
 War of the Revolution whose names are 
 spelled in several different ways, but re- 
 taining the original sound. 
 
 The Irish residents of New York whose 
 marriages are recorded in the Dutcn kc- 
 formed Church were, doubtless, in every 
 case of the Roman Catholic faith, but, as it 
 was necessary to comply with the established 
 law, and also so that their offspring may be 
 
 16 
 
legitimate, they could be bound in wedlock 
 only by a recognized Minister of the Gospel. 
 There being no Roman Catholic Churcu in 
 New York for many years during the period 
 mentioned, the ceremony had to be per- 
 formed in the Dutch Reformed or Protestant 
 Church. Many of them were refugees from 
 Ireland on account of the religious perse- 
 cutions. Like the people of Ireland in all 
 ages, they were devoted to their religion, 
 and while, no doubt, they eschewed for a 
 while association with the established 
 churches, yet, as time went on, they and 
 their children were gradually drawn into 
 religious intercourse with the other sects, 
 until eventually they became regular com- 
 municants of those churches. The varia- 
 tions which from time to time were wrought 
 in their names brought them further and 
 further away from what they had been ; in 
 their new surroundings, both social and re- 
 ligious, they themselves changed, so that 
 their children, who in many cases married 
 into their neighboring Dutch and French 
 families, became as wholly un-Irish in man- 
 ner and sentiment as if they had sprung 
 from an entirely different race. That fact, 
 however, does not admit of their being now 
 included in the category "Anglo-Saxon." 
 
 I am not discoursing on the subject of 
 religion, nor do I intend to introduce it, 
 but, I am compelled to say, that the fact 
 that such great and diversified alterations 
 were effected in the names of the early 
 Irish settlers in the colonies, and the fur- 
 ther fact that so many of those settlers and 
 their children abandoned the ancient faith 
 with which the Celtic race has been identified 
 for centuries, brought about this unfortunate 
 result, that they became completely changed 
 during the passing of the years, so that to- 
 day a large section of the American people 
 are prone to believe that the Irish did not 
 figure to any extent in the early struggles 
 of their adopted country ! 
 
 In another work entitled "Names of Per- 
 sons for whom Marriage licenses were is- 
 sued by the Secretary of the Province of 
 New York, previous to 1784." compiled by 
 Gideon J. Tucker (when Secretary of State), 
 and taken from the early records of the 
 office of the Secretary of State at Albany, 
 we find ample corroboration of the church 
 
 records. Page after page of this book looks 
 more like some record of the Province of 
 Munster than of the Province of New York. 
 It is a quarto volume printed in small type 
 in double columns, and there are eleven 
 pages wholly devoted to persons whose 
 names commence with "Mac" and three to 
 the "O's." Like some of the colonial rec- 
 ords to which I have already referred, it 
 is one of those rare and valuable works 
 that are the depositories of the evidence of 
 the part played by the Irish race in the lay- 
 ing of the foundations of this State. Peru- 
 sal of them by some of our present-day ora- 
 tors of the dinner-table, who so amusing- 
 ly glorify the "Anglo-Saxon" as the founder 
 of the American race, would have a chast- 
 ening influence on their ignorance of early 
 American history, and would reopen the 
 long vista of the years, at the very begin- 
 ning of which they would see the Teuton, 
 the Celt, and the Gaul working side by side 
 solidifying the fulcrum of the structure on 
 which this great Nation rests. 
 
 Nearly every name common to Ireland is 
 here represented. There are 18 O'Connors 
 and Connors, 84 Moores, 24 Collinses, 24 
 McDonnells, 22 Walshs, 21 Murphys, 16 
 Kellys, 17 Ryans, 14 O'Briens, 15 Kennedys. 
 14 McNeills, 20 Suttons, 11 Sullivans, and 
 so many McCarthy's, Dalys, Reillys, O'Neills, 
 Flanagans, Doyles, Doughertys and such 
 names, that one almost gets tired reading 
 them. 
 
 Captain George Croghan, the celebrated 
 Indian Agent of fhe Province, was an Irish- 
 man. So was the first white settler in Sara- 
 toga County, Michael McDonald. 
 
 Sir William Johnson employed many of 
 his countrymen. His lawyer's name was 
 Kelly : his physician, Daly ; his secretary. 
 Lafferty, and the superintendent of his 
 properties was named Flood. A school- 
 master named Wall, whom he established at 
 Johnstown, came from Johnson's native 
 county of Meath, and several of his scholars 
 bore the most distinctively Irish names. 
 Others in his employ bore such names as 
 Byrne, McCarthy, Cotter, Doran, McDonald. 
 Connor, and so on. Some of them became 
 large landowners. Michael Byrne, for in- 
 stance, owned 18,000 acres in Tryon County 
 in 1764. 
 
 17 
 
V.-IRISH MERCHANTS AND LANDOWNERS. 
 
 Early Celebrations of St. Patrick's Day-Irish Officers in the New York 
 Regiments in the Revolution. 
 
 Among the largest landowners on the 
 banks of Lake Champlain were Connollys 
 and McCauleys, and in that portion of the 
 province, now Vermont, there were settlers 
 a score of years before the Revolution named 
 Burke, Barrett, Kennedy, McCoy, Hogan, 
 Dunn, Cummins, Larkin, McConnell, Moore, 
 Garvey, Goff, Carey, McCarra, Duane, and 
 others too numerous to mention, but w'hose 
 names clearly indicate their Irish origin. 
 The Duane family alone, who came from 
 the County of Galway, owned 63,000 acres 
 of land in that section. 
 
 The first linen manufactories in New 
 York were established by Irishmen. "As 
 early as 1700 all of the linen used by the 
 inhabitants came from Ireland," says Loss- 
 ing, and in a report from Governor Tryon, 
 dated June n, 1774, he states that "eleven- 
 twelfths of the inhabitants of the province 
 are clothed in linen imported from Ireland," 
 and that "there is every year a great quan- 
 tity of flaxseed, lumber and iron sent to Ire- 
 . land in ships belonging to that Kingdom, 
 and which came out annually with passen- 
 gers and servants." Among the prominent 
 linen merchants of New York I find Hugh 
 Wallace and James McBride, both natives 
 of Ireland, who became possessed of much 
 wealth. McBride was a President of the 
 Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. 
 
 In his "History of Chatauqua County, 
 Young states that "Colonel James McMahon 
 and Edward McHenry may with propriety 
 be styled the pioneers of that county, as they 
 were the first white men who purchased and 
 settled with the intention of taking up a 
 permanent residence there." McMahon set- 
 tled near where the village of Westfield now 
 stands, and the first dwelling of the white 
 man was erected there by McHenry. Colonel 
 McMahon commanded a regiment in the 
 War of 1812. General John McMahon, 
 brother of James, was also an early and 
 conspicuous settler in Chatauqua, and among 
 his countrymen are mentioned Cosgroves, 
 Kennedys, Madks, Dunns and Kanes. One 
 of the most noted pioneers of Chatauqua 
 County was William Prendergast, a native 
 of Kilkenny, who settled first in Dutchess 
 County in 1746, and after some years lo- 
 cated on the west shore of Chatauqua Lake. 
 He brought up an Irish family, seven sons 
 and six daughters. Two of his sons, Mar- 
 tin and Mathew, became Judges of Niagara 
 County ; another, James, founded the City 
 
 of Jamestown; another became a physician, 
 and another, William, commanded a regi- 
 ment which fought in the War of 1812. 
 Judge Matthew Prendergast's son was a 
 surgeon in the same war and was a famous 
 p'hysician in Erie County. 
 
 John McCurdy, who emigrated from Ar- 
 magh in 174s, was a merchant in the City 
 of New York in 1747, from where he re- 
 moved to Connecticut a few years later. The 
 remarkable record of this Irish exile may 
 well excite admiration and wonder. A man 
 of exhaustless enterprise, patriot, philan- 
 thropist and patrician, his name has gone 
 down in history as one worthy of a place 
 among the foremost Americans of his day. 
 He became one of the wealthiest merchants 
 and shipowners in New England, and was 
 one of the first in his adopted State to throw 
 in his lot with the patriots of the Revolu- 
 tion. 
 
 From the old New York newspapers, in 
 which are recounted the annual meetings of 
 Irishmen on the 17th of March, we get an 
 idea of the Irish population of the city. In 
 the Mercury of March 15, 1762, is found an 
 announcement of a forthcoming St. Pat- 
 rick's Day celebration by the Irish residents. 
 The Gazette of March 20, 1766, and the 
 Mercury of March 24, contain elaborate re- 
 ports of a celebration on the previous 17th 
 of March, at whidh some of the toasts were : 
 "May the enemies of America be branded 
 with infamy and disdain;" "Success to the 
 Sons of Liberty," "Success to American 
 manufactures ;" "The day, and prosperity to 
 Ire'land," and several other toasts along 
 those lines. The toasts wound up with one 
 in this peculiar vein and phraseology: "May 
 the enemies of Ireland never eat the bread 
 or drink the whiskey of it, but be tormented 
 with itching without the benefit of scratch- 
 ing." 
 
 The originator of the great canal system 
 of our State was Christopher CoIIes, an 
 Irishman, who came to New York in 1772, 
 and although his plans were rejected, yet 
 it is on record that they were afterwards 
 used when the great project was success- 
 fully carried out. 
 
 The Gasette of March 14, 1768, announced 
 a coming celebration by the "Order of St. 
 Patrick." The Journal of March 30, 1769. 
 contains an account of a dinner given by a 
 society known as the "Friendly Brothers of 
 St. Patrick." Between 1775 and 1783 there 
 
 18 
 

 
 
 CHRISTOPHER C.LLLS. 
 
 The First Projector of Inland Navigation in the United States. 
 
 Born in Ireland, 1738. Died in New York, 1816. 
 
is nothing on record indicating that St. 
 Patrick's Day was observed in New York, 
 but after the latter year the celebrations are 
 seen to have continued year after year, but 
 under a very different order of things. The 
 first President of the Friendly Sons of St. 
 Patrick was Daniel McCormick, who came 
 from Ireland before the Revolution and who 
 amassed a large fortune as a merchant in 
 New York. 
 
 The Gazette of March i6, 1775, contained 
 an announcement that "to-morrow, being 
 the anniversary of St. Patrick, tutelar Saint 
 of Ireland, will be observed with the usual 
 respect and attention by his generous sons 
 and their descendants." In the same paper 
 of March 22, 1779, appears a report of a 
 parade on the previous St. Patrick's Day, by 
 the "Volunteers of Ireland," under Lord 
 Rawdon. This body was in the English ser- 
 vice, however. It is not a rare thing to find 
 Irishmen in the English army, but there is 
 a reason for it, and this regiment, no doubt, 
 although called "Volunteers," was recruited 
 in Ireiand among the unfortunates who were 
 driven to desperation and who were glad of 
 any opportunity of obtaining the where- 
 withal to keep them from nakedness and 
 starvation. 
 
 It is also probable that many of these so- 
 called "Volunteers" were impressed into the 
 service by the well-known methods in vogue 
 in Ireland for generations past, for it is on 
 record that many of the misnamed "Volun- 
 teers of Ireland" deserted from the British ' 
 ranks and joined the American patriots. 
 
 These desertions were so very frequent 
 that on July i, 1780, when the "Volunteers 
 of Ireland" were in camp at Camden, N. J., 
 Lord Rawdon, by direction of Cornwallis, 
 wrote to a Major Rugely in this wise : "So 
 many deserters from this army have passed 
 with impunity through the districts which 
 are under your direction that I must neces- 
 sarily suspect the inhabitants to have con- 
 nived at if not facilitated their escape. I 
 will give the inhabitants ten guineas for 
 the head of any deserter belonging to the 
 Volunteers of Ireland, and five guineas only 
 if they bring him in alive." The whole of 
 this order will be found in Hartley's "Lite 
 of General Marion." 
 
 Among the Irish officers in the ranks of 
 the New York patriots in the Revolution 
 may be mentioned Colonel James McCleary. 
 who is referred to in Hoosick's "Life of 
 De Witt Clinton" as "one of the bravest 
 officers America can boast of." General 
 Richard Montgomery, one of the four Briga- 
 diers appointed by the first Congress, and 
 the first of the four to die in the cause of 
 
 our glorious country ; Gen. Edward Hand, 
 who commanded the Pennsylvania Line, dis- 
 tinguished himself in New York. So did 
 Colonel Robert Cochran,, who commanded a 
 detachment of militia at Fort Edward at 
 the time of Burgoyne's surrender. Captain 
 Robert McKean, the defender of Cherry Val- 
 ley. The story of his brave defense of 
 Curry town on July 9, 1781, against the In- 
 dians and loyalists reads like a chapter from 
 the career of the "Spartan Band." 
 
 The commanders of the forlorn hope in 
 the memorable attack on the British works 
 at Stony Point on July 17, 1779, were Major 
 Murfey and Lieutenant Gibbons, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Percival Butler was Morgan's sec- 
 ond in command at the battle of Saratoga, 
 and this list of Irish soldiers would certain- 
 ly be incomplete without some mention of 
 Timothy Murphy, of Schoharie, who covered 
 himself with glory at Bemis Heights. Mur- 
 phy belonged to Morgan's celebrated Rifle 
 Corps, and proved himself one of the most 
 fearless and intrepid soldiers of that band 
 of heroes. 
 
 In the "(Narrative of the Captivity of 
 Ethan Allen," the redoubtable hero of Ticon- 
 deroga pays tribute to the Irish soldiers who 
 fought under him in the Canadian campaign 
 of 1775, and mentions some thrilling inci- 
 dents where his life was saved by the timely 
 interference of Irishmen. 
 
 Many of the officers of the New York 
 regiments bore Irish names, and the muster 
 rolls of the various regiments, notably those 
 of Colonels Malcom, Willett and the Third 
 Regiment of the Line, show large numbers 
 of Irishmen. 
 
 But the list seems almost interminable. I 
 could go on at much greater length and dwell 
 unon Irishmen and their descendants who 
 pdded to the lustre of the Empire State, but 
 I do not wish to trespass upon your patience. 
 
 Kept in subjection in his native country 
 under the centuried goad of an alien gov- 
 ernment, the Irishman has proved beyond 
 peradventure of a doubt his unqualified suc- 
 cess in other lands. Give him a fair field 
 with the air of freedom filling his lungs, and 
 you may be sure that he will give a good 
 account of himself. What I have stated 
 here to-day is a series of historical facts 
 gathered from the most unimpeachable au- 
 thorities after many months of research, 
 without resorting to any flowers of rhetoric 
 in setting these facts forth. 
 
 If I have interested the New York State 
 Historical Association in the lives and times 
 of some of these forgotten Irishmen, then 
 I shall be assured that my labors have not 
 been in vain. 
 
 20