It has been estimated that “50 to 90 percent” of people in west Scotland have some Irish ancestry
I was recently reading an article from IrelandXO and it stated that it has been estimated that “50 to 90 percent” of people in west Scotland have some Irish ancestry in their family tree. I knew there was some back and forth between islands but this would make it seem like there was more than I had understood. This article also gave new insight to places to look into where my ancestors may have immigrated from.
In the early 1820s there were steamboats connecting ports in Ireland to Liverpool and Glasgow. The boat that connected Derry to Glasgow was called “The Derry Boat” in Donegal and the “Scotch Boat” in Derry (IrelandXO). This boat transported those Irish emigrating to overseas or to large Irish communities that had popped up in the more industrialized Britain. Did you have any ancestors that took one of these steamboats?
In 1829 the paddle steamer, The Foyle, made the 139 mile Glasgow route.
By the late 1800s, 1829 to be exact, the first paddle steamer, The Foyle, made the 139 mile Glasgow route. The route made stops in Moville, Portrush, Giant’s Causeway, and Campbelltown and lasted 22 hours. By 1836 the local merchants had started the Londonderry and Glasgow Steamboat Company and had three boats that were running the Glasgow route. The first was the Foyle which ran on Saturdays. The other two boats, the St Columb and Rover, ran on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The main users of these boats were emigrants and seasonal workers. The emigrants went on to Great Britain to either seek work or to board an ocean liner to America. While the seasonal workers went to either Scotland or Great Britain to work on farms during the summer.
By the 1870s transatlantic passenger steamers had taken over.
By the 1870s transatlantic passenger steamers had taken over. These ocean liners would dock at Moville and people would be ferried there from Derry which was 18 miles away. Making Derry the major emigration port for the Northern part of Ireland. The Annual Emigration Reports from the Port of Londonderry show that between 1877 and 1897, 193,887 embarked at Moville for North America. 153,886 went to the United States and 40,001 to Canada.
Hopefully with this information you will be able to find how or where your ancestors left Ireland. I know that one of my lines with a brick wall and a common name comes from the Donegal area. Maybe knowing what kind of ships were in use at the time they emigrated can help to determine did they leave from Great Britain or from Londonderry. We wish you luck in your search.
We can help
If you need any help finding your ancestors, just let us know.
