I was prepared yesterday to write a short blog post on a family I thought was of Irish Origin to celebrate St Patricks Day. At this point, the only ancestors I know of who have any Irish cities listed are William Findley who I will recount a bit later as a Revolutionary War Ancestor and James Patterson who also has Revolutionary War ties. Both of these were born in County Anterim, Ulster, Ireland. A bit closer look though tells me that these lines are actually Scottish or Scots-Irish. For some context, both of these lines are through my Great Grandmother Blanche Pocock Mauser and the Irish connection is 5 or 6 generations back from her.
First I looked at the Findley line and while the US immigrant came over from Ireland, my branch of the family had only been in Ireland a short time. From after 1710 until about 1773. I haven’t proven those dates myself, but some good research by others tells me that should be close. The Findley line then was only in Ireland for about 60 years. If you enjoy information on Scottish Clans – this has some good information on the clan Farquharson where Findley/Finley would be presently.
Then as I was looking at the Patterson line, the known line that some others have traced appears to die out while the family is in Ireland. It seems that the Pattersons were in Ireland in 1660 and came to the US around 1774. A bit more searching tells me that Patterson is one of the most common names in Scotland. The first Patterson’s to go to Ireland did so when King James I sent a large group of Scots to Ulster as plantationists. Patterson was one of the 400 surnames on the list of the very 1st group in 1606-1641. Nearly all of these plantationists left the Lowlands and Borders regions of Scotland with very few originating from the Highlands. This site has done some good research providing details on how the Patterson’s came to Ireland and which Scottish Clan they may fit into.
My DNA Test results show something that matches this. I had assumed the low % Irish came from these families, and it may as the Patterson family could have married some direct line Irish, but with about 5% Irish genetic material and about 20% Scottish the paper trail proves just how minimal the Irish connection is.
It looks like I have very little claim to any “Kiss Me I’m Irish” statements 🙂
Cory and Nicole Family History 