Other local historians of the South also refer to the Irish settlements in this territory, which continued with but intermittent intervals down to the closing years of the 18th century. When we turn to the Census schedules we find that the statements of the historians are amply corroborated.
In the Williamsburg district, that “hotbed of rebellion,” we find mention of such Irish families as Burke, Barrett, Biggen, Butler, Barron, Bryan, Broaderick, Boland, Brady, Bradley, Cain, Cummins, Connor, Cunningham, Collins, Conway, Callihan, Cronan, Cantey, Corbett, Connell, Castlelaw, Creed, Conally, Cochran, Dunn, Dempsey, Dawson, Dollard, Downing, Donoho, Donnally, Delaney, Dillin, Dailey, Dulon, Dogharty, Earley, Flin, Foley, Fitzpatrick, Faning, Gorman, Galaspy, Gibbons, Gallivant, Ganey, Gowen, Gavin, Gallaher, Gill, Garven, Hagan, Hart, Harrington, Hayes, Hainey, Joice, Jordan, Kennedy, Keenan, Kelly, Kelty, Keen, Keefe, Kerns, Kailey, Lynch, Leysath, Murphy, McCalvey, McCartney, McGill, McFarlin, Manning, McCormic, McKenny, McDowell, McKee, McGinney, McCauley, McBride, McMullan, Mulhollen, Mitchel, McConnell, McClare, McIlveen, McGee, McFadden, Moore, McCottery, McElroy, McMelly, McCleary, McDaniel, McDonald, McCarthy, McCall, McSwain, McWilliams, Morrison, McGraw, McCausland, McCune, McElhaney, McFail, McClendon, McGrath, McElduff, McAdams, McCoy, McCary, McCain, Mahon, O’Brian, O’Neil, O’Cain, O’Bannon, Phelon, Powers, Quinn, Rogers, Roach, Riley, Reidy, Rial, Ryan, Sullivan, Shealds, Swiney, Steele, Shannon, Timmons, Toole, Ward and Walsh.
These are not all. Of the Murphys alone there were in the Williamsburg district eleven families, nine Kellys and several distinct families named O’Brian, O’Neil, O’Bannon and McCarty.
We have selected only one of each name, in order to show that the Irish settlements spoken of by Lossing, Sims and Ramsay were drawn from the South, East and West, as well as from the North of Ireland. American historians are in the habit of saying that the immigrants from Ireland were mainly the so-called “Scotch-Irish” element from the northern counties. While it is true there were large settlements of Scotch Gaels in the Carolinas, it is seen from the foregoing list that nearly every county of Celtic Ireland was represented in the “hotbed of rebellion” of South Carolina.
We see from the Census Returns that the collectors wrote down the names phonetically in most cases, having paid little or no attention to spelling, or the use of capital letters where they were needed. Some peculiar transformations in names resulted from the carelessness or ignorance of the enumerators. For instance, we find O’Neill spelled “onailes” and “Ownaile”; O’Brien spelled “Obrient” and “Obriant”; O’Farrell as “Opherl,” and Casey as “Caycey”; Donovan is down as “Dunnevant” and “Dunnaphant”; Doherty as “Dehoitey” and “Dohoty”; Nolan as “noling”; Sullivan as “Sellivent,” “Swillevaun” and “Sewlovan”; Murphy as “Murff,” “Murph,” “Murpry” and “Murfree”; Gallagher as “Gollerhorn”; Flynn as “Phlyn” and “Fling”; Kinsella as “Kincheloe”; McLaughlin as “Maklafflin”; O’Hara as “Oharroe”; and O’Ryan as “Orion.”
To the prefix “Mac” the enumerators, in many cases, gave the sound of “Mag.” Thus we have such name transformations as “Magnamee” and “Magmanous.” We also find “Makmain” for McMahon and “Muckleroy” for McElroy, and so on. Fitzgeralds are down as “Fitzjarrel” and “Jarrel”; Fitzpatrick as “Fitchparterack” and “Pitch Patrick”; Reilly as “Royley” and “Royalley”; Cassidy as “Casaty.” In some Southern city directories we have come across the name of “Pitch,” and we wonder if some of these are not descendants of the “Pitch Patricks” or Fitzpatricks!
It would be difficult to think of an old Irish name that is not represented in the First Census, and which was not, at some time or other, translated into something very different in appearance, and sometimes only partially retaining the sound of the original name. In the mutations of time, even these new names became still further changed, so that many of the present-day descendants of the Irish pioneers of the Carolinas cannot be recognized as at all of the old Gaelic race.
The most numerous Irish name on the First Census of South Carolina is Murphy, there having been 50 distinct families of that name, although the 48 Kelly families gave them a close race. The Gill and McGill families run nip and tuck with the O’Neills and the Nealls. There were 34 of the former to 33 of the latter. The O’Briens and O’Bryans ran the gauntlet of many changes. The Census enumerators failed to appreciate the significance of the regal prefix “O,” so they wrote down the name Obrient, Obriant, Bryan and Briant. There were 53 of these in South Carolina in 1790.
HON. ALEXANDER C. EUSTACE.
Elmira, N. Y.
Ex-President New York Civil Service Commission.
A worthy Member from New York State.