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Immigration of the Irish Quakers
into Pennsylvania
1682 - 1750
With Their Early History in Ireland
by
Albert Cook Myers, M. L.
Member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
"There is not one of the family but what likes the country very well
and wod. If we were in Ireland again come here Directly
it being the best country for working folk & tradesmen of any in the
world, but for Drunkards and Idlers, they cannot live well any
where." - Letter of an
Irish Quaker, 1725
The Author
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
1902
PART 2
CHAPTER III.
PLACES IN IRELAND WHENCE THE FRIENDS CAME
Page 81-82
TO make some attempt at an accurate determination of the places in
Ireland whence the Friends emigrated, an examination of records
of all the monthly meetings in Pennsylvania has been made for
all certificates of removal brought over by Irish Friends
between the years 1682 and 1750. With these data as a
basis, supplemented by additional facts from authentic
manuscripts, county histories, genealogies, and other works, I
have compiled the following statistical table showing as nearly
as possible, the number of adult Friends that came over from
each meeting, county, and province of Ireland, during the
above-mentioned period. The meetings were not as careful
to record all certificates of removal brought over during the
first two decades of the colony, as they should have been; but
later a faithful account was kept.
The table shows that from Ulster came 172 adult
members; from Leinster 183; from Munster 42; and from places
which are not specified 43. This makes a total of 440
adult persons from twenty-nine or more meetings. If,
however,
[Pg. 82]
we count the children and the women whose names evidently have
not been recorded, and likewise those persons of whose
emigration we have no record, we may safely estimate that at
least between 1,500 and 2,000 Irish Friends came to Pennsylvania
between 1682 and 1750.
County Armagh in the Province of Ulster sent
ninety-five colonists, more than any other county. Dublin
Meeting sent fifty-four, more than any other meeting.
Grange Meeting, in a country district near Charlemount, County
Armagh, comes next with forty-one; then follows Ballynacree, an
obscure county meeting near Ballymoney, County Antrim, with
thirty-five. The Friends from Ulster and those from
Leinster, with the exception of Dublin, were almost wholly from
the country districts. Some few were tradespeople, but the
majority were yeomen or farmers, and when they came to
Pennsylvania, they bought farms and engaged in agriculture.
The Quaker colonists from Munster, on the other hand, were
nearly all tradesmen from the cities and towns. They, with
the emigrants from Dublin, settled for the most part in
Philadelphia. |
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STATISTICAL TABLE,
showing, as nearly as possible, the number of adult Friends
that migrated to Pennsylvania from each province, county, and
meeting of Ireland, between the years 1682 and 1750, inclusive.
Compiled from MS, records of all the monthly meetings of
Pennsylvania, and supplemented by county histories, genealogies,
Friends' records in Ireland, and other MSS.
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