Archibald Shaw

Ralph,

The surname Shaw is found in both Counties Donegal and Derry/Londonderry. In the 1901 census, there were 3390 Shaws in Ireland, 40 in Donegal and 98 in Co Derry.

The problem you face is that there are hardly any records in Ireland for that period. Researching him will be challenging.

Families did tend to repeat the same forenames in later generations. I note an Archibald Shaw in Drummurphy in 1901 (parish of Donaghmore). Can’t say it’s connected to your family but without any other clues you could research it a bit:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1901/Donegal/Cloghard/Drumurphy/1195447/

That family were Congregationalists (a form of Presbyterianism, so the family was probably of Scots origins). The problem you face is that none of the churches in that parish has any records for the 1700s or early 1800s. And that problem is common to most of that part of Ireland.

Researching in Ireland in the 1700s is very hard going due to the general lack of records. If you don’t know where they lived it’s a needle in a haystack. Ideally you need to know the person’s exact denomination and the townland or parish they lived in to have any chance of finding them, and even then there may not be any records for that location.

Possibly DNA testing may be a way of matching with others who have additional information about where the family originate. Family Tree DNA reportedly has more people with Ulster roots than any other company. That obviously increases the chances of finding a match. You might want to try them or, if you have already tested, you can transfer your results to them for no fee.

The North of Ireland Family History Society is running an Ulster DNA project in conjunction with FTDNA and can offer testing kits at a reduced price.  http://www.nifhs.org (Go to DNA project on the website).

Elwyn, thank you very much for your reply.  It is very helpful, and I will keep digging away.  I will definitely look into the resources that you mention.  I do know that the Shaws in the United States were Presbyterians.  I found another tidbit in a book entitled Immigrants to America in English Records. There is a reference to an Archibald Shaw of Philadelphia.  The notation next to his name is 1787.  The list that he is in is:  “References from Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland (1897 Dublin), all destroyed in 1922 but abstracts preserved by Betham at Genealogical Office, Dublin and on microfilm at the Genealogical Society, Salt Lake City, Utah.”  I will contact the Genealogical Society in Utah.  Do you know how or if I can contact the Genealogical Office in Dublin? Any help that you can give me will be much appreciated.  Thanks again for your help so far.

Ralph

Ralph,

The majority of migrants from Ireland to north America in the 1700s were Presbyterian. (Native Irish didn’t start leaving in significant numbers till the 1800s). So leaving in the 1700s, being Presbyterian, having a Scottish surname and living in Donegal (a county that many Scots settled in) all point strongly to Scots ancestry. So you should expect that they arrived in the 1600s either as part of the Plantation or possibly later. (There was a large influx in the 1690s due to famine in Scotland). Your ancestors would generally be known as Scots-Irish in north America and Ulster-Scots here in Ireland.

Looking at the 1630 Muster Rolls, there were 4 Shaw households in Donegal. All in the same general area. Headed by Anthony, Gilbert, James and John Shawe (younger) respectively. They were all on the Earl of Annandall’s estate in the Baronies of Boylagh & Banagh. The Earl had 10,000 acres there. I have attached a link to a map of the county which shows where those 2 baronies are:

https://cotyroneireland.com/maps/baronies.html

The numbers on the maps refer to the individual parishes within each barony. This link explains what church records exist, parish by parish:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/proni-guide-church-records

The Muster Rolls describe all the Shaws in Annandall as having “no arms.”  The rolls describe the weapons that the men had to fight with. Normal categories included a sword, snaphance (a primitive musket) and a pike.  If someone had “no arms” ie no weapons (and many were like that) it suggests they weren’t very wealthy. Probably labourers or very small farmers. To be in the muster Rolls indicates you were of fighting age so perhaps aged 16 to 45.

You ask about the Genealogical Office in Dublin. There isn’t anywhere that carries that precise title today.  There are various repositories such as the National Archives & National Library where records are held but in general you have to go there in person, or pay a researcher to go there, in order to access them. Here’s a link to some professional genealogists based around Dublin:

https://accreditedgenealogists.ie/members/

The wills records you ask about are on-line on this site:

http://census.nationalarchives.ie/search/dm/home.jsp

Until 1858 all probate processing in Ireland was dealt with by the Church of Ireland (regardless of your denomination or whether you were a churchgoer at all). The wills themselves were stored in the Public Record Office in Dublin and destroyed in the 1922 fire. All that remains, for most files, are these indexes which were obviously stored somewhere else. For someone residing in Philadelphia to have a probate file in Ireland indicates that they still had property in Ireland.  Probate in this case was granted in 1787 but the actual death may have been a year or two before that. Most people who left Ireland permanently weren’t very well off and took what little they had with them. Economic betterment was the main reason for leaving, so few left any property behind. This Archibald Shaw might have been a merchant or something like that. But he would definitely have been better off than the average emigrant in the 1700s. You could try searching newspapers for an obituary or a report of his death. Unlikely to be an obituary in Ireland but possibly in Philadelphia?

Elwyn, thanks so very much.  You are incredibly helpful and generous with your time.  Lots to go through now, and more digging to do!   Thanks again.

Ralph