GENIRE-L ArchivesArchiver > GENIRE > 2003-03 > 1047247396
From: "Allan Connochie" <>
Subject: Re: What is the meaning of the term "Scot-Irish"
Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 22:03:16 -0000
"Sam Sloan" <> wrote in message
> What is the meaning of the term "Scot-Irish"
> I have heard the term Scot-Irish all my life, especially since I am
> one of them. What does that mean? Does it refer to Scots who went to
> Ireland because otherwise they were being burned at the stake by
> Presbyterians? Or, does it refer to Scots who were sent to Ireland to
> bring the new Protestant religion there?
The Scots-Irish are generally Presbyterian Scots who went to Ireland during
the Ulster Plantation. Most probably went voluntarily, some were forcibly
settled there, and some were escaping persecution against Presbyterians in
> The book "Descendants of Hugh Thomson" by Don Thomson briefly
> describes a Thomson ancestor of mine (first name not provided) who was
> burned at the stake in Scotland by Presbyterians, and two other
> Thomsons who were tied to poles in the Irish Sea and then left to
> drown when the high tide came in.
Interesting stuff. Was your family Catholic? There obviously was
discrimination against Scotland's tiny Catholic population, however actual
physical persecution like you describe was extremely rare [though obviously
not unknown] unless they were all accused of being witches! The drowning
thing is not unknown right enough. The most famous instances again being
Covenanting Presbyterian women who were reportedly drowned for refusing to
take the oath supporting the Stuart monarch.
|Re: What is the meaning of the term "Scot-Irish" by "Allan Connochie" <>|