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| Rathlin Islanders Downeast by Marie E. Daly
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Thanks to Marie Daly for permission to post the following article, originally published in NEHGS NEXUS, Vol. VI, No. 6. |
When industrialists Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand soared across the Atlantic Ocean in their twenty-one-story balloon, they launched a chain of events which eventually led back to their starting point -- Maine. In the largest hot-air balloon ever
made, the British adventurers embarked from Carrabassett Valley and the Bigelow Mountain range in Maine. They intended to land the Virgin Atlanta Flyer in Europe, thereby exceeding the world record for both distance and speed. As the mammoth balloon reached Northern Ireland on July 4, 1987, a low cloud cover and a wind shift forced the men to attempt a landing on a north coast beach. Having failed to separate the pressurized capsule from the balloon, Branson and Lindstrand leaped into the sea near Rathlin Island, County Antrim.
A swarm of air and sea-going vessels, including the British Navy and the Coast Guard, tracked the balloon's demise. Navy helicopters plucked the stranded men from the sea, but the balloon careened off toward the Mull of Kintyre. When the Virgin Atlantic Flyer finally touched down in the Northern Channel, Rathlin Islanders in a fishing boat retrieved the million-dollar balloon, and claimed it for
salvage.1 Despite the Navy's attempt to confiscate the
balloon, the island fishermen clung to their booty, thereby qualifying for a reward of
£60,000.2
To fishermen struggling to make ends meet, the prize was the largest sum of money they had ever seen. With the reward,
the islanders established a trust fund, and purchased and transformed their old landlord's manor into a heritage center.
Subsequently, the island's 110 residents began to investigate the history of their locale. Once the island supported about 1,200 inhabitants, but the Great Famine and its concurrent emigration depopulated Rathlin in the nineteenth century.
According to traditional lore, many Rathlin émigrés settled in Maine and
Quebec.3 Attempting to locate their long-lost cousins, Kathlyn McFaul of the Rathlin Island Trust wrote to NEHGS in 1988. Thus the fortuitous crash-landing of this balloon from Maine instigated a quest to discover Rathlin's past connection to Maine.
Ringed by mountains and high cliffs on three sides, Rathlin Island is about six miles long and one mile wide, and lies seven miles opposite the town of Ballycastle, County Antrim. Noted by Pliny and Ptolemy, the island bears archaeological evidence, in the form of ring forts and flints, dating back to the Neolithic Period. Rathlin's Christian era began with the landing of Saint Comgall of Bangor in 580 A.D. However, marauding Norsemen destroyed the ancient monastery in 790 and 973.
In medieval times, many Scots (who were descendants of Dalriada or Northeast Antrim people) fleeing interclan wars took refuge on Rathlin, including (according to legend) Robert Bruce, who fortified a castle there. In 1558, the Rathlin Scots were attacked by the Earl of Sussex, and in 1642 by the Earl of Argyll, who massacred every person, hurling even infants over the cliffs. Since 1476, the Macdonnells (MacDonald) of Islay and Kintyre, afterwards Earls of Antrim, had possessed the island.
But in 1746 Alexander, fifth Earl of Antrim, sold Rathlin to Rev. John Gage, Prebendary of Aghadowey (County Derry), whose descendants retained ownership until the twentieth
century.5 The devastating potato blight of 1846-1853 which produced the Great Famine in Ireland also affected the island. ". . . although none on Rathlin died of starvation, the people's faith in the inevitability of an abundant harvest had been
shattered."5 107 persons fled in 1847, and heavy emigration continued until 1881. In 1841 the island maintained a population of 1,010, but by 1851 the number had diminished to 753, and
by 1861 to 453.6 Thus over 550 persons or more than half the population had emigrated during the famine period. Research indicates that at least 230, but probably many more, of these emigrants settled in Washington County, Maine.
Rathlin's culture was more Hebridean than Irish. The inhabitants spoke Scots Gaelic and often regarded the mainland as a foreign country. The main industries were cattle and sheep raising, oats, barley and potato agriculture, fishing, kelp harvesting, and linen and wool production. Rathlin featured distinct communities at either end of the island, with the western fowling community speaking Gaelic primarily, and the eastern, fishing community speaking
English.7 In 1834 the majority of
the people lived in clachans, i.e. closely congregated families who held joint tenure. Lodged under the scarps of terraced
basalts, their whitewashed stone and thatch houses were built to withstand the wind. Lewis describes the islanders as
"simple, laborious and honest people entertaining an ardent affection for their island . . . The Catholics and Protestants
generally lived together in the greatest harmony, undisturbed by differences in
religion."8 In 1945, Thomas McCuaig wrote,
"On Rathlin Island, the wheel of life revolves with uneventful regularity . . . In years gone past the island was entirely self
supporting, growing its own food and spinning its own cloth . . . A familiar feature of the island landscape is the thatched
cottages. These are usually whitewashed and, with painted windows and doors, make a very pleasing sight . . . Like the ocean
which swells about its shores and the smoke which curls in tranquil solitude above its cottages, Rathlin lives its life in peace
and plenty. These are usually whitewashed and, with painted windows and doors, make a very pleasing sight . . . Like the
ocean which swells about its shores and the smoke which curls in tranquil solitude above its cottages, Rathlin lives its life in
peace and plenty.9
The WPA index to New England naturalizations, located at the National Archives New England Branch in Waltham,
Massachusetts, was searched for the most common Rathlin surname, McCurdy. Washington County Superior Court records
indicate that many County Antrim McCurdys had settled in the townships of Lubec, Pembroke and Perry. Located at the
mouth of the St. Croix River and at Passamaquoddy Bay, these adjacent communities partly form the northeastern corner of
Maine. Further investigation of the area's 1860 Federal Census revealed at least 230 Irish natives bearing names common
to Rathlin (see list below). The census also lists a number of Irish natives with names common to County Antrim:
Mulholland, Mooney, Higgins, Ross, Andres and Laughlin. (Laughlin family oral history claims that five brothers emigrated
from Belfast in the nineteenth century). A trip to the Roman Catholic graveyard in West Lubec confirmed that many of the
deceased had been natives of Rathlin Island: John McQuaig, Alexander Black, Archibald Black, Elizabeth Black, Daniel
McKinley*, John Craig, Neal Black, Ann McQuaig, Daniel McCurdy, Alexander Horan, John Horan, Archibald Horan,
James McCurdy*, Neil McCurdy and Jane McCurdy. The Rathlin settlers in Maine were generally farmers, but in
Washington County tradition they scraped by with a number of jobs: farming, fishing, shipbuilding and cutting timber. In
addition, many Pembroke residents worked at the Pembroke Iron Works. Established in 1832 along the Pennamaquan
River, the water-powered iron works reputedly produced 15,000 tons of iron annually, including nails, spikes, hinges, and
rivets. The plant closed in 1884; Route 1 passes directly over the site, still marked by a mill dam and a water
wheel.10 What
attracted these emigrants to this remote part of Maine is unclear. However, in the History of Whiting, Maine, the genealogy
of Robert Black (1708-1878) claims that Black was a native of Ireland and had lived along the County Road as early as
1839.11 A number of Rathlin Island families in the Lubec 1860 census had some children born in Massachusetts or New
Brunswick, and subsequent children born in Maine. These emigrants seemingly formed a home away from home, a "Little
Rathlin" in Maine.
This report of my research is only preliminary, and my purpose in publishing this article is to stimulate interest and a
response from descendants. Further research will include the 1880 and 1890 census, vital records, naturalizations and church
records. It is possible to trace these Maine families back to specific families and locales in Rathlin.
For instance, several
individuals are listed in the 1834 Tithe Applotment Book for Rathlin (available at NEHGS).
In addition, the Roman Catholic
Parish registers begin in 1838, so some individuals can be identified through baptism and marriage records.
Other records,
such as the Spinning Wheel Survey of 1796, the List of Protestant Householders in 1740 (available at NEHGS), and the
Hearth Money Rolls may extend some families further. A future article will include the results of some of this research. The
remaining residents of Rathlin Island would like to contact some of their American cousins.
If any readers think that they
descend from this Washington County, Maine population, please contact Marie Daly at NEHGS.
FOOTNOTES
1. The Boston Globe, July 3, 1987, vol. 232, no. 3, p. 1, col. 1, and July 4, 1987, vol. 232, no. 4, p.1, col. 1.
2. Telephone interview with Kathlyn McFaul of Rathlin Island Trust, July, 1988.
3. Kathlyn McFaul, ibid.
4. High Alexander Boyd, Rathlin Island, North of Antrim (Ballycastle, 1947). (Available at NEGHS).
5. J. H. Elwood, "A Demographic Study of Tory Island and Rathlin Island, 1841-1964, Ulster Folklife 17(1971): 72.
(Available at BPL).
6. J. H. Elwood, ibid.
7. Hugh Alexander Boyd, ibid., and E. Estyn Evans, "Traditional Houses of Rathlin Island", Ulster Folklife, 19(1073): 14.
8. Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, vol. 2 (1837, reprint 1984), p. 502. (Available at NEGHS).
9. Hugh Alexander Boyd, ibid., p. 54.
10. Carl K. Hersey, "A History of Pembroke, Maine," in Historical Souvenir Book: Pambroke Sesquicentennial, 1832-1982.
Pembroke Sesquicentennial Committee, 1982.
11. Gladys Hall Forslund, History of Whiting, Maine. Calais, Maine, 1975.
New England Genealogical Historical Society
Rathlin Island to Lubec, Maine Emigration
* Descendants of these men are actively researching.
Note from Transcriber: Although our ancestors did not settle in Lubec, Maine, they were from Rathlin
Island: John McKinley (married to Mary Weir); their son was Archibald McKinley
(married to Nancy (Ann) Morrison) - Archie & Nancy had 8 sons. 7 lived to emigrate to the U.S.A. through New York City starting about 1851.
By 1862, the whole family had emigrated, including Archie & Nancy. The brothers first worked at Parker Bros.
Iron Foundry in Meriden, CT; then went to the California gold fields around Grass Valley; brothers John and James purchased adjoining farms in Grand Meadow Twnshp, Clayton Co, Iowa and raised large families there.
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