Irish Emigrants in North America Part 10 by David Dobson: Book Review

Disclaimer: I have received a complimentary copy of this book, and others in the past, from Genealogical dot com. However, this has not influenced my opinions of the publications in any way.

I have always wished I had at least one Irish branch, or even a leaf, in my family tree, but it is not so. However, if you have Irish roots and/or are interested in Irish history, you’ll want to check out all the Irish-themed books available from Genealogical.com.

Today, I’m taking a look at the first of two of the Irish research aids.

Irish Emigrants in North America Part 10 by David Dobson is an interesting research resource. Given that I have no Irish ancestors to look for, I have to admit that I’ve never seen this book before, nor have I read the earlier Parts 1(published in 1994) through 9.

However, this little book of just 165 pages is packed with genealogy gold if one of your ancestors is listed. This book, and I assume the earlier volumes, consists of an alphabetical list of known Irish men AND WOMEN who have been identified in primary sources located in Ireland, Scotland, England, the U.S., Canada, and the West Indies.

Each person has tantalizing bits of information. Not only are emigrants from Ireland identified, but many are people who LEFT the colonies for varying reasons and relocated to Ireland. I’d give my eye teeth to find an ancestor in Mr. Dobson’s works!

Is Martin Meagher your ancestor? If so, would you like to know that he settled in the colonies in 1764 from Ireland, was a trader in Indian Creek, North Carolina, but served as a Loyalist in Bath, North Carolina, then sailed for Halifax, Nova Scotia by 1786? Oh, and by the way, he went to Canada via Antigua!

Maybe you are looking for the widow of Charleston, South Carolina Revolutionary War customs official Jeremiah Cronin. Well, you are in luck – Mrs. Ann Cronin left the colonies and settled in Youghal, Ireland by 1786.

The bottom of each person’s entry has an abbreviated source citation. The key to the sources is at the back of the book.

Although these two examples date from the 18th century, entries actually span from the 1600s well into the 1800s.

Additionally, there are three pages of information regarding one or more sailings of specific ships. However, there are no website links. Instead, a source citation is given to the repository where the information is to be found.

For those with many Irish branches on the family tree, particularly those that settled in the American colonies before the Revolutionary War, this series would be an excellent set of references to have on your library shelf.

If you would like to browse the books, check WorldCat for libraries that have copies in their collections.

Irish Emigrants in North America Part 10 by David Dobson, published 2020 for Clearfield Company by Genealogical Publishing Compnay, Baltimore, Maryland, plus Parts 1-9, also by Dobson, can be purchased at Genealogical.com. Part 10 costs $20.50, while prices of earlier volumes vary.

 

2 thoughts on “Irish Emigrants in North America Part 10 by David Dobson: Book Review”

  1. Your blog is featured on TIARA’s (The Irish Ancestral Research Association) Best of the Blogs for the week ending January 9

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