McLeas and Livingston/es in Ireland

[Kyle MacLea]

There are quite a few McLeas/McLays and Livingston/es in Ireland in the 1901 and 1911 censuses:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

I found ~30 McLeas in both years, ~25 McLays, and several hundred Livingstons and Livingstones.

If you have ancestors who passed through Ireland (there appear to also have been some native Irish McLeas), check it out!

Kyle=

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi Kyle,

Thanks for that. I had not seen that site and search engine. Great stuff. Helpful for anyone with family that lived anywhere in Ireland in 1901 or 1911. Regretably most of the earlier census records were destroyed which creates great challenges to anyone of Irish ancestry looking for family information from the 1800's. There are some Tithe records from the 1830's and the Griffith Valuation from the 1860's which lists householders in addition to parish church records and cemetery records. Some of the Livingstons in the North I suspect of are of the lowland Callendar family or one its branches.
regards,
Donald

[Kyle MacLea]

Indeed--a pity that Irish genealogy is such a challenge. But at least this will help some people with a brickwall at that point. Still--otherwise you have to get lucky.

It would be interesting to prove that some of these Irish Livingstons were relatives of the lowland house. Any ideas how to do that?

Kyle=

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi Kyle,

One of Robert Livingston's ancestors was a minister in Ireland. That is Robert Livingston of Livingston Manor, New York. I am not certain whether any of this family remained in Ireland however. I would have to take another look at the family tree and see if some of the family remained in Ireland.

regards,

Donald

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi Kyle,

Based upon a study of the 1901 Irish Census the Livingstons are almost completely concentrated mainly in three counties in Northern Ireland: Armagh, Down and Antrim. I would assume then that the Livingstons whose ancestors came to the States or Canada from Ireland are almost certainly connected to one of these three counties in present day Northern Ireland. I expect these are Livingstons who came to the North of IReland as early as the 1600's from lowland Scotland as many Scots did at that time. For anyone interested as there were a large number in Armagh county perhaps historians there would have some insights regarding the Livingston families that settled in Armagh and elsewhere in Northern Ireland possibly in the 1600's. Some of these families obviously made there way to America perhaps Pennsylvania. Scotch-Irish they call them in America.

regards,
Donald

[Kyle MacLea]

Indeed--the challenge is separating the REAL "Scotch-Irish" from the Scottish who settled in Ireland for a time but much later than the Plantation of Northern Ireland.

Kyle=

[beadmom]

The funny thing is that after spending 5 years going to Ireland and trying to find family info only to be asked a couple times by the genealogy centers if they could have what I had because I had MORE......I decided to shelve it for a bit and look for my Scottish Livingstons... and look where THAT got me!

Ginger

[Kyle MacLea]

Yes, Ginger! More people need to do as you did, and realize all the help out there if you know where to look!

Kyle=

[Canadian Livingstone]

Hi Kyle,
Well there would be possibly some Scottish Livingstons that migrated to industrialized Belfast finding work in the 1800's for example but I am thinking these Presbyterian Irish Livingstons that settled in America in the mid 1700's are from the Plantation period or at least alot of them. I noticed we were contacted in 2009 from a Livingston from the States whom also stated that his ancestor came from County Armagh Ireland which is an interesting coincidence because the other day I concluded that County Armagh was where the largest percentage of Livingstons might be.
regards,
Donald

[Kyle MacLea]

Very good information to have. It gives a good avenue for research for people whose families moved through Ireland. Really driving home the point that it is likely all Livingston/es come from Scotland even if they spent time (even generations in Ireland). Now, there may have been some native Irish adoption of the name, but that has to be rare compared to likely Scottish origins. Something we should keep in mind for people who come with Irish roots in mind.

Thanks!

Kyle=