THE DEMISE OF THE MacDUFFIES

Study Notes collected and edited (2001) by David Morgan, 11 Arden Drive, Dorridge, Solihull, West Midlands B93 8LP

Phone and Fax: +44 (0) 1564 774020

1389 – John Mor Tanister MacDonald, second son of John of Islay, Scottish Lord of the Isles and Princess Margaret, married the Norman Heiress Margery Bisset, and acquired the Glens of Antrim for the MacDonald Empire.

1399 – Richard 11 defeated in a disastrous Irish expedition and large tracts of Eastern Ulster fell to the native Irish and the Scots of the Isles.

1468 – In Northern Antrim the surviving Norman de Mandevilles sold their interests to the MacQuillans, who called the area "The Route" (Private Army).

1476 – In Scotland, James 1V forced the surrender of the MacDonalds and absorbed the Isles into his Kingdom.

1493 – The Act of Forfeiture saw the end of the MacDonald Empire.

1494 – Sir John Cahanagh MacDonald convicted of high treason and executed.

1495 – John MacIan took a number of Colonsay Islanders to settle in Ardnamurchan. The MacDuffie Chief, Malcolm Lord of Dunevin, had married MacIan’s sister. Perhaps it was felt to be safer than staying in the Islands.

1500 – Bonamargy Monastery built by Rory MacQuillan and was taken over by the McDonnells. Many Clan Chiefs were buried there in the vaults whilst their humbler brethren slept in the open cemetery.

1534 – The Reformation started in England by Henry V111. He was not recognised as Head of the Church in Ireland until 1542 and his break with Rome did not cause a great stir, as the Pope’s authority was feeble in Ireland because of previous altercations with the Celtic Church.

1537 – Parish Registers started in England.

1538 – Dugald Oge MacDuffie from Islay, went with Alexander (d.1550), son of Sir John Cahanagh Macdonald, and banished from Scotland, to co.Antrim. In 1558 was granted land captured from the MacQuillans of the Route by Sorley Boy and the McDonnells of Antrim at the Battle of Glenshesk, the first attempt to extend the empire of the MacDonald Clan from Scotland in Northern Ireland. Dugald Oge married a daughter of Alester Carragh McDonnell.

1539 – Most Irish Catholic Monasteries were destroyed by the Protestants which seemed to cause little concern.

1545 – Mary, Queen of Scots, granted Colonsay to Sir James MacDonald of Dunnyveg and the Glens.

1547 – Protestant doctrine did not arrive in Antrim until the accession of Edward V1, and while it made some progress in Dublin, there was not a lot for Mary to undo when she became Queen.

1553/58 – The Catholic Mary Queen of Scots ruled Scotland and England.

1558 – Elizabeth 1 came to the throne and Parish Registers were started by the Episcopal Church in Scotland.

1558 – Most fought to preserve the old Gaelic order in Antrim against a more prosperous and powerful England. Battle of Glenshesk in co.Antrim, in which Dugald Oge MacDuffie and his five sons, Daniel Chogy; Archibald; Neil; Ferdaragh and Angus fought with outstanding courage. The Earl of Argyll later killed Angus in Scotland. Brackney was once part of Ballyberidagh and here is the site of Castle Culvenagh, which could have been the house Dugald Oge lived in.

1560 – National Covenant drawn up by James V1 and John Craig to maintain the Protestant faith within the Presbyterian organisation, and resist attempts by the Papal See to maintain its hold on Scotland. Nicol McPhee left Lochaber to settle by Loch Assynt, West Sutherland and became progenitor of the small sept of Glenorchy MacNicols. Although "they are properly called McPhees" they are now generally known as Nicolson. (Black).

1565 – Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, advised Shane O’Neill to win the Queen’s favour by driving the Scots from the Antrim Glens. The Scots set their warning fires ablaze on Fair Head and the high ground behind Torr Point upon which the men of Kintyre seized their weapons and manned their galleys, James MacDonald leading them across the channel. His brother Alexander Oge was left to muster another force and follow, but Shane overwhelmed the Scots, leaving James to die of his wounds.

1567 – Shane was defeated by the O’Donnells and fled eastwards to take refuge with the MacDonnells in the Glens, only to be promptly hacked to death in Cushenden by Angus Oge to avenge the deaths of his uncle James and Angus.

1570 – Birth of Coll Ciotach Macdonald in co.Antrim.

1581 – National Covenant subscribed by all ranks of Society in Scotland by order of the King, the Privy Council and the General Assembly.

1583 – Battle of Orra in co.Antrim, as the need developed for the McDonnells to expand to accommodate the Scottish MacDonalds.

1584 – The influx of Highlanders and mercenaries caused genuine anxiety for the English and Sir John Perrott conducted a campaign which saw Sorley Boy McDonnell hold a meeting of Island Chiefs on Bute to seek support to regain his Antrim lands. Eventually Perrott was forced to seek peace as Spain sent an Armada to Ireland which was destroyed en route, although some 3,000 Spaniards landed in Ulster who were basically eliminated by 1589. Sorley Boy came to an agreement not to attack the English.

1586 – Neil Oge M’Evee, with 100 men and many others, was at the Massacre at Ardnares in Ulster.

1587 – An Act of Parliament known as the "General Band" or "Bond" was passed by which all Scottish chiefs were to find sureties for the good behaviour of their clansmen.

1590 – Battle of Ballymoney in co.Antrim. Sorley Boy died and was buried along with his brother Coll, in Bonamargy Monastery. Cahal O’Hara, Chief of the O’Haras, married Dugald Oge MacDuffie’s daughter, Margaret.

1593 – Clan MacDuffie Chief, Murdoch, father of Donald, Malcolm and Murdoch and John (?), murdered by the MacLeans in a cave on the north side off Colonsay.

1596 – Archibald (Gillespik) Makduffie, indweller in Islay, and John Groiame Mac vic Eachene, indweller in Colonsay, gave a Bond to defend Sir.James MacDonald of "Krokrunsay Knycht, Maister of Kintyre".

1597 – Donald MacDuffie, Clan Chief (described as "Pryor of Oronsay"), gave a Bond of support to the rebel Sir James MacDonald.

1601 – In co.Antrim, Randal MacSorley MacDonnell surrendered to the English and the lands he controlled as ruler of a territory became his Personal Estate according to the dictates of English Law. This meant he could issue Leases to his followers who became his Legal Tenants.

1603 – James V1 of Scotland added the title James 1 of England which gave the Campbells an excellent opportunity to steer the Privy Council in the direction they wanted. The King supported the Plantation of Ulster as a means to fill the country with Lowland Covenanters and rid himself of the Gaelic Lords in Ireland and the Irish problem. Donald Oge MacDuffy of Glenclaie (Glencloy), co Antrim, appeared at the Carrickfergus Inquisition

1605 – A Bond of Gossipry and Manrent made between Johne grown McVcKechirn, Officer of Colonsay, and Gillecallum (Malcolm) Makfiethe of Colonsay, with Ronald Campbell of Barrichbeyan in Craignish, for mutual assistance. Malcolm’s brother John was a witness to this Bond. This is the first chink in the armour of strong links with the MacDonalds which had protected the MacDuffies and which had lasted for over four centuries.

1608 – Dunnyveg Castle surrendered to Lord Steart of Ochiltree supported by Andrew Knox, Bishop of the Isles. Clan Ian Vor to whom the MacDuffies had previously sworn allegiance, became a "broken Clan"

1609 – Statutes of Icolmekill or Iona agreed with nine limiting clauses which virtually destroyed the Highland Clans in Scotland. Malcolm MacDuffie succeeded to the Chieftainship of Clan MacDuffie on the death of his brother Donald.

1610 – Charter of James V1 and 1, to Archibald, 7^th Earl of Argyll giving him the lands of Colonsay, Skellisage, Ardnamurchan and Sunart into the Barony of Ardnamurchan, thus destoying the MacDuffie rights of "immemorial occupation" of Colonsay that had survived with the MacDonalds since 1208.

1615 – King James V1 and 1, announced that the property of all "who communed or assisted the MacDonald rebels" should belong to the Earl of Argyll. Malcolm, Chief of Clan MacDuffie was seen by a Campbell, moving his property and chattels to Islay. Coll Ciotach surrendered the "Castle of Dunnyveg and the Ile of Lochgorme to the Erle of Ergyle and apprehended McPhe who had followed Sir James MacDonald and deliverd him to the Erle of Ergyle".

1616 – Archibald (Gillespick) McDuffe, son of Dugald Oge MacDuffie but claimed to be an in-dweller in Islay, got a Lease dated 15 December of 60 acres in Bunglenshesk. (Ulster Inquisitions, Antrim). But was he the son of Dugald Oge?

1617 – Donnell Coggie M’Duffy, son of Dugald Oge MacDuffie, got a Lease from the McDonnells dated 21 Jan 1617 of the lands of Coulkenny (30 acres) Ballybenaght (60 acres) Clogher (120 acres) and Ballynaris (120 acres) (Ulster Inquisitions,Antrim).

1618 – Malcolm MacDuffie released from prison for having followed John Campbell of Caddell (Calder) in prosecuting the rebellious Clan Donald. But did he return to Colonsay, now an Argyll island occupied by Coll Ciotach MacDonald who caused his arrest, or go back to Islay to where he had moved in 1615 or even to Glenshesk, co. Antrim? Sir Randall McSorley McDonnell, son of Sorley Boy, created Lord Dunluce.

1620 – Sir Randal MacSorley MacDonnell, Lord Dunluce, created First Earl of Antrim. In 1650 he married Rose O.Neill.

1623 – Malcolm MacDuffie, the last Clan Chief, murdered by Coll Ciotach on Oronsay. The Trial in November 1623 indicated that he was murdered in February 1623 along with Donald Oig McDuffie; Dougal McDuffie and their relatives Johne McQuharrie and Ewin Bayne (alias Quhyte). Their burial place is not known, perhaps on Oronsay.

But was the party from Glenshesk, having picked up relatives in Islay on the way to Colonsay, and was the murdered Donald Oig McDuffie the elderly son of Dugald Oge MacDuffie from co.Antrim perhaps living in Islay but having acquired Leases in co.Antrim from the McDonnells in 1617 ?

The murdered Chief’s family, widow Marie MacDonald, son, another Donald Oig McDuffie and three daughters - Katherene, Anne and Fynwall disappeared after the Trial in Glasgow. It is possible the ladies moved to Jura and inter-married with the Shaws but did son Donald Oig McDuffie then join his uncle Murdoch (Murphie) and move back to co.Antrim where they got Leases in 1637?

William Stirling of Auchyle, an Agent of the Earl of Argyll, bought Oronsay from the Bishop of the Isles, but in 1624 found it expedient to grant a feu of the island to Coll Ciotach. In 1629 he transferred his feudal superiority to Lord Lorne, Argyll’s eldest son, who was happy to recognise Coll Ciotach’s tenancy.

1624 – Nola Dubhuy (MacDuffie) baptised in Islay by the Catholic Franciscan Mission to Islay from Bonamargy Priory. Mora Dubhuy baptised in Kintyre. Neil McNeil (nobilis) dominus de Killdaca, cum uxore Domina Margaret Dubhuy (McDuffie) et quatuor liberis baptised by the Catholic Franciscan Mission in Kintyre.

1625 – Charles 1 came to the throne. He did not share his father’s enthusiasm for the Ulster Plantation.

1626 – A Covenanter, Malcolme M’Duffie, appointed reader of two Iles Jura and Giga, by Thomas Knox, Bishop of the Isles. The gift of Kintyre and Jura to James Campbell (Lord Kintyre) by his father Argyll was ratified by Royal Charter. Maria (Mary); Nellanus (Neil); Cecilia and Daniel Dubhuy (McDuffie) baptised by the Catholic Franciscan Mission to Colonsay. This was after the death of Malcolm in 1623 when Coll Kitto, a Catholic, became Laird of Colonsay..

1627 – The Earl of Antrim offered to buy Islay from Sir John Campbell of Calder who was finding the hostile population uncooperative. Sir John converted to Catholicism to gain more sympathy. However, the Government was not willing to accept Antrim as tenant of Islay, the same reason he failed to gain Kintyre in the 1630’s.

1629 – On 1 November, Daniel Cogy McDuffee, Gentleman of Ballynaris, father of Murphie McDuffee, sub-let half the Townland of Clogher and Toberdoney in the Parish of Billy, (adjacent to Bushmills), to John Stewart, Yeoman of Clogher, Toberdoney for 99 years at a rental of £17. (PRONI Ref: D2977/34/3/2/37/1.

1630 – Charles 1 confirmed the tenandry of Oronsay to Archibald Lord Lorne, Argyll’s eldest son.

1632 – A Lease of Garvard and Colonsay granted to Coll Ciotach for £480 per year rising to £560 in 1642. The tenant was Dugald MacDuffie (Doubtful! In view of tenancy to Lord Lorne given in 1630. Possibly given in 1633).

1633 – Charles 1 returned to his native Scotland for a belated Coronation. The country had been administered by the Scottish Privy Council and the Scottish Parliament, overshadowed by the General Assembly of the Kirk and rivalled by the Convention of Scottish burghs, offered little resistance. Charles insisted on the Anglican form of worship and soon ordered the preparation of a new Scottish Prayer Book, closely modelled on the English one. Thomas Wentworth was sent to Ireland to raise funds for Charles 1 and enforce High Church conformity on the Protestants. Scots in Ulster needed little encouragement to sign the Covenant despite the "Black Oath" forbidding this.

1635 – Lord Kintyre found a buyer for Kintyre and Jura – the Earl of Antrim - who worked through his Agent Archibald Stewart of Ballintoy (a Scottish Protestant whose family had long been settled in Antrim). Kintyre was bought in the name of Antrim’s son. Lord Dunluce, but the Privy Council cancelled the sale at the request of Lord Lorne, who claimed the original Grant stipulated the lands should never be transferred to a MacDonald. The following year Lord Kintyre sold the lands to Lord Lorne. Coll Ciotach proved to be an unsatisfactory tenant in Oronsay and was expelled by the Campbells.

1636 – All old Leases of Colonsay were declared void and a new Lease for £880 per year was granted to Lord Lorne, part of the scheme to secure Land under English Law to protect the Landlords.

1637 – When the Dean of St.Giles in Scotland tried to use the new Prayer Book of Charles 1, the congregation rioted and in trying to repress this, the situation was out of control.

The Earl of Antrim gave fresh Leases to existing Antrim Tenants in this year. (Ian Montgomery – City of Belfast Archivist).

Donald Coggie McDuffe and his son Murphie McDuffe paid yearly rent for the Townland of Cloaker (Clogher?) and Half Townland of Ballynarish in co.Antrim. This land had been sub-let in 1629 to John Stewart for 99 years? Rev.George Hill claims that Donald (Daniel) Coggie was the son of Dugald Oge MacDuffie. But did Hill make a mistake and were they a brother and the son of the deceased Chief Malcolm from Islay?

Archibald (Gillaspick) McDuffie (son of Dugald Oge?) of Kilm( )alle? got a Lease dated 21 July 1637 of land in Kiln( )alle (Kilmoyle)?. (Deputy Keepers Report 1928) also (PRONI D/2977/3A/8/2).

Archibald McDuffe (son of Dugald Oge?) and John McDuffe (relationship not known) leased the half townland of Dunlane. (McDonnells of Antrim; "Decree of Innocence in favour of the Marquis of Antrim"-1663).

1639 –Alastair MacDonald, son of Coll Ciotach, went from Scotland to live in Antrim.

1640 – After the revival of Catholicism in the Highlands in 1623 (and subsequently), hundreds of Highlanders regularly made their way to Bonamargy to receive the sacraments.

1641 – Violence erupted in Northern Ireland, inflamed by the anti-Popery of the English Commons, and many Protestants were massacred in an effort to drive the Plantees out of Ulster. Charles was also forced to come to terms with Scotland and in August, formally accepted the most sweeping constitutional and religious changes, including a Presbyterian form of government and a severely limited monarchy.

1642 – Start of Civil War in England. Massive confiscation of land held by the Catholics in Northern Ireland and bloody revenge by Major General Robert Monro and a Scots army in pursuit of the Irish. After landing at Carrickfergus and moving southwards, Monro simply slaughtered his captives.

1643 – Late in October, two Irish Regiments landed at Minehead and Bristol, and in November, 2,000 Irish troops landed at Mostyn, Cheshire to help Charles. An invasion of Galloway by Loyalist Commander the Earl of Montrose in April proved abortive, but a week after Charles’ defeat at Marston Moor, a small force of native Irish landed at Ardnamurchan, and Montrose, without troops, left Carlisle to link up with them at Blair Atholl.

Together they smashed through a larger covenanting force and occupied Perth. Next Montrose captured Aberdeen. When Argyll set off in pursuit, Montrose took to the mountains and in February 1645 inflicted a second humiliating defeat on Argyll’s forces at Inverlochy, just outside Fort William.

1644 – Alastair MacDonald had been appointed by the Earl of Antrim to command the troops sent to Kintyre in Scotland to co-operate with The Earl of Montrose. After victories at Alford and Kilsyth, Montrose was crushed by Cromwell at Philiphaugh, near Selkirk.

1647 – Coll Ciotach in charge of Dunnyveg Castle on Islay with 200 men left behind by his son Alastair after the failure of his campaign in Kintyre, when he went back to Ireland. General Leslie and the Covenanters captured the Castle. Coll Ciotach was handed over to the Campbells and he and two sons were executed.

1649 – Cromwell executed Charles 1 and subjugated Ulster by executing hundreds; transporting 12,000 to the West Indies and exiling 3,400 soldiers to the European mainland. Only those landowners who could prove "constant good affection" to the Parliamentary Cause were not punished. In practice, Protestants were absolved if they paid fines, but almost all Catholic landowners disappeared in Ulster, many obtaining smaller estates in Leitrim as compensation. 41% of the land in Antrim was confiscated and Cromwell’s Charter restored Derry property to the City of London showing that the Ulster Plantation was largely undisturbed. The Gaelic aristocracy, already shattered by the Plantations, was all but wiped out and the foundations of the Protestant Ascendancy were firmly laid.

1651 – Donald MacFie, a tacksman rented Colonsay and Oronsay from Argyll. (Lord Lorne?) a Lease which only lasted until 1652..

1653 – Lease of Colonsay and Oronsay granted to John Campbell.

1656 – In Colonsay, Donald MacDuffie was required by the Presbytery to give a certificate for the good behaviour of Archibald MacDuffie, having confessed to adulterie with an unamed woman. Had the MacDuffies been in permanent residence of Colonsay or did they return from Antrim?

1660 – Jane McFee daughter of Dowgall McFee born in Templemore Parish, co.Derry. The records from June 1660 to November 1687 for Colonsay, a period during which the Presbyterian Church was supplanted by the Episcopalian Church, are missing.

1661 – Recision of Coll Ciotach’s forfeiture and Charter of the Bishop of the Isles, Robert Wallace, gave a Lease to his grandaughter Sarah MacDonald, daughter of Archibald MacDonald, of Colonsay and Oronsay.

1662 – Both Covenants were then declared unlawful by Charles 11. The Act of Settlement declared that land had to be found for "innocent Papists" and the King insisted that the Earl of Antrim be restored to his lands and be declared innocent. Protestants were outraged and were only appeased by a further Act of

Explanation in 1665, which said Lord Antrim could no longer be classed as "innocent". Soldiers and Adventurers granted land had to give up one-third of their estates to make land available for those Protestants who had had to give way to Catholics.

1663 – Charter of Charles 11 to Archibald, 9^th Earl of Argyll on the re-erection of the Earldom of Argyll, giving him all titles and the lands and barony of Ardnamurchan, including Colonsay and Oronsay. Daniel McFey had the Lease of Land in Ballywillin, Coleraine. (1663 Hearth Returns for Londonderry ––PRONI - T.307A)

1666 – Co.Antrim Hearth Money Roll indicates a number of MacDuffies settled in Northern Ireland. These included

Bryan Roe McDuffe – Ramoan Parish p.71

John Oge McFee – Culfeightrin Parish, Glenshesk p.66

Neale McFee – Culfeightrin Parish, p.67

John McIlduffe – Culfeightrin Parish, p.67

Angus McIlduffe – Ballintoy Parish, p.60

Dugall McDuffye – Loughguile Parish, p.98

Dhassye McDuffie – Loughguile Parish, p.98

Donall Galt McIlfee – Ballywillin Parish, p.85

None recorded in Armoy Parish.

Glenshesk included Broughmore; Coolaveely; Craigban; Drumacullin; Duncarbit; Greenan and Tenaghs.

1669 – The Hearth Returns for co.Antrim (T.307) included

Ogan McDuffe – Armoy Parish, Cromaghs

Teri McDuffe – Armoy Parish, Kilcroagh

John McPhee – Culfeightrin Parish, Glenshesk area

Neal McDuffe – Culfeightrin Parish, Glenshesk area

Widdy Duffe – Ramoan Parish, Drumavoley

Daniel McDuffie – Ballywillin Parish, Knockertotan

Daniel McDuffie – Ballywillin Parish, Knockertotan

Neale McDuffie – Ballywillin Parish, Knockertotan

Neale MacDuffy – Dunluce Parish, Ballyhunsley Upper

Daniel McCaffi (?) – Dunluce Parish, Glentask

John McDuffy – Ballymoney, Seacon (Irish)

John McDuffy – Ballymoney, Seacon (Irish)

Neale McDuffee – Kilraghts Parish, Ballylough

Additional names in the co.Antrim Hearth Money Roll of 1669

Dan McFey – Loughguile Parish, Ballynagabog p.97

Dan Grom McElfee – Tickmacrevan Parish, Ringfad p.121

Robert McFay – Killaggan Parish p.128

Margaret Duffe – Rasharkin Parish, Magheraboy p.132

Hearth Money Roll for Ballycreagee (Ballycraigy) Carnmoney, co.Antrim included

James Ffey and Wid Ffey.

("Heads and Hearths; The Hearth Money Rolls and Poll Tax Returns for co.Antrim – 1660-69" – by S.T.Carleton – PRONI – 1991)

1674 – Baron McFee and his wife executed on Cumbrae by a Detachment of Athole Men and Strathmore Horse, for failing to disclose the hiding place of his Covenanter son.

1683 – Elizabeth McAfee, daughter of Matthew McAfee and Barbara, christened in Derry Cathedral on 31 October (Templemore Parish Registers).

1685 – Both Covenants now declared treasonable by Charles 11. Lawless groups from the soldiers of the Duke of Gordon, the Marquis of Athol and Clan MacDuffie, including Malcolm, Donald Oig and Donald, raided the Clan Campbell and their followers in Scotland. (An Account of the Depredations committed on the Clan Campbell and Their Followers during the years 1685-1686). The Earl of Argyll was executed.

1686 – Colonsay and Oronsay became Crown property on the Forfeiture by the Earl of Argyll.

1688 – Less than 4 per cent of Ulster land (other than Antrim), was owned by Catholics. It is estimated that some 50,000 Scottish families went to Ulster between 1689 and 1715 and Presbyterians saw a doubling of their congregations.

1690 – Battle of the Boyne when the Jacobites were overcome by William of Orange and the luck of the McDonnells held out. Presbyterian Scots poured into Ulster, many of them victuallers for the Army.

Birth of Murphy McDuffee, who died in 1760(?) aged 70. Has a tombstone in Bonamargy Graveyard, Ballycastle (Culfeightrin Parish).

1701 – Lease of Colonsay and Oronsay to Donald and Colin Campbell by Archibald, Earl of Argyll.

1707 – Neale Roe McFee and Daniel McFee jointly leased property in Lisnisk; Ferderagh was given a body of land: and Ferderagh and Eneas were jointly given land in Lisnisk and Knockertotran, Ballywillin Parish, nr.Coleraine. ("Families of Ballyrashane" – Rev.T.H.Mullin). See the 1669 Hearth Money Rolls.

1712 – Religious restrictions against Catholics in Ulster caused untold hardship but Bishop King imported Gaelic-speaking clergy to minister to Island Scots settled in Innishowen and co.Antrim. Only 5,500 Catholics officially converted to the Established Church between 1703 and 1789, drawn mainly from the gentry, eager to find careers for sons in the legal profession.

1714 – Presbyterians, by this time called "Fie"; "ffie"; "ffee" and "fee" included in Carnmoney Presbyterian Parish Registers, although a few "McDuffie" and "MacAfee" were also registered. This would seemingly be a ploy by "MacDuffies" to give the impression that they did not belong to the Clan, or were never of the Catholic faith.

1715 – John McDuffee of Doagh Erunlagh (?) in Glencline, Barony of Glenarm gave a Deed to Hugh Boyd for the Castle Culvenagh at Ballyverridy (Ballyverdagh?) and five acres in the Parish of Culfeightrin, Barony of Cary – 23 Jan 1715 and 10 Jan 1716. Was this still the McDuffie main residence?

1718 –James McFee signed a Petition asking for Scots to emigrate to America. Some 5,000 Presbyterian emigrants from Northern Ireland sailing from Derry went to New England and Maine in the USA at about the time that the migration of Scots into Ulster ceased. The main reason was famine, but poverty played a large part in the movement. The peak was reached in 1728-29. American States seem to have had differing religions in the ascendancy so the tendency was for UK emigrants to go to the States where their personal religion was predominant.

1729– A Dugald McDuffie born in Kingston, Jamaica. In 1759 he married Janet Campbell.

1733 – Archibald McDuffie and Finuelle Gilchrist married on 25^th Jan at Kildalton, Islay.

1734 – Alexander McDonnell, 5^th Earl of Antrim "turned" on reaching his majority.

1735 – Ann McDuffie married Donald McMillan on 23^rd June at Kildalton, Islay.

1738-1740 – Great Emigration of McDuffies to the USA from Scotland and Ireland. Capt.Lauchlan Campbell, an adventurer, claimed that land by the thousands of acres was available in New York.

1742 – Mary McDuffie married Lauchlane McEachern on 8^th October at Kildalton, Islay.

END