To-Do
Clean up citations at the end.
Other Bowe in Ireland
Bowe families in Ireland can have patrilineal origins in either Ireland or England. In addition to the Irish Ely Carroll subgroup in our DNA Project, at least one Bowe line, not yet documented in the DNA project, is believed to have come from England during the Elizabethan settlements. Another Bowe subgroup appears to have a patrilineal Pearse history in England but to have been adopted into, and taken the surname of, the early Irish Bowe family. A similar adoption likely took place with our Niall of the Nine Hostages Bowe participant and other Bowe with an Irish cultural history but a different Y-chromosome.
Historical Migrations from England
In general, while some English came to Ireland in early mediaeval times, permanent settlers mostly arrived more recently. The earliest of them, though not numerous, were Elizabethans, but:
the main causes of the widespread introduction of British names were the Plantation of Ulster in the first decade of the seventeenth century and the Cromwellian settlement of the 1650s ... The Cromwellian settlement was different because the immigrants introduced were widely scattered over the country. In this case they were for the most part eventually assimilated and became an integral part of the Irish nation. Generations of intermarriage with native Catholic Irish have made them, apart from a few landlord families, otherwise indistinguishable from their neighbours who bear Gaelic or Hiberno-Norman names. [1]
While some of Bowes (and variant) immigrants to Ireland could have gone there for reasons unique to them, and while most would conform to the above account, there are other historical events to consider when studied along with a family's paper trail. Documentary research continues alongside our DNA Project to clarify the following possibilities.
1) Through contact between the Irish and Anglo-Saxons before the early Viking invasions of the 9th century.
Such contact was extremely minimal in Ireland itself compared with future events. Relations at this time were heavily centered in Christian religious communities. Converted Anglo-Saxons did live and study at Irish monasteries, and Anglo-Saxon nobles and lay people accompanied them as evidenced by Anglo-Saxon burials outside monastery grounds. [2]
Meanwhile, early Irish traveled to western Scotland and intermixed with Scandinavians there. Some returned to Ireland as a mixed Gaelic-Scandinavian people, including as galloglaigh or "gallowglasses," Scottish mercenary soldiers in Ireland "in the pay of various Irish chieftains down to the end of the 16th century." [3]
2) As part of the Viking incursions of the early 9th century.
Possible for some, though it's hard to gauge how likely. Some say not likely at all. While the Viking settlements were initially in stark opposition to and highly outnumbered by the Irish natives–through the spoils of war, intermarriage, capture of women and children, subsequent Scandinavian generations in Ireland going their own way, and other vagaries of human behavior–some mixing of Viking and Gaelic blood did occur. Early on these Vikings would have adopted Gaelic names beginning with O' or Mac as they assimilated into the Irish culture, only later anglicizing their name.
Genetic studies focused on Scotland and the Orkney Islands have indicated that the Norse invading Orkney and Shetland came in equal numbers of men and women, whereas “lone males” among those that settled further west intermixed with the local population. [4] These results aren't necessarily indicative of what took place in Ireland, but they are suggestive.
3) With the Normans after 1169.
This is not likely to explain any of our English immigrants to Ireland. The list of the main Normans who came at this time (not including any soldiers with them) does not include our surname(s). [5] Additionally, Edward MacLysaght, an Irish surname expert, published “Anglo-Norman surnames formed from trades, employment, personal characteristics and nationality taken from medieval Irish records and still found in Ireland.” None of our variants are listed here. [6] In an earlier volume he included a list of “Anglo-Irish Surnames.” Here again, no mention of our variants. [7]
Interestingly, a relative was traveling in Kilkenny and reported, "Everyone in Kilkenny greeted the Bowes name with, "an old Norman family." A member of a Bowe family in northern Kilkenny said he researched the family's roots and found them to be Norman, but we have no knowledge of the extent of his research or sources consulted. Was this because they know the Bowes and Bowe names are common in England and made an assumption that when they appear in Ireland it must have been Normans who brought them? Or is this old knowledge about at least one Bowes line in Kilkenny known to have Norman roots?
4) Among settlers who arrived in Ireland between the original Normans in the 12th and 13th centuries and the "Settlement and Plantations" movements that began in the 16th century.
"Families in this category are much less numerous than their Norman predecessors ... but they did become assimilated in the Irish nation (if that term be permissable in a mediaval context) through environment, intermarriage and the inability of the country of their origin to protect them in that of their adoption." [8] It is unlikely we will find records of these individuals.
5) With the English, Scottish and others who were part of the "Settlement and Plantations" of Ireland (Elizabethan and Cromwellian) from 1500-1660s to secure English loyalists there.
It is near certain that some lines with our surnames immigrated to Ireland as part of these movements. Many of the related records burned in the Dublin Four Courts fire in 1922. Available lists of those who were granted land in Northern Ireland, by name and location of the land, do not include any of our variants. [9] Many of these settlers were already soldiers in Ireland, most of them single, and many of those married Irish women even though it was against the law. Also, the English who came over to be new landowners often brought many tenants to work their land. It is impossible to ever recover a complete list of the people who migrated to and settled in Ireland at this time, but it's likely that ancestors of some Irish lineages now bearing our surname(s) would have been among them. Clues include the religion of one's ancestors (Anglican or Episcopalian -- don't forget to check the records of these churches along with the Roman Catholic ones) and any indication of their line coming to Ireland from England or Scotland during this time frame. (This time also saw the exile of many pro-Irish fighters to Europe.)
Cromwellian Settlers in Kilkenny
6) Among Palatinates In 1709 and 1710
"The Palatinate or German Pfalz was subject to invasion by the armies of Britain, France, and Germany. As well as the devastating effects of war, the Palatines were subjected to the winter of 1708 and 1709, the harshest in 100 years. The scene was set for a mass migration. At the invitation of Queen Anne in the spring of 1709, about 7000 harassed Palatines sailed down the Rhine to Rotterdam. From there, about 3000 were dispatched to America, either directly or via England, under the auspices of William Penn. The remaining 4000 were sent via England to Ireland to strengthen the protestant interest. In 1710, three large groups of Palatines sailed from London. The first went to Ireland, the second to Carolina and the third to New York..." [10]
This is not a likely source for any immigrants to Ireland bearing our surnames, although there is a remote possibility that one could have come with a different surname and adopted one of our names along the way in Ireland. One Irish Palatine family had the name Bowen, which theoretically could have become Bowe or Bowes through cultural assimilation, but this was a tight group and the chance of this is very unlikely. See A Short History of the Irish Palatines and Who Are the Irish Palatines?
7) "Outside of the plantations, significant migration into Ireland continued well into the 18th century, from both Britain and continental Europe." [Kerrygold]
In addition to commercial motivations during this period, many French Huguenots escaped persecution by fleeing to Ireland (among other countries) from the late 1600s into the 1700s. An e-mail correspondent adds: "What I read was that soldiers fought for the King of France against England and had no work when the war was over so many went to Ireland to seek their fortune. They were given money for their soldering but it didn't go far in France. They could buy land in Ireland though so off they went. This was around mid to late 1700's."
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1. MacLysaght, Edward. The Surnames of Ireland. Irish Academic Press Ltd.: Dublin. 1980, pp. xiv-xv.
2. ("Contacts Between Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England in the Seventh Century," Elizabeth O'Brien)
3. ("Irish-Norse Relations: Time for a Reappraisal?" A.T. Lucas)
4. [Towrie, Sigurd. “The Blood of the Vikings - Orkney's Genetic Heritage,” Orkneyjar: The Heritage of the Orkney Islands. URL: http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/vikingorkney/genetics.htm Date Accessed: 5 September 2010]
5. “Norman invasion of Ireland,” Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_invasion_of_Ireland Accessed 5 April 2011).
6. MacLysaght, 1960, Appendix C.
7. MacLysaght, 1957
8. (MacLysaght, *Irish Families* (1957))
9. (The Conquest of Ireland : An Historical Account of the Plantation in Ulster at the Commencement of the Seventeenth Century, by George Hill
10. "What's a Palatine Ancestor?" The Olive Tree Genealogy.