Claire I have found a William Boyd on a jury in 1523 (I think in Dublin) and another group of Boyds [number not given] in "The Route" in County Antrim in 1560, who came from Carrick. The only Boyds in Carrick that I know of in this period was Adam Boyd of Penkill. We only know of two of his five sons - the first two - the eldest became the Laird of Penkill and the second the Laird of Trochrig. So I assume that these Boyds of "The Route" MIGHT BE ONE OR ALL THREE OF THE YOUNGER SONS of Penkill. Colonel David Boyd took up 1000 acres in the Parish of Grey Abbey in 1606 under Sir Hugh Montgomery (who was a 5th or 6th cousin) We are not sure if the Boyds of Letterkenny, County Donegal also came before the Plantation period of 1609. The later Earl of Antrim as Presbyterian to come to the Route - I think in 1605 - so I would suspect that there were some Boyds amongst that migration. It is known that Sir Thomas Boyd of Bedlay, was one of the undertakers in County Tyrone in 1609 and stayed with his family until 1613 when he sold to his brother-in-law the Earl of Abercorn, James Hamilton. Some sources say he brought Boyds with him, but I have never found any names listed for these Boyd. James Hamilton married Marion Boyd and both are buried in Paisley Abbey in Scotland. There are a number of Boyds in County Antrim in the early 1600's, but I have not found out when they came to Ireland. One is buried in Derrykeighan, about 12 kms east of Coleraine, in 1612. He was said to have come from Irvine, Ayrshire. I suspect that some of the younger sons of the various Cadet Branches in Ayrshire, also sent sons over in 1609, but I have no names for these or where they may have settled in Ireland. While the Branch of the Boyds from the Fort William area of Scotland, say that they went to Ireland with Edward Bruce in 1316 and after his defeat in Ireland they went with the Macleans to the Fort William Area. While I have not explored this THEORY but I would not be at all surprised that some of the Scottish Boyd may have gone to Ireland pre 1609 to fight with some of the Irish Earl's against other Irish Earl's. Certainly, there were a number of known Boyd in Ireland before the 1609 Plantation The main reason for this migration from Scotland to Ireland, would have been that Scotland could not support the population growth of 1600. While later periods like 1700, it may have been for religious reasons that Presbyterian did not want to be governed by Bishops as in the Church of England. While after the 1641 uprising and again in 1690 uprising, when great numbers were killed on both sides of Protestants and Catholics, people were encouraged to go to Ireland from Scotland - (I) to re-plant or balance the Protestant population and (II) to reduce the population pressures on Scotland. As you go over the hills west of Kilmarnock, you can look to see where the Blair's, Ker's Cunningham's, Montgomeries and Boyds had lands. These lands could not be expanded to take care of an growing family, so the settlement of Ireland by King James VI in 1609 must have been gleefully supported by these families and many others in Scotland. I hope that this quick summary provides you and others with an outline of what is currently known about the Boyd migration to Ireland. If people can add any thing to this "history", I and the list would like to hear form you Thank you Mike Boyd Historical Committee, HBS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fluharty, Claire" <cfluharty@mednet.ucla.edu> To: <Boyd@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 3:44 AM Subject: [BOYD] FW: Your message to the Boyd list > Mike, > > My husband & I were in Scotland this summer and obtained the same booklet > I think. > > But our question is why and when exactly did the Boyds go to Northern > Ireland? > I always thought it was a polical event, but have no information about it. > Our family didn't come to US until 1840's, and then only half the siblings > came. > > Claire Boyd Fluharty >