This week's NEHGS eNews newsletter republished a 1989 NEXUS article about Rathlin Island, County Antrim migrations to Washington County Maine, forwarded below. This article illustrates one very specific example of "sister communities" across several countries, as families, friends and coworkers formed group and chain migrations patterns in the Boston States Migrations region of eastern Canada, New York and New England. Washington County researchers will be gathering at the Boston States Migrations Family History Fair Weekend, June 11-13 in Waltham MA, along with folks who have research interests for other migration groups within the Boston States. See http://bostonstates.rootsweb.com/ for details and registration. Atlantic Canada Irish will be featured at the TIARA evening meeting on June 11 at Boston College when Sandra Devlin, the award winning Canadian genealogy columnist, will present "Connect with Your Family in Atlantic Canada". See http://tiara.ie/meet.html ======================================================================================= Any Washington County researchers who cannot attend but have connections to these families may wish to send their information to Sharon Howland, Washington County Maine Records Preservation Fund Trustee at shwkrp@aol.com , as well as copy to Marie Daly at NEHGS, email mdaly@nehgs.org Forwarded from the NEHGS newsletter: This week we present "Rathlin Islanders Downeast" by Marie E. Daly, originally published in NEHGS NEXUS, 6:6, 1989. When industrialists Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand soared across the Atlantic Ocean in their twenty-one-story balloon, they launched a chain of events which eventually led back to their starting point - Maine. In the largest hot-air balloon ever made, the British adventurers embarked from Carrabassett Valley and the Bigelow Mountain range in Maine. They intended to land the Virgin Atlantic Flyer in Europe, thereby exceeding the world record for both distance and speed. As the mammoth balloon reached Northern Ireland on July 4, 1987, a low cloud cover and a wind shift forced the men to attempt a landing on a north coast beach. Having failed to separate the pressurized capsule from the balloon, Branson and Lindstrand leaped into the sea near Rathlin Island, County Antrim. A swarm of air and sea-going vessels, including the British Navy and the Coast Guard, tracked the balloon's demise. Navy helicopters plucked the stranded men from the sea, but the balloon careened off toward the Mull of Kintyre. When the Virgin Atlantic Flyer finally touched down in the Northern Channel, Rathlin Islanders in a fishing boat retrieved the million-dollar balloon, and claimed it for salvage.1 Despite the Navy's attempt to confiscate the balloon, the island fishermen clung to their booty, thereby qualifying for a reward of 60,000 pounds.2 To fishermen struggling to make ends meet, the prize was the largest sum of money they had ever seen. With the reward, the islanders established a trust fund, and purchased and transformed their old landlord's manor into a heritage center. Subsequently, the island's 110 residents began to investigate the history of their locale. Once the island supported about 1,200 inhabitants, but the Great Famine and its concurrent emigration depopulated Rathlin in the nineteenth century. According to traditional lore many Rathlin emigres settled in Maine and Quebec.3 Attempting to locate their long-lost cousins, Kathlyn McFaul of the Rathlin Island Trust wrote to NEHGS in 1988. Thus the fortuitous crash-landing of this balloon from Maine instigated a quest to discover Rathlin's past connection to Maine. Ringed by mountains and high cliffs on three sides, Rathlin Island is about six miles long and one mile wide, and lies seven miles opposite the town of Ballycastle, County Antrim. Noted by Pliny and Ptolemy, the island bears archaeological evidence, in the form of ring forts and flints, dating back to the Neolithic Period. Rathlin's Christian era began with the landing of Saint Comgall of Bangor in 580 A.D. However, marauding Norsemen destroyed the ancient monastery in 790 and 973. In medieval times, many Scots (who were descendants of Dalriada or North-east Antrim people) fleeing interclan wars took refuge on Rathlin, including (according to legend) Robert Bruce, who fortified a castle there. In 1558, the Rathlin Scots were attacked by the Earl of Sussex, and in 1642 by the Earl of Argyll, who massacred every person, hurling even infants over the cliffs. Since 1476, the Macdonnells (MacDonald) of Islay and Kintyre, afterwards Earls of Antrim, had possessed the island. But in 1746 Alexander, fifth Earl of Antrim, sold Rathlin to Rev. John Gage, Prebendary of Aghadowey (County Derry), whose descendants retained ownership until the twentieth century.4 The devastating potato blight of 1846-1853, which produced the Great Famine in Ireland, also affected the island. "...although none on Rathlin died of starvation, the people's faith in the inevitability of an abundant harvest had been shattered."5 One hundred seven persons fled in 1847, and heavy emigration continued until 1881. In 1841 the island maintained a population of 1,010, but by 1851 the number had diminished to 753, and by 1861 to 453.6 Thus over 550 persons or more than half the population had emigrated during the famine period. Research indicates that at least 230, but probably many more, of these emigrants settled in Washington County, Maine. Rathlin's culture was more Hebridean than Irish. The inhabitants spoke Scots Gaelic and often regarded the mainland as a foreign country. The main industries were cattle and sheep raising, oats, barley and potato agriculture, fishing, kelp harvesting, and linen and wool production. Rathlin featured distinct communities at either end of the island, with the western, fowling community speaking Gaelic primarily, and [197] the eastern, fishing community speaking English.7 In 1834, the majority of the people lived in clachans, i.e. closely congregated families who held joint tenure. Lodged under the scarps of terraced basalts, their low, whitewashed stone and thatch houses were built to withstand the wind. Lewis describes the islanders as "simple, laborious and honest people entertaining an ardent affection for their island...The Catholics and Protestants generally lived together in the greatest harmony, undisturbed by differences in religion."8 In 1945, Thomas McCuiag wrote, "On Rathlin Island, the wheel of life revolves with uneventful regularity...In years gone past the island was entirely self supporting, growing its own food and spinning its own cloth. A familiar feature of the island landscape is the thatched cottages. These are usually whitewashed and, with painted windows and doors, make a very pleasing sight...Like the ocean which swells about its shores and the smoke which curls in tranquil solitude above its cottages, Rathlin lives its life in peace and plenty."9 The WPA index to New England naturalizations, located at the National Archives New England Branch in Waltham, Massachusetts, was searched for the most common Rathlin surname, McCurdy. Washington County Superior Court records indicate that many County Antrim McCurdys had settled in the townships of Lubec, Pembroke and Perry. Located at the mouth of the St. Croix River and at Passamaquoddy Bay, these adjacent communities partly form the northeastern corner of Maine. Further investigation of the area's 1860 Federal Census revealed at least 230 Irish natives bearing names common to Rathlin (see list below). The census also lists a number of Irish natives with names common to County Antrim: Mulholland, Mooney, Higgins, Ross, Andrews and Laughlin. (Laughlin family oral history claims that five brothers emigrated from Belfast in the nineteenth century.) A trip to the Roman Catholic graveyard in West Lubec confirmed that many of the deceased had been natives of Rathlin Island: John McQuiag, Alexander Black, Archibald Black, Elizabeth Black, Daniel McKinley, John Craig, Neal Black, Ann McQuaig, Daniel McCurdy, Alexander Horan, John Horan, Archibald Horan, James McCurdy, Neil McCurdy and Jane McCurdy. The Rathlin settlers in Maine were generally farmers, but in Washington County tradition they scraped by with a number of jobs: farming, fishing, shipbuilding and cutting timber. In addition many Pembroke residents worked at the Pembroke Iron Works. Established in 1832 along the Pennamaquan River, the water-powered iron works reputedly produced 15,000 tons of iron annually, including nails, spikes, hinges, and rivets. The plant closed in 1884; Route 1 passes directly over the site, still marked by a mill dam and a water wheel.10 What attracted these emigrants to this remote part of Maine is unclear. However, in the History of Whiting, Maine, the genealogy of Robert Black (1798-1878) claims that Black was a native of Ireland and had lived along the County Road as early as 1839.11 A number of Rathlin Island families in the Lubec 1860 census had some children born in Massachusetts or New Brunswick, and subsequent children born in Maine. These emigrants seemingly formed a home away from home, a "Little Rathlin" in Maine. This report of my research is only preliminary, and my purpose in publishing this article is to stimulate interest and a response from descendants. Further research will include the 1880 and 1900 census, vital records, naturalizations and church records. It is possible to trace these Maine families back to specific families and locales in Rathlin. For instance, several individuals are listed in the 1834 Tithe Applotment Book for Rathlin (available at NEHGS). In addition, the Roman Catholic parish registers begin in 1838, so some individuals can be identified through baptism and marriage records. Other records, such as the Spinning Wheel Survey of 1796, the List of Protestant Householders in 1740 (available at NEHGS), and the Hearth Money Rolls may extend some families further. A future article will include the results of some of this research. The remaining residents of Rathlin Island would like to contact their American cousins. If any readers think that they descend from this Washington County, Maine population, please contact Marie Daly at NEHGS. FOOTNOTES 1. The Boston Globe, July 3, 1987, vol. 232, no. 3, p. 1, col. 1, and July 4, 1987, vol. 232, no.4, p.1, col. 1. 2. Telephone interview with Kathlyn McFaul of Rathlin Island Trust, July, 1988. 3. Kathlyn McFaul, ibid. 4. Hugh Alexander Boyd, Rathlin Island, North of Antrim (Ballycastle, 1947). (Available at NEHGS) 5. J. H. Elwood, "A Demographic Study of Tory Island and Rathlin Island, 1841-1964", Ulster Folklife 17(1971): 72. (Available at BPL). 6. J. H. Elwood, ibid. 7. Hugh Alexander Boyd, ibid., and F. Estyn Evans, "Traditional Houses of Rathlin Island", Ulster Folklife 19(1973): 14. 8. Samuel Lewis, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, vol 2 (1837, reprint 1984), p. 502. (Available at NEHGS) 9. Hugh Alexander Boyd, ibid., p. 54. 10. Carl K. Hersey, "A History of Pembroke, Maine," in Historical Souvenir Book: Pembroke Sesquicentennial, 1832-1982. Pembroke Sesquicentennial Committee, 1982. 11. Gladys Hall Forslund, History of Whiting, Maine. Calais, Maine, 1975. Ed. Note: The original article in NEXUS also included a list of the names and ages of Irish natives in the 1860 Federal Census of Washington Co., Maine, bearing Rathlin names. While this list could not be included here due to space considerations, members may view it through NewEnglandAncestors.org at www.newenglandancestors.org/articles/research/?page_id=659&attrib1=2&seq_num=90639. View other articles from the NEHGS NEXUS at www.newenglandancestors.org/articles/research/?page_id=659&attrib1=1&seq_num=9. To subscribe or view back issues of eNews, please visit www.newenglandancestors.org/articles/research/?page_id=659&attrib1=1&seq_num=6. ===== Sharon Sergeant Ancestors and Ephemera http://GenealogyFair.com Bring Your Ancestors Home!