Hi Bob, Muster Roll of the Garrison of Derry 1642-43 Nothing Defenders of Ireland 1689, etc Capt Edmond Rice. It could be Welsh. There was a small lost Welsh colony in the area of Belfast in the late 1500s. The surnames do survive. There were far more Welsh to the south in the Pale. The Marcher lords on the border of England and Wales brought their tenants over in the late Medieval Period. However MacLysaght says the ones in Oriel were O'Maolchraoibhe -- which he finds puzzling as to why they became Rices. Clearly no one could pronounce their name so they had to do something <grin>. The name is often Anglicized as Mulcreevy or Mulgrievy. He refers us to a map of Armagh and Down and says "See Mullgrew" THis is another variant of the Irish found in Tyrone. It is sometimes abreviated to Grew in Armagh. Not to be confused (or rather, totally confused) with the English surname Grew, from Old French griu or crane. You need a DNA test, in other words! Oriel, an old Irish kingdom consisting of Armagh, Monaghan and parts of south Down, Louth and Fermanagh. So if your DNA matches the local boys, your ancestors were Irish. Linda Merle ----- Original Message ----- From: boreda@frontiernet.net To: scotch-irish@rootsweb.com Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2011 12:17:12 PM Subject: [S-I] "Defenders of the Plantation of Ulster 1641-1691" Hi, Linda, Could you please look up the surname Rice ? Thanks, Bob Rice ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SCOTCH-IRISH-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message