IRISH ARMSTRONGS
From a talk by Travers Cosgrove
at the Clan Armstrong Trust Gathering of August 1999.

Thoughts on Irish ancestors?
Whether a Scottish or an English Armstrong, common to both were the religious upheavals of the sixteenth century.
The Catholic Queen of Scots, Mary, was facing John Knox and a fiercely Presbyterian nation. Henry VIII formed the Church of England to ensure the Tudor succession - which finished early in the 17th century, on the death of Queen Elizabeth 1st.
King James Sixth of Scotland and First of England then succeeded to the throne of Great Britain, with the Union of the Crowns in 1603. James made it clear he wanted no more border incursions 'for the fun of it'. So he removed several Scots border clans and 'planted' them to settle in northern Ireland - in Ulster. He had inherited trouble here and thought to cure it this way.

And so the border clans arrived as Presbyterians in a country where the majority of the inhabitants were Roman Catholic and the administration, Anglican. Almost four centuries later, things are still much the same and this fear of being overwhelmed persists.
So the Scots Armstrong were an early example of 'Social Engineering!' Their presence was resented by the locals; their educational and religious culture feared and frowned upon by the authorities; their social and family units probably broken up - perhaps because they didn't correspond with the available land and too many in one place would be too powerful. I think mostly they hated it!

Our experience of life tells us many would have pulled strings or vanished to avoid plantation altogether. The 'grandees' appointed to administer the plantation were superseded by hired 'foresters' - and they were overtaken by the civil war. No wonder it was 150 years later before a stable pattern of administration emerged, before records were kept faithfully and before a recognisable civilisation was established. By then, many had already left for the Americas - and continued to do so.

In Ireland itself, Armstrong 'Lads 'o Pairts' began to emerge as accomplished individuals and social leaders. As genealogists, we are very short on those first 150 years. Of course, there are municipal and family exceptions. But it was 100 years after that that I was astonished to discover that my Cosgrove Presbyterian antecedents had to remarry in a Church of Ireland to succeed in their modest profession - the constabulary. Of course, there were other Armstrongs in Ireland, too. They arrived, or were named, for different reasons. Ireland is quite a large, diverse country!

But all is not gloom on tracing back early Armstrongs. We are fortunate that a former Trust member, Alexander, discovered and gathered many early records. These are published in Part One of our Index - it's kept in the museum and we have copies for sale. Then there is a Part Two, which our President, Alan Armstrong of Nether Thorniewhats, has gathered and printed and is which is also available. Joan McKeague and I are working on Part Three. But too many records are dull and confusing; calling them an Index is rather misleading! There is no index other than by parish and date. Will you help me to produce one, please? Christian names and place or farm name seem to be the best remembered.

Now let me talk about LIVING GENEAOLOGY. Have you asked you Grandad or Grandma about the relatives that visited in their childhood? Do it now, whilst they're still here to ask. Do you keep in touch with distant cousins? Do you ask them about their parents and relatives? Are some of them members of the Clan Armstrong Trust? What can they tell you?

How about an exciting family reunion? Someone has to suggest the idea. It has just happened to us. We seized on the intention of American cousins to celebrate the 70th birthday of their 'Mater Familias' by bringing all her family on a trip to Ireland. 36 of them arrived! I organised four families in Britain and Ireland to meet them in Killarney - and there was even one from Australia. Between us, we were able to organise a welcome gathering. Especially memorable for the children, we were able to find local historians to show us where our family had lived - and died - over 300 years ago.

THAT WAS LIVING GENEAOLOGY! For our part, we had put together a family tree and illustrated it with what portraits we could. It was fun to see these pictures grow, shrink and brighten before our eyes. No matter that these were all 'Palmers'. All the relatives had Emma Margaret Armstrong as Great Grandmother - or Great Great, or Great Great Great grandmother! Think of us as Armstrongs! And I found a link with Sir Robert ?slain 1647.

Genealogy can be fun as well as interesting - but we need your help to make it factual.