Glasgow Branches in Early Ireland

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Glasgow Branches and Clusters in Early Ireland 🇮🇪

An evidence-graded overview of Glasgow surname occurrences, family clusters and reconstructed lineages in Ireland from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries.

This page concentrates on Counties Antrim, Londonderry/Derry, Tyrone and Donegal, with later branches in Cork and overseas. A dated Irish record proves a person or household at a place and time. It does not by itself prove identity with a same-name Scottish baptism, kinship between nearby householders, or descent from a later WikiTree profile.

Project-level Y-DNA may support broad paternal affinity among tested Glasgow lines. It does not identify a named seventeenth- or eighteenth-century father, distinguish one Irish locality cluster from another, or replace a documentary chain.

🧭 Cluster Overview

Evidence key

• ✅ Documented — a contemporary or near-contemporary record establishes the stated occurrence, relationship or migration.
• ⚠️ Working or reconstructed — the interpretation is plausible, but one or more identity or relationship links remain indirect.
• ❓ Unresolved — the profile, connection or locality assignment is not yet supported.
• 🧬 Genetic affinity only — Y-DNA may indicate broad paternal relationship but does not prove the displayed genealogy.

The coloured symbols identify clusters only; they do not indicate evidence strength.

🌱 Documentary Roots and Reconstructed Lineages

The surviving evidence first establishes dated occurrences. It does not by itself prove that a same-name Scottish baptism is the Irish person, that adjacent householders were relatives, or that a later family descends from a particular householder. This page therefore separates documentary Irish roots from reconstructed lineages.

Documented Irish root occurrences

Locality hierarchy

This table is the geographic route into the Irish research. A locality assignment proves where a record places a person; it does not prove kinship with another Glasgow household nearby.

Use Glasgow of Killycurragh, early C19 for the detailed Killycurragh–Ballynasollus work, County Londonderry families for the Inishrush problem, and Place Search or the Family Map for discovery. Map associations remain leads until backed by the cited record.

Evidence labels used on this page

• Documented occurrence — a record proves a name, date and place.
• Probable repeated identity — several records likely concern one person, but the identity chain is indirect.
• Working cluster — people share a tight locality and period; kinship remains a research hypothesis.
• Proved relationship — an original record states the relationship and both people are resolved.
• Reconstructed lineage — family tradition, inherited trees, naming patterns or Y-DNA proposes descent but does not prove each edge.

🌳 Cluster Details

🟤 A. Cross/Derry reconstructed cluster

Later Cross, Killycurragh and Ballynasollus families may represent genuine local branches, but the deep connection back to Charles requires separate proof for each generation.

🟦 B. Tamlaght O'Crilly documentary cluster

B0. Tyrone–Melanchthon tradition

William Glasgow (c.1656) is a family-tradition ancestor. William Melanchthon Glasgow's family history says an ancestor William came from Scotland and remained in northern Ireland after the 1689 campaign. It does not identify his parents, Scottish parish, military unit or contemporary Irish residence. The tradition is useful as a research lead, not as a documentary root.

B1. Hugh / Pennsylvania descendant tree

The descendant tree associated with Hugh Glasgow may represent a substantial later family. The current evidence does not establish that Hugh was a son of William, identify him securely with either Tamlaght O'Crilly householder, or reconcile the 1740 Irish return with any claimed earlier emigration date.

🟢 C. East Antrim documentary cluster

The 1669 John at Kilwaughter is not presently identified. John Glasgow of Cavers is documented as a Cavers-parish Covenanter prisoner and survivor of the 1679 shipwreck, but the prisoner list gives no Irish destination.^[9] No record connects him to the earlier Kilwaughter taxpayer.

Robert Glasgow represents the older Robert active in the 1699–1700 congregational extracts: born before about 1678, living after 1700, with parents and children unknown. He is distinct from Robert Glasgow (c.1710–after 1772). Hugh, James, William and the younger Robert form a plausible early-eighteenth-century cousin or sibling cohort, but similar ages alone do not prove brotherhood.^[10]

Classon Porter's nineteenth-century publication materially improves the Kilwaughter sequence. His transcript records James Glasgow as the Kilwaughter district overseer for meeting-house work in 1700. The surviving session-book list beginning in 1721 names James Glasgow, marks him deceased in 1726, and records him as one of six commissioners sent to Presbytery in 1722.^[11]

The Connor Diocesan Wills index then records James Glasgow of Kilwater in 1727. PRONI's live result explicitly states that the original document does not exist and no information beyond the displayed index entry survived.^[12] The 1700 congregational actor, the 1721–22 session member recorded dead in 1726, and the 1727 testator are therefore very probably one man. The records still do not name his parents, spouse, children, siblings or heirs, and the 1669 James remains only a plausible earlier occurrence of the same man.

The same published material identifies an older Robert Glasgow as stipend bondsman and congregational representative in 1699–1700. A later session list marks a Robert Glasgow “turned out,” explained by a 1747 discipline entry, but this later man could be either the older actor or the younger Robert who married in 1729. Robert Glasgow represented by Glasgow-1502 should remain distinct from Robert Glasgow (c.1710–after 1772) unless an identity record resolves them.

No parent-child chain is accepted here from James Glasgow through Robert Glasgow to the four early-eighteenth-century households. James Glasgow (born 1736) also cannot be a child of a man whose current profile death is 1726.

🟩 D. Moneymore-labelled tree cluster

The profiles Samuel Glasgow (c.1726), Robert Glasgow (c.1724) and William Glasgow (c.1735) require reconciliation. Their structural attachments identify James Glasgow as father, while their biographies identify James Glasgow. The place description “Moneymore, County Galway” is also inconsistent with the Ulster locality.

The Moneymore-labelled tree may connect to the 1740 Derryloran households described under cluster E, but no record currently maps a named profile to a particular householder.

🧭 E. Derryloran–Cookstown documentary cluster

The original 1766 religious return materially extends this cluster. At Drumearn it lists two separate men as Jas. Glasgo, followed by Jn. Glasgo; at Gortein it lists Sam Glasgo; and at Killycurry it lists Wm Glasgo.^[13] This gives five definite Glasgow households across three Derryloran townlands in 1766. It supports a substantial local population and narrows later identity searches, but the return gives no ages or relationships and does not map a named profile to a particular householder.

The 1766 John Glasgoe at Edernagh belongs to Artrea parish.^[14] Samuel Glasgoe at Whitehill and James Glasgow at Corvanaghan belong to the separate adjacent parish of Kildress.^[15] Keep both parishes separate from Derryloran unless a later record connects them.

The St Luran register supplies the first proved nuclear family within the later Derryloran sequence: James Glasgow, son of William and Mary, was baptised on 21 August 1799.^[16] James Glasgow (c.1799), later of Ballynasollus, is a strong identity candidate because his marriage names his father as William and his death age also indicates birth about 1799. The baptism supplies no abode, however, and does not name the attached Margaret Mitchell; retain the identity as probable until another record supplies Mary or a locality bridge.

E1. Cookstown/Derryloran subgroup

James Glasgow (c.1720) represents a later Cookstown/Derryloran subgroup. The profile may belong within the same local population, but no relational record assigns either 1740 James or either William as his father.

William Glasgow (c.1760) and James Glasgow (c.1730) remain later possible arrivals or members of the wider Tyrone complex. Their exact relationship to the 1740 households is unresolved.

🌊 F. Cork–New Zealand line

This line should be treated separately from the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Ulster occurrences. A project-level Y-DNA similarity may be relevant to broad surname origins but does not supply the missing historical connection.

🟨 G. Bann Valley–Killoquin working cluster

Daniel Glasgow (born about 1795/96), of Kilrea, called Thomas his late brother and Daniel Neely Glasgow his nephew in his original 1871 will.^[17] Daniel Neely's civil marriage on 28 June 1888 names his father as Thomas Glasgow, farmer, and gives Lisnagaver as the groom's residence.^[18] Together these records prove that Daniel and Thomas Glasgow (born about 1815) were brothers.

Alexander Glasgow (born about 1811) is not explicitly called their brother. His placement is cumulative: Alexander and Thomas were County Antrim-born Presbyterian farmers of similar ages; their families moved from adjoining Killoquin townlands into Lisnagaver at nearly the same time; and their households appear in the same small 1851 enumeration cluster.^[19][20] This is a defensible working sibling placement, not a proved edge.

The 1851 census still records Alexander farming at Lisnagaver. His proved son Robert Glasgow (born about 1840) was the generation that later migrated to Glasgow, Scotland. Robert's 1866 civil marriage names his father as Alexander Glasgow, farmer, and links Lisnagaver with Gortereghy.^[21]

A Griffith's Valuation transcript lists Alexander, John and Thomas at Lisnagaver and Daniel and Robert at Gortereghy.^[22] These names support a locality cluster; they do not establish relationships or exact plot adjacency.

A descendant account published in 2007 names an older Alexander and Rosanna as Thomas's parents.^[23] It preserves several later facts about Thomas's family, so the couple is useful as uncertain working parents. It supplies no contemporary record and does not establish Shaw as Rosanna's surname. If Daniel was their son, the older Alexander must have been born by about 1778 and Rosanna before about 1780.

Adam and Rose of Inishrush are not placed above the older Alexander. No source identifies Adam as his father, while Rose, born about 1767, is chronologically excluded as mother of a man born by about 1778. Adam, John and Samuel in the wider Bann Valley material remain possible collateral relatives only.

Relationship structure

• ⚠️ Working parents: Alexander Glasgow, born before about 1778, and Rosanna Unknown, born before about 1780
  • ✅ Daniel Glasgow, born about 1795/96 — proved brother of Thomas
  • ⚠️ Alexander Glasgow, born about 1804–1811 — possible brother or cousin of Daniel and Thomas
    • ✅ Robert Glasgow, born about 1840 — proved son; later migrated to Glasgow, Scotland
  • ✅ Thomas Glasgow, born about 1815 — proved brother of Daniel

The Bann Valley–Killoquin cluster is not assigned to the East Antrim/Kilwaughter branch without a documentary chain or branch-specific Y-DNA result.

🟧 H. Broughshane–Racavan–Clough cluster

Kilclone, County Meath Glasco family

A Kilclone memorial supplies a rare directly stated eighteenth-century family. James Glasco erected it for his brothers Richard and William, who died on 1 November 1738, and for Patrick Glasco, expressly called the father of James, who died in May 1754 aged 60. Richard was aged 10; William's transcribed age appears to be seven but was marked uncertain.^[24]

The inscription therefore proves Patrick as father of James, Richard and William and proves the three men were brothers. It does not name their mother. Keep this County Meath family separate from the Dublin watchmakers, Rathdowney Catholic family and Ulster clusters until a relationship record connects them. The surviving Kilcloon, Batterstown and Kilcock Catholic registers begin only in 1836.^[25]

🧾 Seventeenth-Century Profile Index Cautions

The profiles currently indexed to seventeenth-century Ireland do not represent seven proved Irish founder lines.

📖 Historical and Geographic Context

Seventeenth-century settlement

The Plantation of Ulster, the 1641 rebellion, Restoration-era religious pressure and the Williamite War form the broader setting for Scottish settlement in Ulster. They explain why migration is historically plausible; they do not identify a particular Irish Glasgow with a Scottish baptism or prove a family relationship.

The 1653 Larne deposition and 1669 hearth-money return establish early east-Antrim occurrences. The 1692–1695 Raphoe deeds and the Belfast maritime material show that the surname also appeared in distinct Donegal and Belfast settings. These records should be treated as separate locality clusters unless evidence connects them.

Eighteenth-century household clusters

The 1740 Protestant-householders return provides stronger contemporary anchors for Tamlaght O'Crilly and Derryloran than the inherited founder trees currently attached to those areas. Repeated forenames within one parish are useful for cluster formation, but they do not distinguish fathers, sons, brothers or unrelated same-name householders.

Presbyterian records and local movement

Many later Antrim families appear in Presbyterian congregational and baptismal material. Such records are particularly useful for tracing household movement between nearby townlands, as with Gortereagh, Moneyleck and Lisnagaver in the Bann Valley–Killoquin cluster. Shared congregation, occupation and locality strengthen a hypothesis but do not substitute for an explicit relationship statement.

Migration beyond Ireland

Documented or plausible outward movements include the Kilwaughter/South Carolina branch, later Pennsylvania descendant trees, the Cork/New Zealand family and Robert Glasgow's migration from County Antrim to Glasgow, Scotland, after 1866. Each migration must be proved within its own family chain; a destination or surname match does not merge the source cluster with another branch.

🧬 DNA Evidence and Limits

Y-DNA evidence should be described at the level it actually supports.

• Matches among documented descendants may support continuity within a tested paternal line.
• Similarity between project participants may indicate a broader shared paternal ancestor.
• A project-level match does not identify which Irish cluster supplied the common ancestor.
• It does not prove that William, James, William Walter, older Alexander or another named profile was that ancestor.
• No supplied result proves that Alexander or Robert descends from the Kilwaughter householders.
• Branch-level claims require a documented tester-to-ancestor chain and sufficient Y-DNA resolution to distinguish the proposed branches.

🔎 Priority Proof Targets

Bann Valley–Killoquin

• PRONI Killoquin rent roll D3209/1 (1790).
• Rent accounts D3649/3/1-2 (1793–1819).
• Related estate accounts D3209/2-9 and D3300/256/1.
• Valuation revisions VAL/12/B/4/17A-C.
• These references remain research targets until the original entries naming Glasgow occupiers are inspected and transcribed.

East Antrim

• Inspect the surviving original church, deed and petition records cited by the derivative Kilwaughter chronology.
• Treat the 1727 James Glasgow probate entry as an index-only occurrence; PRONI states that the original document does not exist.
• Resolve the 1699–1700 Robert separately from the younger Robert born about 1710.
• Identify the 1669 James and John without importing unsupported Scottish profiles.
• Test the parentage of the Hugh, James, William and Robert households independently.

Belfast and Dublin

Dublin Glasco watchmakers

A distinct Dublin trade family is documented from 1750. Philip Glasco senior, an eminent watchmaker in Christchurch Lane, married the widow Mangan of County Kildare in 1750; his wife died in 1760.^[27] Philip Glasco junior, also a watchmaker in Christchurch Yard, married Teresa Plunkett of Church Street in 1768 and died in Christ Church Lane in 1770.^[28] The Dublin Gazette reported the death of Philip Glasco, eminent watchmaker, in October 1772, consistent with the surviving 1772 will-index entry for Phillip of Dublin, watchmaker.^[29] Thomas Glasco, watchmaker at 20 Ormond Quay in 1783, is a likely continuation of the same trade cluster, although no source reviewed states his relationship to the two Philips.^[30]

Philip Glasgow, baptised in Scotland in 1711, may be the elder Dublin watchmaker, but the baptism and Dublin man are not yet joined by a migration or relationship record. Philip junior's 1770 death belongs to a separate person. This Dublin cluster should also remain separate from George Glasgow's reported 1676 Dublin event until evidence connects them.

• Inspect PRONI MIC19/2 and T/828/15 for Captain James's associates and relatives.
• Recover and verify the source for George Glasgow's reported Dublin event in 1676.

Tamlaght O'Crilly and Derryloran

• Identify each 1740 householder in later church, lease, tax, probate or estate records.
• Reconcile any claimed emigration dates before assigning Hugh Glasgow to a 1740 Irish household.
• Do not assign the traditional William or any other father without a relational record.

Cross and Moneymore

• Find Irish records that bridge Charles Glasgow from the Scottish baptism to Cross.
• Find Irish records for William Walter Glasgow, spouse and children.
• Reconcile the competing father attachments on Glasgow-1492, Glasgow-2425 and Glasgow-2426, and correct the Moneymore place error.

🔑 Key Findings Summary

• The strongest early evidence supports regional occurrence clusters, not a single founding pedigree.
• Robert at Larne, Elizabeth at Glenarm and James and John at Kilwaughter are documentary east-Antrim occurrences; their relationships and exact Scottish identities are unproved.
• The Belfast maritime and Raphoe–Killybegs occurrences remain separate from East Antrim unless identity or relationship bridges are found.
• The Tamlaght O'Crilly and Derryloran households in 1740 are firmer documentary roots than the traditional William, Cross and Moneymore founder trees.
• Charles and William Walter have Scottish records, but their displayed Irish migrations and descendant chains remain reconstructed.
• The Kilwaughter/South Carolina nuclear family is secure from Robert downward; connection to the seventeenth-century East Antrim occurrences is unproved.
• Daniel and Thomas are proved brothers. Alexander is a possible brother or cousin, not a proved sibling.
• Older Alexander and Rosanna Unknown are useful working parents based on late descendant testimony. Rosanna's surname is not established as Shaw.
• Robert, the proved son of Alexander, was the generation that migrated from County Antrim to Glasgow, Scotland.
• Adam and Rose of Inishrush are not proved parents of the older Alexander; Rose is chronologically excluded as his mother.
• The seven profiles indexed to seventeenth-century Ireland are not seven proved Irish founder lines.
• Shared project-level Y-DNA does not identify a named early father or assign a later family to Kilwaughter, Cross, Moneymore or Bann Valley.
• Deep ancestry trees including Glasgow-992 and Glasgow-991 remain speculative without contemporary evidence.
• The Cameron origin theory remains unsupported.

🔭 See Also

• Glasgow Name Study
• Chronology of the Glasgow Family in Northern Ireland in Historical Context
• The Glasgows in Ireland

📚 Sources

✍️ Contribute

Primary records, full transcriptions, corrected profile relationships and documented tester-to-ancestor Y-DNA chains are welcome. Please update the relevant profiles or contact the Glasgow Name Study coordinators.