A Visit to Antrim, Northern Ireland - Ancestral Home of Patrick McCahan

On September 16, 2003, Russ and I drove into the Northern Ireland town of Antrim where my ancestor Patrick McCahan had lived as a child. I had been eagerly anticipating this trip for so long, and would finally be able to walk on the lands of my family roots. To my amazement, my first reaction to setting foot in the town was to have a strong desire to leave!! What a strange feeling! I still marvel about my emotions of that day and do not know whether they were birthed by the fact that only a few buildings from Patrick's days remained, creating in me a great sense of loss and disappointment or, if perhaps, I have retained an ancestral need to emigrate to America!!

This is Antrim in 2003.

Old Antrim was pretty much destroyed by a huge fire in 1920. Only a couple of buildings from the 1700's still stand. The church that Patrick and his family would have attended is likely to be one of the surviving buildings. All Saints Church, a Church of Ireland, had been built in 1596. A walk through the churchyard cemetary led us to gravesites of McCaughans (pronounced McCahan) who were buried during the 1800's. Erosion has removed all information from tombstones placed in earlier years.

First Antrim Presbyterian Church is another possibility, but we were unable to learn whether it existed in the 1700's. Old High Street Presbyterian Church was not built until 1853, so it was not Patrick's church. According to the staff at the visitors center, Antrim had no Lutheran churches, so Patrick would have become Lutheran after emigrating to Pennsylvania. He would have been either Presbyterian or a member of the Church of Ireland while he lived in Antrim.

We visited the grounds of two other old churches where we had hoped to find cemetaries. Old High Street Presbyterian Church is currently a tattoo parlor, and its graveyard a paved parking lot. We found an old church with an unkept cemetary with badly eroded tombstones. A lot of history was washed away by rain through the years. As we walked through this cemetary, a group of men asked us what we were doing there. When we explained our mission, they showed us how to get to another section of gravesites. Unfortunately, these tombstones were also too eroded to be legible. I asked one of the men what kind of church the building had been. He replied,"Twas not a church, tis a boxing club!" We later learned that the building had been a Unitarian church, Old Congregation Church, reconstructed in 1888.

Some shops in Antrim.

   At the edge of town is a section of an ancient wall that was part of a fort built in 1596. The wall later became part of Antrim Castle which was demolished in 1977. Patrick would have seen this wall while he lived in Antrim.

This is part of the old wall that stood during the time that Patrick lived in Antrim.

The Sixmilewater River runs through Antrim. A local man told us that the river was once much deeper and had been used to move goods to other towns. The river is much smaller today because of the needs of a growing population. As a child, Patrick and other members of his family would have carried water from this river. I pictured him running and playing along the shore. Sections of the river are now strewn with trash. Someone told us this was because trash containers were removed from the town during "The Troubles" to prevent them from being used as sites for bombs.

This is Sixmilewater River. I think this is a view of the back of All Saints Church. I'll write a new caption for this photo if I learn that this is incorrect.

We asked some residents of Antrim whether they knew of any McCahans in the area. One lady said that the last McCaughan left Antrim about 40 years ago. He had been a surgeon who left when he retired.

   While our trip to Antrim did not help us make any new family connections, we learned quite a bit about what Patrick may have experienced as he emigrated to America. In addition to exploring Antrim, we also did some research at the Centre for Emigration Studies, in Omagh, and at the Office of Public Records, in Belfast. A lady at the Public Records Office told me, "You should be quite satisfied with knowing as much about Patrick as you do. Most people cannot trace their roots back this far. You would have to spend months or years pouring over our records to find even a small mention that will help you find any more information." She told us that most of Antrim's records were destroyed by fires and that whatever records she might have are not organized in a manner that would help us. However, we did learn some very interesting general facts about the emigration of Ulstermen, such as Patrick, to America!

About a quarter million people emigrated to America from Northern Ireland through the 18th century. Most of these people were Scottish Presbyterians whose ancestors had moved to Ulster during the Plantation years. Most of them emigrated to America in order to escape religious persection and economic hardships.

This photo, taken at the Ulster Folk Museum, depicts a young couple waiting to board a ship bound for the new world. Their sadness at leaving their homeland is mingled with expectations of new adventures. Patrick's family must have experienced these emotions when they left Northern Ireland for a new beginning in America.

There were 5 major waves of Ulster emigration to America: 1717-18, 1725-29, 1740-41, 1754-55, and 1771-75. Since our family history has Patrick arriving in America around the time of the Revolutionary War, it is likely that he traveled with the last wave. According to a lady at the Centre for Emigration Studies, Patrick probably would have left Northern Ireland from the town of Portrush on the north coast, as did most Ulstermen from Antrim. His ship would have arrived in Philadelphia, New Castle (Delaware), New York, or Charleston. Because Patrick lived in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia is his most probable destination.

If Patrick really left Northern Ireland from the town of Portrush, he would have stood on this cliff. He would have seen these rocks, but the harbor and seawalls are from modern times.

This is another view from the cliff.

This would have been the final view of Ireland for Patrick and his family. The Atlantic Ocean and America lie ahead.

Maureen at Portrush.

Russ and Maureen wading in the Irish Sea, in Portrush.



This is a replica of the bunks that were used by the emigrants. An entire family slept in one section.

   After seeing the replica of the emigration ship, I think it is safe to say that the little story circulating through the McCahan family about Patrick and one of his brothers having to take turns hiding in a pickle barrel during the voyage because their parents could afford only enough fare for one of them must certainly be nothing more than an entertaining story. The ship would have been too tiny for the logistics to have been possible!

   A visit to the Ulster Folk Park, in Omagh, gave us a deep appreciation for the bravery and sense of adventure our ancestors must have had. Seeing a replica of the type of ship on which they traveled filled us with wonder. The ship was really just a big boat with very cramped quarters. The average fare to America was 5 or 6 pounds, but some emigrants paid only 3 pounds. Travelers who did not have the fare could indenture themselves as servants to the master of the ship during the journey or could arrange to pay the fare shortly after arriving in America. The voyage took 6 to 8 weeks, depending on the weather. Each family shared one of the small bunks that lined the sides of the belly of the ship. A family was allowed to bring a small package of belongings, and a few paid extra to ship a barrel full of belongings. Family members were required to remain below deck except for a few moments to perform daily duties such as emptying chamber pots. Meals were prepared in a small room on the deck and were provided to the families. Usually a pig was brought along to be slaughtered for meat once other provisions were gone. The families brought their own hardtack and whatever other foods they were able to carry in their small packages. By the end of the journey, the provisions were quite meager and the travelers very hungry. A lady at the museum reminded us that life on the boat may have been not so very different from life in a poor Irish home.

This area would have been shared by many families. Meals were prepared in a small room on the top deck before being brought down to the passengers. The cramped quarters would have been home for 150-200 passengers.

   We thoroughly enjoyed traveling through Northern Ireland. The Irish are so warm and friendly, and the country is magnificent! Here are a few photos that aren't particularly related to Patrick's home town.

Maureen with "cousins" Fred, LaVerna, and Kathryn Connolly at the Dublin Airport. It was so nice to have the opportunity to spend a couple of hours visiting them before embarking on our drive to Northern Ireland. Fred, thanks again for the great directions!!

Maureen crossing the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge on the Antrim coast. The 25-yard long rope and plank bridge joins two clifftops above treacherous seas. It is built by salmon fishermen each spring and is torn down each fall.

Russ climbing the fascinating rocks at the Giant's Causeway.

Dunluce Castle, on the Antrim Coast, was in existence long before Patrick was born. It is remotely possible that he saw it on his way to Portrush.

This is a very old graveyard we found near Portrush. Someone has put a new marker, with the name McCaughan, in the center of a plot where ancient tombstones are eroded away.

This is the backyard of one of the bed and breakfasts we stayed in.