Macleans of Coll Who Went to Ulster

[Douglas McLean]

My 6x great grandfather, John McLean, was born on Mull circa 1690 and was sent or taken to Antrim by 1700. I believe he was from the MacLeans of Coll, possibly from the Grishipol estate. He lived near the town of Antrim at the same time (1700 to 1715) as Rev. John McLean, second son of Roderick, 3rd of Grishipol, who was a minister in Antrim and chaplain to Viscount Massareene.

I am interested in any Macleans who emigrated to County Antrim from Mull or Coll 1680 to 1700. Their weren't many. I know of brothers Hector and Ronald (or their issue) who were sons of Allan, 1st of Achnasaul, two brothers, John and Hugh, who were sons of John, 2nd of Grishipol, and Rev.John, son of Lachlan, 3rd of Grishipol. (Some genealogies have him as another son of John, 2nd of Grishipol.)

I would be most interested in hearing anything about these, or any other Maclean, emigrating from Scotland and going to County Antrim in the last two decades of the 17th century.

Douglas McLean
Madison, Wisconsin

[sarah]

Hello Douglas,

I did a quick search of RootsChat, using the words Macleans and antrim I found this topic which maybe of interest to you.

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=364683.msg2405804#msg2405804

Regards

Sarah

[Elwyn Soutter]

There was certainly a mass migration from Scotland to Ireland in the 1690s due mainly to famine in Scotland. The period was known as the Lean Years. Tom Devine reckons 40,000 Scots went to Ireland in that decade. (TM Devine - The Scottish Clearances p 66).

If the Rev John McLean was chaplain to Viscount Massereene then he must have been Church of Ireland (Episcopalian). The Massereene family worshipped at the Church of Ireland in Antrim town (and are commemorated within it). So perhaps your John McLean c 1690 also attended there?

You are lucky with Antrim town because both the Church of Ireland and the 1st Presbyterian church have quite early records. The Church of Ireland’s start in 1700 and Presbyterian in 1677. That’s very unusual in Ireland. Few churches have records for the 1700s or earlier. There’s a copy of both sets of records in PRONI (the public record office) in Belfast. You might want to get someone to look at them, post Covid.

[Douglas McLean]

Reply to Elwyn:

Thank you for this. My statement saying few Macleans went to Antrim at the end of the 17th century was meant to apply to those of the MacLeans of Coll and is based on remarks to that effect in an article by Nicholas Maclean-Bristol in West Highlands Notes and Queries, "Famine in the Hebrides?" (April, 1990; series 2, no. 5, p., to wit: "There are a few clues that people from the Western Isles may have gone to Ireland. Maclean of Grishipol left Coll in the 1690s and at least one member of his family [Rev. John McLean, son of Lachlan, 3rd of Grishipol] settled in Antrim. It would be surprising if those who were starving did not move to nearby Northern Ireland, which had a surplus of grain throughout the famine, but we know little of these links at this time."

Yes, it would appear that many Scots did emigrate at that time, for any one of several reasons including the Hebrides famine, but apparently few from the Coll estates, my primary interest. Again, I would be most interested to hear from anyone with information about anyone from the Coll cadet who emigrated at that time.

Rev. John McLean's religious affiliation is difficult because he changed it, and genealogies present conflicting information because of that. The most authoritative coverage on him I have seen is James Noel Mackenzie Maclean's Reward Is Secondary (Hodder and Stoughton, 1963). In sum, his first charge was as a Presbyterian minister on Arran in 1688, then a year later in Antrim, then ordained in the Church of Ireland after the elders of his church outed him for coming to the defense of an Episcopalian minister (a classmate from Glasgow University) demonized by his fellow Presbyterian clergymen. It was then that he became chaplain to the Massereenes.( Who, by the way, also spoke out against the Presbyterian excoriation of Episcopalian ministers and advocated tolerance.)

As you note, there are remnants of records of the Antrim Presbyterian congregation from the late 17th century extant and I discovered some information in the baptism records regarding my John McLean ancestor. Although they were of different denominations at the time they were living in the Sixteen Towns of Antrim, I'm quite certain my John and Rev. John were related as members of the Grishipol cadet of the MacLeans of Coll. Can anyone add anything to this?

Douglas McLean

[McClean]

Hello Douglas,

I am also a McClean, I just seen your post and doing my family tree I have got as far as Hugh McClean being my x5 great grandfather and wondering if that’s the same Hugh you have in your post? How did you get that far in your family tree? I’ve been stuck for a while, also the Hugh McCLean on my tree was from Banbridge on his military records. I would love to hear back from you 🙂

[Douglas McLean]

Hello McClean,

It doesn't appear your Hugh and Hugh, brother or Lachlan, 3rd of Grishapol, are the same - different generations and although I don't know where Banbridge is, it isn't on Coll. I go back to my 6x gt. grandfather John McLean by family tradition, and for 47 years have been working on how he ties in to the clan. A good bet is through Macleans of the Auchnasaul or Grishipol cadets of Coll who went to Ulster.

Regards,
Douglas

[shanreagh]

Hello McClean,

It doesn't appear your Hugh and Hugh, brother or Lachlan, 3rd of Grishapol, are the same - different generations and although I don't know where Banbridge is, it isn't on Coll. I go back to my 6x gt. grandfather John McLean by family tradition, and for 47 years have been working on how he ties in to the clan. A good bet is through Macleans of the Auchnasaul or Grishipol cadets of Coll who went to Ulster.

Regards,
Douglas

Here is Banbridge
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banbridge

Just a tip from an older genealogist. Please do not be too quick to dismiss possible links, just 'tuck them away' as i was advised to do by a much more experienced researcher on here upwards of 15 years ago. Taken all this time and I am possibly on the verge of linking this 'out of left field' (at the time) suggestion to  my tree. 

You have not mentioned any of the marriages of the people you are looking for. Did the Maclean you are looking for return to Scotland? 
You mention he was born c 1690 and then came to Antrim from 1700 to 1715 so from age 10 to age 25.  Did he marry in Antrim?  What happened to him after 1715? 

In Scottish naming patterns how does he fit in with the Rev John Mclean you mention?  Do you suspect he may be a son?  or a relation?

Elwyn has some excellent suggestions.  You could look on Proni to see if there are wills etc. 

[Douglas McLean]

Greetings Shanreagh,

Thanks for joining in. Here are my replies:

"You mention he was born c 1690 and then came to Antrim from 1700 to 1715 so from age 10 to age 25.  Did he marry in Antrim?  What happened to him after 1715?"

John McLean, my 6x gt.grandfather, came to Antrim town when young with his family circa 1700. He is almost certainly the John McLean who married Jean Kempton  there in 1709 and had two children baptized there in 1716 and 1721. (Antrim Presbyterian congregation marriage and birth registers.) He did not return to Scotland. He emigrated to the Pennsylvania colony in 1721 or 1722 with members of his wife's family (Dunlops and Moores).

"In Scottish naming patterns how does he fit in with the Rev John Mclean you mention?  Do you suspect he may be a son?  or a relation?"

He is likely a first cousin of Rev. John McLean, minister in the Antrim C.I. Church. Rev. McLean was a son of Lachlan, 3rd of Grishipol. My John may have been the son of John McLean, brother of Lachlan. Lachlan's brothers John and Hugh went to "Ireland" in the late 17th century. I know nothing about them. I have discovered a possible link in the 1740 Protestant Householders Returns: one Hugh McLeane living in Kilowen Parish, Co. Londonderry. A son of emigrating Hugh?

I seek any information on any Macleans of Coll, especially of the Cadets of Grishipol and Auchnasaul, or any Maclean living in Quinish in northern Mull,who went to Ulster in the late 17th century.

Regards,
Douglas McLean

[aghadowey]

He is likely a first cousin of Rev. John McLean, minister in the Antrim C.I. Church. Rev. McLean was a son of Lachlan, 3rd of Grishipol. My John may have been the son of John McLean, brother of Lachlan. Lachlan's brothers John and Hugh went to "Ireland" in the late 17th century. I know nothing about them. I have discovered a possible link in the 1740 Protestant Householders Returns: one Hugh McLeane living in Kilowen Parish, Co. Londonderry. A son of emigrating Hugh?

If you mean Killowen, Coleraine then it is not near Antrim (about 40 miles apart).

Rev. John McLean's religious affiliation is difficult because he changed it, and genealogies present conflicting information because of that. The most authoritative coverage on him I have seen is James Noel Mackenzie Maclean's Reward Is Secondary (Hodder and Stoughton, 1963). In sum, his first charge was as a Presbyterian minister on Arran in 1688, then a year later in Antrim, then ordained in the Church of Ireland after the elders of his church outed him for coming to the defense of an Episcopalian minister (a classmate from Glasgow University) demonized by his fellow Presbyterian clergymen. It was then that he became chaplain to the Massereenes.( Who, by the way, also spoke out against the Presbyterian excoriation of Episcopalian ministers and advocated tolerance.)

No mention of a John McLean, or any McLean, a Presbyterian minister in Antrim town during this period in A History of Congregations in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 1610-1982. However they do list him under 1st Coleraine Presbyterian Church in Co. Londonderry: In 1689 Rev. John McLean from Kilmorie in Arran was "Outed" from Coleraine for suspected Jacobite leanings after having been there only a few months. He joined the Anglican church and became curate in Killowen, Coleraine.