Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
Sorry but your timeline is a hundred years or so out. Also Down was O'Neill country until the flight of the Earl Hugh O'Neill. The highland clearances were in the 18th century starting about 1760, Co. Down was settled in Elizabethan times around 1606. The people cleared from the Highlands mainly went direct to North America or Australia, they didn't stop off in Ireland as it had already been settled previously by lowland Scots. Have a read of this piece which might give you a clearer idea - http://www.ulstervirginia.com/eastulster1606.asp and here - http://www.hamiltonmontgomery1606.com/home.asp
I apologize, I missed his c.1758 AD date.

PS I mentioned Antrim as being MacDonald territory.

From http://www.ulsterscotssociety.com/about.html
WHAT IS AN ULSTER-SCOT?

Ulster Scots is a term used primarily in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It refers to the Scots who migrated to the northern province of Ireland (Ulster) beginning about 1605. Although sometimes in North America they are referred to as ‘Scotch-Irish’ or ‘Ulster-Irish‘. All these terms most commonly refer to those Lowland and Border Scots who settled in the northern counties of Ireland during the Plantation scheme. However, there were Scots in Ireland as early as the l400s, such as the McDonalds of County Antrim. There was also a steady stream of Highland Scots migrating to the north of Ireland in the early 1800s as a result of the highland clearances in Scotland. It can therefore be considered that anyone whose ancestors migrated from Scotland to Ulster from 1400 onward is of Ulster-Scot descent.
I have a McCluskie bloodline from Antrim to Glasgow then to USA.