Scotch Irish, aka Scots-Irish, aka Ulster Scots

The people we call Scotch Irish, known in the old country as Ulster Scots, were largely descendants of mixed Germanic peoples who over many centuries had moved into and taken over the Scottish Lowlands. Beginning in the early seventeenth century many migrated to Ulster in Northern Ireland, and starting about 1715 the Scotch Irish began a massive migration to America. By 1775, when the War of the Revolution began, some quarter million had arrived. Most of them ended in the Back Country from Pennsylvania south into Georgia.

(Source: Jackson's Way: Andrew Jackson and the People of the Western Waters, by John Buchanan; John Wiley & Sons, 2001)

1729 Voyage of the George and Ann

From the Journal of the Voyage of Charles Clinton from Ireland to America, 1729:

"A Journal of my voyage and Travels from the County of Longford in the Kingdom of Ireland to Pennsylvania, in America, A.D. 1729. I took my Journey from The County of Longford, on Friday the 9th day of May; came to Dublin ye 12th ditto. Entered on shipboard the ship called the George and Ann, ye 18th. Sett sail the 20th.
Came to anchor at Glenarm on the 24th, where Matthw. McClaughry and his wife and two of his family went on shoar and quit their voyage.
Set sail from Glenarm on ye 25th and came to anchor at Green Castle, in the Lough of Foyle, the 26th, where we stay'd till ye 29th; then sett sail in company with the John of Dublin bound for Newcastle in the same country.
Ditto. Came in sight of Loughsuly [Lough Swilly] ye 30 th. Sail'd by Tory [Tory Island] and Horn-head.
On the 30th, at night, a strong wind arose, ye continued to ye first of June at evening which Loosened our Bowsprit with Hazard of our masts.
June 2d we had a fair breeze for our westerly course.
On the 3d ditto my daughter Catharine and son James fell sick of the measles.
A strong gale of westerly wind continues to ye 10th ditto.
James Wilson's child died ye 5th.
On the 7th met ye Mary from Pennsylvania from which she sail'd to us in 5 weeks and 5 days.
On the 8th ditto a child of James McDowel's died and was thrown overboard.
On the 10th ye wind came to East and be South.
On ye llth changed more Easterly and continues fair and seasonable.
On the 12th the wind blew North and be East, a fresh gale bywhich we sail'd 40 leagues in 20 hours, and found we were in 49 degrees 20 minutes North Latitude by observation.
My son James, on ye 28th of August, 1728 at 7 In ye morning.
A son of James Majore's.
A brother of Andrew McDowell's.
Two daughters of James McDowell's.
A daughter of Walter Davis's.
Robert Frazer.
Patt McCann, servant to Tho. Armstrong.
Will Hamilton.
James Greer, servant to Alex. Mitchell.
Widow Gordon's daughter.
James Mondy died Thursday,llth of September.
A servant of Mr. Cruisels.
A son of James Beaty's.
Fran. Nicholson
A sister of Andrew McDowell's.
A daughter of John Beatty's.
Two of Mr. Cruise's men servants.
Margarey Armstrong. [daughter of Thos. Armstrong]
A servant of Mr. Cruise's.
Two of John Beatty's children.
Jamei Thompson's wife.
James Brown.
A daughter of James McDowell's
A daughter of Thos. Delap's.
A servant of Mr. Cruise's.
A child of Widow Mitchell's.
John Oliver's wife.
James Majore's eldest daughter.
John Rook, a sailor.
Joseph Stafford.
John McDowell.
John Beatty.
Andrew McDowell's sister.
James Wilson's wife.
James McDowell's wife.
Sarah Hamilton, Will Hamilton's sister.
Thos. Armstrong, died Monday ye 29th of September.
John Beatty's wife.
Isabella Johnston.
Edward Norris.
Margaret McClaughry.
Widow Frazer's daughter.
Andrew McDowell's brother.
Joseph Mclaughry.
Mattw McClaughry.
A young sister of Andrew McDowel.
Thom Delap. and his daughter Catherine.
James Barkly.
Discovered land on ye Continent of America ye 4th day of October, 1729."

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In May 1729, the George and Ann set sail from Ireland for the American colonies. The trip, at the time, averaged four weeks of sailing. The journey of the George and Ann took over four months. The passengers and crew—those who survived—made first landfall at Cape Cod rather than their intended destination of Philadelphia. At least eighty-six of the ship’s 168 passengers died during the Atlantic crossing. Eleven of those lost were McDowells.

(Journal of the Voyage of Charles Clinton from Ireland to America, transcribed from The Magazine of American History with Notes and Queries, by John Austin Stevens, Martha Joanna Lamb, Henry Phelps Johnston, and William Abbatt, 1877, A. S. Barnes & Company. A copy of Charles Clinton’s journal is reportedly preserved in The New York Public Library.)

The Scots-Irish

Scots-Irish is an ethnic group from Ireland which ultimately traces its roots back to settlers from Scotland, and to a lesser extent, England. In particular Scots-Irish can often be traced back to the Scottish Highlands, Scottish Lowlands, Galloway, and the Scottish Borders.
The Scots-Irish and their descendants are primarily found in Ulster, where they are Ulster Scots, and in Canada and the USA, laterly where they are often identified as Scotch-Irish. Most Scots in Ireland are Ulster Scots, although there are also some who live in the Republic of Ireland, mainly in Donegal.
The Scots-Irish are strongly identified with Protestantism and, in modern day Ireland, unionism.
The Ulster-Scots are predominantly Presbyterian, with many Anglicans, some Congregationalists, and some Quakers. In America, many Scots-Irish people gravitated towards the Methodist and Baptist denominations. In Ireland, Ulster Scots are usually identified with the Irish unionist tradition, although many Ulster-Scots involved themselves in the Society of United Irishmen, an Irish republican organisation in the late 1790s.

(Source: Wikipedia)