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This statement is not intended to imply that Robert's immediate ancestors did not come to the Ulster Plantations from Scotland sometime in the 1600's. It does mean that sometime previously, perhaps 1000 years before Robert's ancestors moved to Ulster from Scotland, they had made the opposite trek, from northern Ireland to western lowland Scotland.
This claim is supported by the findings of the McGrew DNA Project (www.familytreedna.com/public/mcgrew). Of the 10 likely descendants of Robert (and James A. McGrew also known to have immigrated to the Colonies from Co. Tyrone) all have y-DNA that is very similar to about 20% of the male population of parts of northern Ireland and very unlike typical Scots y-DNA. Additional testing on 2 of these individuals (one a known descendant of Robert) provides conclusive evidence that they are part of a group whose ancestors can be found in northern Ireland and lowland Scotland. Presumably this settling of Scotland from northern Ireland was part of the formation of the Kingdom of Dal Riata (Dalriada).
Mark McDonald writes “The Dal Riada (Dalriads) leadership who came from Ireland in circa 500AD into what is now Argyll spoke a language akin to what is now called Erse (Irish Gaelic to the Scots) and introduced that language into Scotland - the root of modern Scots Gaelic. They were called 'Scoti' by the Romans it is said - a word for 'raider' used in those days, and it is the root of the name Scotland which later developed as the tribes cohesed into a nation.”
I doubt that Robert's immediate ancestors who settled in Ulster were aware of their distant Irish heritage. This heritage does mean that Robert's descendants can accurately call themselves Irish on St. Patrick's Day. Whether they wear green or orange is an individual choice.
John G. McGrew
mcgrewjg@email.com
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