A WORKING HYPOTHESIS CONCERNING THE DESCENDENCY OF THE VARIOUS STRONG FAMILIES OF DONEGAL

This Website represents fifteen to twenty years of my personal efforts to trace my "Irish" Strong roots. I had heard from my grandfather, James "Jim" Strong, that we were Scots-Irish, and that we were natives of County Fermanagh. My family was Presbyterian, and this seemed to fit... but, how did an "English" surname like Strong get to Ireland?

As I began digging, the questions grew. In 1988 I made contact with Dale G. Strong, of Cassatt, South Carolina, who provided me with a copy of his book, "The Descendents of John Strong and Martha Watson of Drumhome Parish, Co. Donegal, Ireland". In that book I found a transcription of an entry in the Index to Raphoe Diocese Marriage Bonds relating to my great-great grandparents, George Strong and Mary Harron... and the data seemed to indicate they were married in Drumhome Parish, Co. Donegal! Aside from one additional entry relating to Baptism of their first daughter, Jane Strong on July 1, 1821, there was no other information relating to "my" Strongs. BUT, there they were, in County Donegal, not Fermanagh; and married in the Anglican/Episcopal Church of Ireland.

I found there were loads of Strongs around Donegal Bay, and a number in western Fermanagh... but few in the eastern portion of Fermanagh. The puzzle relating to my Strong heritage was growing, and it has continued to grow with each new contact and fact gathered. I have spent much of the years since then attempting to solve the puzzle... putting it aside for a while, and then renewing the effort. Until now, the solution has eluded me... and even now, much of what is presented here is, at best, informed speculation.

I'm trying to pull a few pieces of the puzzle together here in this Website. As many of you know, I have an email mailing list which I call the Irish Strong Research Group. That still exists in my computer. However, I have a new list narrowed down to folks who have narrower interests... researching in Tirhugh and Boylagh & Bannagh Baronys, Co. Donegal and Lurg Barony, Co. Fermanagh. These three baronys are geographically adjacent, and much of "our" research extends across the various boundaries into Church of Ireland parishes in each of them. The addressees include folks researching Strong or one of the other surnames intermarried with or co-existant with same.... and of course I will add any interested person if they want, etc. Contact Dave Strong (email)

During 1999-2000, I went back over Dale's data which he transcribed from Drumhome, Kilbarron, Donegal, and Killybegs parishes, and tried to integrate it with Madge Carlson's data from these parishes as well as Templecarne and Inver and Killymard... and with bits and pieces of data accumulated over the years from various sources. Using Ultimate Family Tree, a genealogy program, I compiled the data into a database, and tried to build a Working Hypothetical Donegal Strong descendency chart. Along the way, I became increasingly frustrated with the lack of "user friendliness" in using Ultimate Family Tree. Additionally, the software manufacturer decided to discontinue support of the program. So I have started moving my data to "The Master Genealogist", and am finding it much "friendlier". Of course, moving the data and learning a new program has slowed me down. However, soon I hope to be able to publish my findings on this web site. What follows is descriptive of what I am working with:

STRONG FAMILY OF DONEGAL--- A WORKING HYPOTHESIS OF THEIR DESCENCENCY:

The portion of County Donegal which is the focus of our research are the Baronys of Tirhugh and Boylagh & Bannagh; together with adjoining portions of the Barony of Lurg, Co. Fermanagh. During the "Plantation" of Ireland circa 1609ff, Boylagh & Bannagh Barony was granted to certain Scottish Planters who subscribed to the Plantation scheme as devised by King James I and his advisers. Lurg Barony was largely granted to Scots planters, although certain English Planters were of significance there as well. Tirhugh Barony was in part given over to certain military leaders (the "Servitors") who initially held their lands in reward for "knight service" done for the English crown in defeating the native Irish who were led by "The O'Donnell" earls. The other part of the barony was given as an endowment to Trinity College, Dublin.

At a later time, from about 1690 forward, the intermediate landlords representing TCD were the Hamilton family, members of which can be found resident at Brown Hall and elsewhere in Tirhugh to the present time. Any Strongs who immigrated to Tirhugh and it's surrounding baronys likely came as tenants of the Planters granted lands in the 1609-1630 Plantation of Ulster or the military knights (and their successors) or of TCD and it's middlemen. Please take the time to examine an essay on The Significance of the Hamilton Family , which hypothesizes the Hamilton's and other related families of the "Protestant Asendency" drew their Yeoman Tenantry from Lanarkshire and adjacent areas, including the families involved in this "Puzzle".

As hypothesized in The Significance of the Hamilton Family, it is believed our unknown Strong forebearers were from the Borders region of England or Scotland. It will be noted that many of the surnames intermarried with Strongs in this descendency are "Border" names, e.g., surnames and their variants common in the English/Scottish Marches of the border. See Harron/Haron/Herron/Heron; Watson; Love; Dudgeon/Dodson; Bell; Spence; Graham; Griffith; Lenox; Freeborn; Cascadden/Carscadden; Farrell; Devit; Crauford/Crawford; Murray/Morrow; Lamond; Boyd; Walker; McCullough; Mackie/Mackey/McKay/McKee/McGee/Magee; Kirkpatrick/Kilpatrick . See also Vance; Porteus; Rinn/Rynd; Quinn/Ginn; Mano/Manoe/Maynoe; Cassidy, and Patterson.

To illustrate the point, take a look at the Dumfries & Galloway Family History Society's former website, as archived by it's former webmaster, Terry Brown, at the following website: Surname Research Location List:

"LOCATION INTERESTS LISTS: This is a cross reference of the locations and surnames each of the contributors have submitted to (the Dumfries & Galloway Family History Society's) Surnames List. There is a list for each (of the following Scottish) count(ies), and links to these are included at the bottom of the surname link table on each page. Dumfriesshire | Kirkcudbrightshire | Wigtownshire"

There you will find, listed by parish, a very great many, but not all, of the above names. The other names may likely be found in adjacent counties, such as Cumberlandshire, in England. Note, the present website of the Dumfries & Galloway Family History Society does not include the surname location list.

Returning to the subject-matter of this website, details of the Strong and related family descendencies have been derived from many sources by various individuals. The records of Drumhome, Kilbarron, Killybegs, and Donegal Parishes of the Church of Ireland (COI) were extensively examined in person by Dale G. Strong in 1983, and transcribed into his book, "The Descendants of John Strong and Martha Watson of Drumhome Parish, County Donegal, Ireland". This lineage emigrated to Morgan County, Ohio.

Dale Strong's transcriptions cover the period roughly 1696 to 1837, and while detailed and extensive, should NOT be relied upon as complete. Dale would be the first to admit that he might have missed something. And, there is the further problem that there are significant gaps in the recordation of data in the original records. While there ARE records in Drumhome Parish
for Baptisms, 1719-20, 1739-48, 1764, 1783-1873;
marriages, 1691-1718, 1764 and 1783-1869;
burials, 1696-1715, 1764 and 1783-1873;
confirmations list, 1853
it will also be noted that this means there are NO burial records for the period 1716-1763, and 1765-1782; no marriage records for the period 1719-1763, and 1765-1782; and, no baptismal records for the periods 1721-1738, 1749-1763, and 1765-1782 for Drumhome Parish alone.
As for the other parishes, the absence of data is even more striking, largely caused by loss of records in the disastrous "Four Courts Fire" in Dublin in 1922.

Of course, none of the Drumhome Parish records go back any further than 1691. We are left wondering where the Strong and other families came from. The records are really sparse through the 17th century. At one point, I resorted to searching through the 1988 IGI for the counties along the English and Scottish border, thinking there might be some verification of my hunch the families involved were from the borders area. It was while searching the IGI that I developed the body of data I have included in the "Cumbria Strong Database and speculative descendency chart"... mentioned here for the fact that amongst a very large number of Strangs/Strongs I found a "Hugh Strong" in Cumberland.... who married a "Jane Harrington " in 1687, and then seemingly disappeared... possibly by emigrating to Donegal. Interestingly, in the more than 700 names studied in the Cumbria Database, I found only the ONE "Hugh"!

Hugh and Jane are given names that show up very frequently in The Donegal Strong Puzzle, and it seems possible that these two individuals MAY have been the progenitors of some of the Strong lineage in Donegal. However, there are Strongs PREDATING 1687 in the records of Donegal. See the 1666 Hearth Money Roll for Parish of Kilaghtee, County Donegal It may be that Hugh and Jane were 1687 immigrants to Donegal, joining other related Strongs who had arrived earlier, during the Plantation, the Civil War and Commonwealth, or the Restoration period. Again, note that the Cumberland Strongs MAY be descended from Scottish Strangs who became established near Carlisle circa 1600. In turn, the Carlisle Strang-Strongs may be just another branch of the Lanarkshire Strangs who branched into Donegal during the Plantation. Obviously, there is a lot of speculation at this point. The records and evidence are simply too sparse to do more than speculate at this time.

Interestingly, while many of the other names under study in The Donegal Strong Puzzle show up in the following transcribed documents, there don't appear to be any Strongs listed:
(1) Lands Grants in the Barony of Raphoe, County Donegal, 1608 A.D. All notes on leases and tenants from Hill's "Plantation of Ulster"
(2) Pynnar's Survey 1618 A.D. of the Land Grants Given in 1608, Barony of Raphoe
(3) The Muster Roll of the County of Donnagall 1630 A.D., as printed in the Donegal Annual.
I have yet to find a copy of any listing of the members of Sir Ralph Gore's Regiment mustered during the 1642 Rising, if indeed one exists. Such a muster might establish whether there were any Strongs in the community prior to the Civil War. As it is now, we know there were Strongs in the community in 1666 and thereafter... and they intermarried with members of families which had been in the Donegal Bay area from the earliest days of the Plantation. They became established on various townlands, and "multiplied" for the next two or three hundred years.

Certain threads of evidence appear in the Parish records and anecdotal evidence and elsewhere.... association of Strong surnames with the following townlands: Ardeelane (Upper and Lower), Durnish, Rossnowlagh (Upper and Lower), Kilbarron; others with Drimhory and Ballybulgan Townlands near Kilgowell; Agadowey, Ballydermot, Shannagh, and Big Park near the Hamilton Estate at Brown Hall; and Carnhugh, Carricknahorna, Glasskeeragh, Bellalt (North and South), Tullyvocady, and Portnablahy near Pettigo. Yet another grouping appears in Ballyara Townland near Killysbegs and Shanaghan Townland near Ardara; these Strongs seem to be related as well, although perhaps further back, into the 17th and early 18th centuries. The assumption must be made that the tenancy of the various townlands was handed down from father to son or son-in-law over several generations, and that as other townlands came into Strong tenancies in the records, these represent younger sons who were able to take up vacant or new leases in adjacent townlands, or even some fairly far afield.

Out of necessity, evidence for this descendency has been accepted that would be considered secondary evidence by many genealogists. However, every effort has been made to disclose the evidence relied upon, together with assumptions and inferences where applicable, and to present the available data in a coherent and logical fashion. It is believed to represent a fair picture of the actual descendency of the Strongs of Donegal. Corrections and additions may be suggested at any time! Note, extensive use of Relative Identification Numbers (RID) has been made in tracking the members of the descendency. Where-ever possible, reference to the RID will help in making appropriate updates to the material. Further, in order to assure that the evidence weighed to establish each person in the descendency is printed in the HTML version of the descendency, it has all been placed in the "comments" portion of Ultimate Family Tree, rather than the "evidence" portion... for the purpose of this "Working Hypothesis" is to make the research available over and above the conclusory results of manipulating the information into a descendency chart. Hopefully, discussion and critical comment will help resolve any issues regarding the accuracy of the conclusions offered here.

In 1990, Madge Carlson of Woburn, Massachusetts, compiled an eleven page descendency chart concerning the Strong family, including emigrants to Woburn, MA, and to Ontario, Canada, in a letter forwarded to Tom Strong, Sr., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A copy of the letter was provided to DBS by Tom Strong, Sr. Madge's data was based upon extensive examination of parish and other records relating to Co. Donegal and personal contact with many individuals having local knowledge in Drumhome Parish itself; fortuitously, her data tends to supplement Dale's in the period 1800-1837, and then extends down to circa 1970-90. See the following quotations from from Madge (Farrell) Carlson's letter dated about 1990 directed to Tom Strong, Sr., of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania:

"Nancy Spence Dull who spoke to you about her Strong Family of Carnhugh, Co. Donegal, is the daughter of my 1st cousin Vie Crawford and Albert "Bud" Spence of Woburn. My only Sister, Jean Farrell married "Bud"'s brother Robert Spence, now deceased.

"I have been tracing as a hobby County Donegal Families since the late 1960's and it keeps me very busy and frustrated at times but I love doing it.

"My Mother took my sister and I to Donegal in 1924 and stayed with her Mother for 6 months. In 1973 my 16 yr. old daughter Anne and I visited Donegal for 3 weeks & looked at records in 5 churches and copied stones in 6 cemeteries and made about 30 visits.

"In 1977 my 2 sons & I spent 11 days in Donegal; in 1984, a friend & I spent a month in Belfast & 2 weeks in Donegal and this past Spring the same friend (her Uncle married my Aunt) and I spent a week in England, 2 weeks in No. Ireland & 2 weeks in Donegal.

"I talked with Mabel Strong Spence (mother to Bud & Bob Spence) years ago about the Strong and Spences Families and she was very helpful & gave me what information she could remember. She was born in Woburn but is now deceased.

"A friend Lettie Morrow in Ballintra has access to the Ballintra Church of Ireland (Episcopal) records and has been very generous with her informaton over the years. Bud sent me the information you had sent. I am very disappointed that I cannot make a connection with your Strongs as of now. I have put together the information I have on Mabel Spence's Strong Family. There was another Strong Family in Woburn when Mabel was young and she told me that this Joseph Strong and her Father Thomas Strong were double 1st cousins to one another. I have also included a sheet showing how they probably were related - definitely 1st cousins on one side of the family and 1st cousins' children probably on the other side which is not quite "double" 1st cousins, but close enough.

"I hope you can follow the information I enclose. The raised numbers after the name indicate the "generations"....."

NOTE: Madge Carlson enclosed with the foregoing letter some 12 typewritten pages of Strong descendency which have been integrated into this Donegal Strong descendency. I have quoted the letter here to provide some "provency" to her data which has been included in the present descendency chart. Where-ever possible I have tried to supplement and/or verify Madge's data from other sources as well. Another striking feature of this descendency is the VERY large numbers of inter-marriages between Strongs from generation to generation with cousins named Strong or with other surnames which include a descendency from another Strong. I am sure this aspect will have been noted in the other Donegal families as well. In short, the entire community was related many times over.

Persons who have contributed to this descendency include the following, identified with certain parts of the descendency:

Residents of Co. Donegal generally: the late Dale G. Strong of Cassatt, SC; the late Robert Edgar, former Parish Treasurer, Drumhome Parish, Co. Donegal; and Madge Carlson of Woburn, Massachusetts. Dr. Roger Strong of Kilskeery, Co. Tyrone.
Residents of Aghadowey Townland, Donegal, and emigrants to Morgan County, Ohio: the late Dale G. Strong.
Residents of Carnhugh Townland, Donegal and Fermanagh: William T. Stronge of Drumbarron, Co. Fermanagh; also Betty Ashley; Sally Thistlethwaite, and Madge Carlson.
Emigrants to Carleton County, New Brunswick: the late Rupert Strong, of Seabeck, Washington; and his "cousin-in-law", Delores Culling of Falkland, British Columbia.
Emigrants to Fenelon Falls, Victoria County, Ontario: Betty Ashley of Tollhouse, California; Richard Egolf, Nancy Conn.
Emigrants to Arran Township, Bruce and Gray Counties, Ontario: Noreen Lind, Jim Strong, Bill Strong, and the late Elaine Watt.
Emigrants to Brantford, Ontario, and later to Howick Township, Huron County, Ontario: Don Strong, David Elliott.
Emigrants to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Tom Strong, Sr., of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Emigrants to Hilton, Ontario: the late Earle Strong of Toronto, Ontario, together with his son Tom Strong, presently of Queensland, Australia, and his nephew, Michael J. Strong, of Oakville, Ontario.
Residents of Bellalt Townland, Templecarn Parish, Co. Donegal, and emigrants to Queensland, Australia: Paul Gary Strong and Judy Manyweathers of Queensland, Australia.
Residents of Balliara Townland, Killybegs Parish: Dr. Connal Cunningham, of Spiddal, Co. Galway; Patrick Conaghan (author of "Bygones") of Ayeevoghee, Killybegs Parish, Co. Donegal; and Joan Ward, Co. Donegal.
Residents of Shanaghan Townland, Inishkeel Parish and emigrants to Broughton Bay, New South Wales, Australia: Alec Strong (author of "The Strongs from Donegal"), of Byron Bay, Australia.
Residents of Tullyvocady Townland, Templecarn Parish, Co. Fermanagh and emigrants to Addington Township and later to Pickering Township, Ontario: Calvin Devitt of Rochester, Michigan; and his cousins Helen Devitt Browes of Bowmanville, Ontario; Isobel Devitt Hurlburt of Edmonton, Alberta; Harry & Audrey Auld of Thunder Bay, Ontario; Len & Jean Gibson of Barrie, Ontario; and the late Bill Ferguson of Blackstock, Ontario.

On this "Rootsweb" website (which they are offering free with unlimited space), I intend to post scanned maps, photos, and ultimately the Hypothetical Donegal Strong Descendency (edited to eliminate living persons), in order to better share the results and inquiry with you.

In the meantime, if any of you have electronic GEDCOM descendencies available which contain Strong connections, I would very much appreciate receiving any of these via attachment to an email message from you, or on a 3.5 diskette or 100MB ZIP disk forwarded to me at my snail address. And, thank you to those who have already helped in this regard!

I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions you may have.

Strong; Harron/Haron/Herron/Heron; Watson; Love; Dudgeon/Dodson; Bell; Spence; Graham; Griffith; Lenox; Freeborn; Cascadden/Carscadden; Farrell; Devit; Crauford/Crawford; Murray/Morrow; Lamond; Boyd; Walker; McCullough; Kirkpatrick/Kilpatrick; Mackie/MacKay/MaKee/McKee/MaGee/McGee. See also Elliott; Vance; Porteus; Rinn/Rynd; Quinn/Ginn; Mano/Manoe/Maynoe; Cassidy, and Patterson.

We are aware that many of the Donegal/Fermanagh families were interrelated; many of them "chain-migrated" to distinct locales around the world.... We have contacts with persons researching families in many of these locales.... and know that the same families tended to intermarry to some lesser extent after migration... There are links to be established and clues to be gathered in many of these families, which in turn may help others interested in related lineages.
Contact: David B. Strong (email)

"If it was with her parents, presumably they would have ended up in Ontario. Or if they did go as a family to Boston, Massachusetts (possibly to live with another son), that information would likely have been included in the oral history. " Contact: Michael J. Strong (email)

[Editor's Note: I am speculating that the Lebanon Cemetery is on what Dale has in the past described as "The Irish Ridge" in Morgan County... and further, that there may have been a reason why Richard Ramage's Martha Strong was there... she may have been an aunt of Dale Strong's family who arrived independantly from Ireland... or perhaps not. DBS]

It may be easy to make too much out of this... but it seems very significant that Jane Strong Devitt and her husband Matthew Devitt lived on Tullyvocady, while Paul Gary Strong's ancestors came from the immediately adjacent townlands of Belalt South or North. And, of course, we have much data about the Strongs of Carnhugh tying into Glasskeeragh and other adjacent townlands. I think it tends to tie them closer together in the hypothesis....

Patty Horton related in an Email dated 24 November 1999, that she remembered being told by someone in Ireland that the normal traffic pattern (for shopping, etc.) for those living in the Kilbarron/ Drumholm area would have been west to east into Fermanagh (until 1922 when it changed to south -- Sligo). One of the main roads was in Carricknahorna, and when she was driving east there, she was always concerned that she would get to the border where, at the time she was there, it was illegal to cross. Presently one may apparently cross legally only in Belleek.

From "Past Years in Pickering", a book by Rev. William R. Wood, a Presbyterian Minister at Claremont, Pickering Township, published in 1911 by William Briggs Co.,we know that the maiden name of "Jane" wife of Matthew Devitt, above, was Strong. We also know that the family emigrated to Ontario in 1827 from Tullycovady Townland, Templecarne Parish, Co. Fermanagh. "Jane Devitt, wife of late Alexander Brown", and "Thomas Devitt" were two of the seven children of Matthew and Jane Strong Devitt. Regarding Mary Herron (note variant spelling of "Harron"), buried under this common headstone with Jane Strong Devitt, Matthew Devitt, Mary Strong (her daughter), and other members of the Devitt family in Salem Cemetery, Pickering Township, Ontario, we know by family tradition that she was the widow of George Strong who had died in Co.Fermanagh circa 1839 before she emigrated to Ontario in about 1842. The headstone indicates she was the wife of George Strong. See View of Headstone Inscription . Salem Cemetery photographs contributed by Helen Devitt Browes of Bowmanville, Ontario.

For a wide variety of reasons not all births, deaths and marriages were registered, and this is especially true during the earlier years following the introduction of this requirement.

See Births, Marriages, Deaths Index, compiled by Philip B. Strong.
Note under the "Lineage Links" column each reference to a "Donegal" Strong refers to an individual who may be linked with the research of the Strongs of Donegal and Fermanagh under discussion here.