aaaa Surnames of County Cavan: Williamson , McNeill , Booker , Hogg, Byers

Glasraighe
Ballymachugh is one of the three parishes of the diocese situated in County Cavan. It lies along Lough Sheelin and in it the Diocese (Ardagh and Clonmacnoise) reaches its most easterly point about half a mile from Mountnugent. After the definite establishment of the Diocese of the Ui Briuin, or Kilmore, this parish remained attached to Ardagh because it was part of the old principality of Cairbre Gabhra centred at Granard. This ancient authorities generally speak of Lough Sheelin as in Cairbre; so the book of Lecan, Leobor Gabhala, Book of Leinster. Earlier than the time of Cairbre, son of Niall, these lands bordering Lough Sheelin on the north were inhabited by the pre-Celtic Glasraighe, who were subdued by him; and for whom long afterwards, the genealogists traced a royal descent from Cairbre himself. 
Source: http://www.cavannet.ie/parishes/ballymac/history/mcnamee.htm 

The parishes of Killinkere and Bailieborough, situated near the eastern edge of County Cavan, pertain to the region of Sarah Williamsons birth and here is evidence  of her direct lines found via Protestant record.Archeological evidence of habitation in the region spans back 5000 years, and many of the ancient Irish lived on artificial islands or 'crannogs', exhibiting great accomodation to the climate and terrain allowing them to flourish.  Conversion to Christianity by missionaries in the region occured in the 6th century. It seems indisputable that our lines of Cavan are involved in the Ulster Plantation of ca 1607-1700 long after its formal initiation  in 1610 following the Nine Years War (1594-1603) . It appears too, that they were not involved in the Cromwellian Settlement intitated in  1649. Evidence is first discovered  in the period of the  Williamite Plantation (started 1694 and lasted 30 years), and the Williamsons are first noted in the land records there in 1696. 
The region of our forebears  in the eastern aspect of County Cavan is relevant  to the ancient Irish Clan O'Reilly, rulers of Breffni , whose last chieftain, Annadh, died in 1220 ¹. Another clan with strong association in the now county were the O'Rourkes, who controlled the territory lying roughly south of  Lough Erne¹  with whom, during the 13th century, the O'Reillys experienced wars for territorial control.  Prior to the arrival of any of our known ancestors of the region, and in the later Middle Ages (1200-1600), Cavan was a border area remaining under the control of Irish chieftains ( though Anglo-Normans had settled to its west and south they were unsuccesful in their attempt to conquer it).   The chief of the Oí Reilly clan took an oath of allegiance to England's Henry VIII in 1541 and in 1579 County Cavan took on its present boundaries but during  the Nine Years War [AKA Tyrone's Rebellion]  (1594-1603)  the O'Reilly's succombed to Clan O Neill persistance and stregnth and so ultimately joined in rebellion against  the English crown, for which act they lost their independance and saw confiscation of their lands via the plantation of Ulster. Thus, in the early 17th century, Cavan was settled by planters from England and Scotland who laid the foundations for many of the county's town and villages, including Belturbet, Killeshandra and Virginia ¹ and as a result we find ourselves studying our lines and the history of  the region. far post the influence of Our Ancient Irish direct to this study,  likewise studied in these pages. 

In 1610,  William Bailie, a Scot, recieved the grant of land for the Manor of Bailieborough involving 1, 000 acres of arable land and about 16, 000 acres of Bog at Tandragee in the Barony of Clankee, County Cavan. In accordance with the grant, Bailie enclosed a demesne of 350 acres upon which he created a fortification and built a castle; By mandate of the grant to his estate, , he was required  to settle upon it a number of families of English and Scottish extraction and to establish fairs, marts, and also courts for the administration of the law. By 1629 there were 29 British families on the manor.  Their houses were made of wood and covered with straw thatch.
In 1641 a siege of the Protestant population by clan Oí Reilly clan ended with the clan's  agreed to retreat to Drogheda. 
In 1649, the  Puritan Zealot Cromwell  and his army descended on Ireland, having in 1641 made clear his intent to deny mercy to Catholics, but not limiting his fury to that religion.  "His campaign was savage and is remembered for the slaughter of women and children as well as unarmed captives. He captured Drogheda and slaughtered the garrison....The Puritan Parliamentarians persecuted not only Catholics but Ulster Presbyterians, members of the Church of Ireland and those of other minority religions. The act for settling Ireland was passed by the English parliament in August 1652. While the land was being surveyed the government was deciding who should forfeit land. Degrees of guilt were established and penalties defined. The result was that owners of Irish land, whether they were Catholic, Protestant or Old English were to suffer. Some were dispossessed totally; others forfeited one fifth, one third, two thirds or three quarters of their land depending on whether their part in the rebellion was a major or minor one." " ²
Via the Cromwellian Settlement of 1654 , plans for the settlement of County Cavan were laid, and all Irish were to be removed by June of 1656. The Williamite Plantation, initiated in 1691 and continueing for 30 years, saw  Presbyterianism congregations stregnthened . In the late 17th the village associated with the desmene of the Manor was destroyed, and a new town, Bailieborough, erected. 1714 brought the building of the Presbyterian church of Corglass outside Bailieborough. By 1805 our Samuel Williamson clearly resided on the manor. He saw the town of Bailieborough grow and assume its modern shape with the estate's acquisition by  Colonel William Young in 1814 ,  a courthouse and new Market House being erected.  [See The History of Bailieborough from which much of Bailie and the town''s history is taken]. 
In the 18th century,  Cavan's English and Scot planter descendants built fine houses, many of which are still standing and  "In October 1824, history was made in the Bailiebourough district when Samuel Williamson and his son , John, rode out to the castle and got leases, renewable forever, from Sir William Young, for their town houses and town parks. This was the first time a Bailieborough landlord granted leases revewable forever, and it must have been a relief for the leasees to know that, at long last, they could not be evicted from their holdings at the whim of a landlord or his agent....Both Samuel and John Williamson took an interest in the welfare of the district." [Williamson Family Papers from William G. Coleman, descendant of Ireland] . 
County Cavan's countryside  "prospered with the growth of the linen industry. The population grew dramatically, and in 1841 it was nearly a quarter of a million people - over four times the current population. At this time over half the population depended entirely on potatoes for food. When the potato crop failed for two successive years in 1845 and 1846, there was widespread starvation and hardship. Following the Famine, Cavan became mostly rural, and while it had many lively  market towns and villages, there was very little industry. Many people emigrated in search of work to America,  Canada, Australia and New Zealand...." ¹
A  Williamson gddtr of Samuel married Isaac Broome, donator of land for Bailieborough's Presbyterian Trinity Church, opened for worship in 1887. Probably as a result of the famine, her brother James left for California. It was not until 1917 that Sarah looked for the last time upon County Cavan, deciding unmarried and at age 28, to seek  her fortune across the water.  It was in Manhattan that she met her husband. 
 
 
 
 

it is in the 17th century, with the plantation of Ulster , that we can find the historical context for our ancestor's residence in the region of Bailieborough. 
"In the early 17th century, Cavan was settled by planters from England and Scotland who laid the foundations for many of the county's town and villages, including Belturbet, Killeshandra and Virginia. In the next century,  their descendants built fine houses, many of which are still standing.... 
The countryside prospered with the growth of the linen industry. The population grew dramatically, and in 1841 it was nearly a quarter of a million people - over four times the current population. At this time over half the population depended entirely on potatoes for food. When the potato crop failed for two successive years in 1845 and 1846, there was widespread starvation and hardship. Following the Famine, Cavan became mostly rural, and while it had many lively  market towns and villages, there was very little industry. Many people emigrated in search of work to America,  Canada, Australia and New Zealand...." ¹

Maps and Resources (from County Cavan and the McElwains webpages)  Includes links also to a wide variety of useful Cavan links
Cootehill, Co Cavan Directory 1834 
Genuki's Cavan Links Page [Resource and link page] 
County Cavan Historical/Heritage from goIreland.com
The County Cavan Research Center Website 
Local History References (From GenWeb) 
County Cavan from Rootsweb
Original IrelandGenWeb Resource Page  and Full Contents for Ireland
County Cavan  Miscellaneous Records Census Substitutes
Genuki's County Cavan Newspapers Transcription Project
Wills Administrations and Deeds of Ireland
County Cavan Gen Web Project

1. County Cavan from  Irish Culture and Customs. com
2. The Cromwellian Settlement by Catherine Oí Donovan