The McCreary Surname from Northern Ireland: A Detailed History

People with the "McCreary" surname are often unrelated to the MacQuarrie clan. Based on comprehensive research, here's what we know about the McCreary surname and its Northern Ireland roots:

Etymology and Meaning

The surname McCreary is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "Mac Ruidhrí" or "Mac Ruaidhrí," meaning "son of Ruaidhrí." The personal name Ruaidhrí is composed of two Gaelic elements: "ruadh" (meaning "red") and "rí" (meaning "king"), thus translating to "red king."

Scottish Origins: The Galloway Connection

The McCreary name originates from the Galloway District in southwest Scotland, specifically from the counties of Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire. The family is considered a branch of the McCririck family, which often spelled the name as MacCririe.

There is a tradition that the founder of the family was named "de Carrick" and took the name "de Rerik" when given the Barony at Rerrick (or Rerwick) in Kirkcudbrightshire. Over the centuries, the name evolved through various spellings: de Rerik → McRerik → McCrerik → McCrerie → McCrery → McCreery.

Historical Scottish Records

Early Scottish records show John McCrery as a follower of the Earl of Cassilis in 1526, and Thomas McCrery holding half a tenement in Dumfries in 1444. The McCririck family possessed lands at Kirkconnel on the west side of the River Nith, extending six square miles, and also owned lands in Glenscordale on the Island of Arran.

The Ulster Plantation (Early 1600s)

This is where the Northern Ireland connection becomes critical:

The Plantation of Ulster began after 1603 when James VI of Scotland became James I of England. The plantation aimed to settle Protestant Scots and English colonists in Ulster, confiscating lands from the native Irish Catholic population. The majority of Scottish settlers came from southwest Scotland, particularly from Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, and Dumfries and Galloway.

During the Scottish Plantation of Northern Ireland in the early 1600s, a large number of McCreerys (and variant spellings) were included in the plantation. These were Lowland Scots from Galloway, not Highland Scots.

Settlement Patterns in Ulster

Scottish settlement was heaviest in north Antrim, northeast Down, east Donegal, and northwest Tyrone. The official plantation affected six counties: Armagh, Cavan, Coleraine (renamed Londonderry), Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone.

McCrearys have been found in most of the counties in Ulster Province, with many settling near Strabane in the northwestern part of County Tyrone. These were Presbyterian Lowland Scots, not to be confused with the Highland Scots of "bagpipes and kilts."

The Scotch-Irish Identity

The McCrearys were among the Presbyterian Scots who settled in Northern Ireland. These Ulster Scots coexisted with Irish Catholics for several generations, though there was frequent conflict.

The migration between Scotland and Ireland wasn't new—the voyage across the North Channel of the Irish Sea was only 12 miles at the closest points, and there had been frequent migration in both directions for centuries as economic conditions changed.

Why They Left Scotland

Scotland was almost an impoverished nation in the early 1600s, functioning effectively as a peasant economy. The offer of land in Ulster provided opportunities that were hard to refuse for struggling Scottish farmers and laborers.

Emigration to America (1700s)

In the 18th century, when the original 100-year leases expired, English landlords dramatically raised rents. The descendants of the Scottish settlers, accustomed to cheap rents and true to their Scottish heritage, refused to pay. Combined with religious conflicts, tithing requirements for the Anglican Church they didn't attend, and promises of opportunity in the New World, this triggered massive Scotch-Irish emigration to America.

Several McCrearys came to America in the 1720s and settled in Pennsylvania, particularly in York County and later Bedford County. One family tradition mentions three McCreary brothers—Thomas, William, and John—arriving around 1720 from County Antrim.

Relationship to Clan MacQuarrie

This is an important distinction: The McCreary surname from Northern Ireland is NOT directly connected to Clan MacQuarrie.

Here's why:

1. Geographic Origin: McCrearys came from Galloway in southwest Scotland (Lowlands), while Clan MacQuarrie was from the Isle of Ulva off Mull in the Inner Hebrides (Highlands).

2. Different Etymology: While both names sound similar in English, they have different Gaelic origins:

3. McCreary = Mac Ruidhrí/Mac Ruaidhrí (from Galloway/Lowland tradition)

4. MacQuarrie = Mac Guaire (from Highland clan tradition)

5. Cultural Differences: The Ulster McCrearys were Presbyterian Lowland Scots, not Highland Scots. Clan MacQuarrie was a Highland clan with Catholic/Episcopalian traditions and Gaelic culture.

6. Migration Timing: The McCrearys migrated to Ulster during the organized Plantation (1609-1690s), while any MacQuarrie members who might have gone to Ulster would have done so later, after Culloden (1746) and the sale of Ulva (1794).

Spelling Variations

Common spelling variations of the name include: McCreary, McCreery, McCrorie, McCrory, MacCririe, MacCreery, MacCrory, McCrery, McCrary, and MacCrire.

Summary

The McCreary surname in Northern Ireland represents part of the Scotch-Irish (Ulster Scots) heritage—Presbyterian Lowland Scots from the Galloway region who were settled in Ulster during the Plantation period beginning in 1609. While the name sounds similar to MacQuarrie, they are distinct surnames from different regions of Scotland with different cultural backgrounds. The McCrearys became a foundational part of the Ulster Protestant community and later contributed significantly to the settlement of colonial America, particularly Pennsylvania and other Mid-Atlantic and Southern states.

The McCreary Surname from Northern Ireland: A Detailed History

Based on comprehensive research, here's what we know about the McCreary surname and its Northern Ireland roots:

Etymology and Meaning

The surname McCreary is an Anglicized form of the Gaelic "Mac Ruidhrí" or "Mac Ruaidhrí," meaning "son of Ruaidhrí." The personal name Ruaidhrí is composed of two Gaelic elements: "ruadh" (meaning "red") and "rí" (meaning "king"), thus translating to "red king."

Scottish Origins: The Galloway Connection

The McCreary name originates from the Galloway District in southwest Scotland, specifically from the counties of Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire. The family is considered a branch of the McCririck family, which often spelled the name as MacCririe.

There is a tradition that the founder of the family was named "de Carrick" and took the name "de Rerik" when given the Barony at Rerrick (or Rerwick) in Kirkcudbrightshire. Over the centuries, the name evolved through various spellings: de Rerik → McRerik → McCrerik → McCrerie → McCrery → McCreery.

Historical Scottish Records

Early Scottish records show John McCrery as a follower of the Earl of Cassilis in 1526, and Thomas McCrery holding half a tenement in Dumfries in 1444. The McCririck family possessed lands at Kirkconnel on the west side of the River Nith, extending six square miles, and also owned lands in Glenscordale on the Island of Arran.

The Ulster Plantation (Early 1600s)

This is where the Northern Ireland connection becomes critical:

The Plantation of Ulster began after 1603 when James VI of Scotland became James I of England. The plantation aimed to settle Protestant Scots and English colonists in Ulster, confiscating lands from the native Irish Catholic population. The majority of Scottish settlers came from southwest Scotland, particularly from Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, and Dumfries and Galloway.

During the Scottish Plantation of Northern Ireland in the early 1600s, a large number of McCreerys (and variant spellings) were included in the plantation. These were Lowland Scots from Galloway, not Highland Scots.

Settlement Patterns in Ulster

Scottish settlement was heaviest in north Antrim, northeast Down, east Donegal, and northwest Tyrone. The official plantation affected six counties: Armagh, Cavan, Coleraine (renamed Londonderry), Donegal, Fermanagh, and Tyrone.

McCrearys have been found in most of the counties in Ulster Province, with many settling near Strabane in the northwestern part of County Tyrone. These were Presbyterian Lowland Scots, not to be confused with the Highland Scots of "bagpipes and kilts."

The Scotch-Irish Identity

The McCrearys were among the Presbyterian Scots who settled in Northern Ireland. These Ulster Scots coexisted with Irish Catholics for several generations, though there was frequent conflict.

The migration between Scotland and Ireland wasn't new—the voyage across the North Channel of the Irish Sea was only 12 miles at the closest points, and there had been frequent migration in both directions for centuries as economic conditions changed.

Why They Left Scotland

Scotland was almost an impoverished nation in the early 1600s, functioning effectively as a peasant economy. The offer of land in Ulster provided opportunities that were hard to refuse for struggling Scottish farmers and laborers.

Emigration to America (1700s)

In the 18th century, when the original 100-year leases expired, English landlords dramatically raised rents. The descendants of the Scottish settlers, accustomed to cheap rents and true to their Scottish heritage, refused to pay. Combined with religious conflicts, tithing requirements for the Anglican Church they didn't attend, and promises of opportunity in the New World, this triggered massive Scotch-Irish emigration to America.

Several McCrearys came to America in the 1720s and settled in Pennsylvania, particularly in York County and later Bedford County. One family tradition mentions three McCreary brothers—Thomas, William, and John—arriving around 1720 from County Antrim.

Relationship to Clan MacQuarrie

This is an important distinction: The McCreary surname from Northern Ireland is NOT directly connected to Clan MacQuarrie.

Here's why:

1. Geographic Origin: McCrearys came from Galloway in southwest Scotland (Lowlands), while Clan MacQuarrie was from the Isle of Ulva off Mull in the Inner Hebrides (Highlands).

2. Different Etymology: While both names sound similar in English, they have different Gaelic origins:

3. McCreary = Mac Ruidhrí/Mac Ruaidhrí (from Galloway/Lowland tradition)

4. MacQuarrie = Mac Guaire (from Highland clan tradition)

5. Cultural Differences: The Ulster McCrearys were Presbyterian Lowland Scots, not Highland Scots. Clan MacQuarrie was a Highland clan with Catholic/Episcopalian traditions and Gaelic culture.

6. Migration Timing: The McCrearys migrated to Ulster during the organized Plantation (1609-1690s), while any MacQuarrie members who might have gone to Ulster would have done so later, after Culloden (1746) and the sale of Ulva (1794).

Spelling Variations

Common spelling variations of the name include: McCreary, McCreery, McCrorie, McCrory, MacCririe, MacCreery, MacCrory, McCrery, McCrary, and MacCrire.

Summary

The McCreary surname in Northern Ireland represents part of the Scotch-Irish (Ulster Scots) heritage—Presbyterian Lowland Scots from the Galloway region who were settled in Ulster during the Plantation period beginning in 1609. While the name sounds similar to MacQuarrie, they are distinct surnames from different regions of Scotland with different cultural backgrounds. The McCrearys became a foundational part of the Ulster Protestant community and later contributed significantly to the settlement of colonial America, particularly Pennsylvania and other Mid-Atlantic and Southern states.

The Ulster Plantation: A Comprehensive History

Background and Context

Pre-Plantation Ireland

Ulster was the last province in Ireland to be brought under the control of the English Crown. This was finally accomplished following the end of the Nine Years' War in 1603. The war had been a prolonged conflict between Gaelic Irish chiefs and English forces seeking to extend Crown authority over the province.

The Union of the Crowns (1603)

With the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne as James I in 1603, the course of Irish history changed forever. James saw the Gaels as barbarous and rebellious, and believed Gaelic culture should be wiped out.

The Flight of the Earls (1607)

Following the departure from Ireland of the two most important Gaelic chieftains and a large number of their followers in September 1607, the government embarked upon a scheme of plantation whereby lands were confiscated and parcelled out, for the most part, to new landowners of English and Scottish origin known as undertakers.

The Plantation Scheme

Strategic Objectives

James' aim was relatively simple: to replace the Catholics of Ireland with Scottish Protestants. The idea was to offer land to lowland Scots, mainly from Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, and Galloway—basically, as he saw it, civilized people would spread out and improve the uncivilized who were around them.

Another goal of the plantation was to sever the ties of the Gaelic clans of Ulster with those from the Highlands of Scotland, as these ties posed a strategic threat to England. For centuries, Scottish Gaelic mercenaries called gallowglass had been migrating to Ireland to serve under the Irish chiefs.

Why Scotland and England?

The Plantation of Ulster was presented to James I as a joint "British," or English and Scottish, venture to 'pacify' and 'civilise' Ulster, with half the settlers to be from one country. James had been King of Scotland before he also became King of England and wanted to reward his Scottish subjects with land in Ulster to assure them they were not being neglected now that he had moved his court to London.

Long-standing contacts between Ulster and the west of Scotland meant that Scottish participation was a practical necessity.

Timeline

Small privately funded plantations by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while the official plantation began in 1609.

The settlement was to be completed within three years.

The Counties Affected

Six counties were to be affected in the official plantation: Armagh, Cavan, Coleraine (renamed Londonderry), Donegal, Fermanagh and Tyrone (collectively known as the 'escheated counties').

The official plantation comprised an estimated half a million acres.

However, settlement was slow but steady, with many Scots building new lives for themselves on lands close to the Galloway coast in areas such as Upper Clanaboye in present-day North Down. This land was not part of the forfeiture resulting from the Flight of the Earls, but had been gifted by a prominent Irish chieftain, Con O'Neill, to the Scot Hugh Montgomery, who had helped O'Neill escape from jail in Carrickfergus.

The Settlement System

The Undertakers

The principal landowners were to be "Undertakers," wealthy men from England and Scotland who undertook to import tenants from their own estates.

These grantees were expected to colonize, being required to plant ten families or 24 men for every 1,000 acres they were granted.

Strict Rules for Settlers

The new landowners were explicitly banned from taking Irish tenants and had to import workers from England and Scotland. The remaining Irish landowners were to be granted one quarter of the land in Ulster. The peasant Irish population was intended to be relocated to live near garrisons and Protestant churches.

The planters were barred from selling their lands to any Irishman and were required to build defenses against any possible rebellion or invasion.

In this way, it was hoped that a defensible new community composed entirely of loyal British subjects would be created.

Who Came and Why

The Scottish Settlers

The largest numbers came from Ayrshire, Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway, Durham, Lanarkshire, Northumberland, Renfrewshire, Scottish Borders, Yorkshire and, to a lesser extent, from the Scottish Highlands.

The majority of the Scottish settlers came from the south-west of Scotland and in particular Ayrshire, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, and Dumfries and Galloway.

The Border Reivers

A large number came from the southeast, including the unstable regions right along the border with England (the Scottish Borders and Northumberland). These groups were from the Borderers or Border Reivers culture. The plan was that moving these Borderers to Ireland (particularly to County Fermanagh) would both solve the Borders problem and tie down Ulster.

This was of particular concern to James VI of Scotland when he became King of England, since he knew Scottish instability could jeopardize his chances of ruling both kingdoms effectively.

Economic Motivations

Scotland was almost an impoverished nation at this time, and it would have been hard to eke out a living in what was effectively a peasant economy. They probably didn't take much persuading.

Some settlers came independently in search of a better life. Some no doubt thought that Ulster would provide an opportunity to revive the family's economic fortunes and recover status lost in Scotland.

Numbers

In the early seventeenth century 20–30,000 Scots crossed the North Channel into Ireland.

Settlement Patterns by 1630

By 1630 British settlement was well established in large parts of Ulster and there were clear areas of demarcation between areas in which English and Scottish settlers predominated. Scottish settlement was heaviest in north Antrim, northeast Down, east Donegal and northwest Tyrone, while English settlers were in the majority in County Londonderry, south Antrim and north Armagh.

Much of the province remained virtually unsettled, including most of north, south and west County Donegal, south County Armagh, mid County Tyrone and mid County Londonderry. The more mountainous areas, far from the main British settlements, remained almost exclusively Irish.

Early Success

The early settlers from Scotland took to the hard work needed to make a living. They showed enormous energy and determination and soon produced so much in terms of crops and livestock that they soon began to export back to the British mainland. Economically, then, the plantation could probably be measured as a success.

The Failure to Convert

Where it utterly failed, however, was in converting the native Irish to Protestantism.

By the 1630s it is suggested that the plantation was settling down with "tacit religious tolerance," and in every county Old Irish were serving as royal officials and members of the Irish Parliament.

The 1630s Crisis

Religious Conflict with Charles I

In the 1630s, Presbyterians in Scotland staged a rebellion against Charles I for trying to impose Anglicanism. The same was attempted in Ireland, where most Scots colonists were Presbyterian. A large number of them returned to Scotland as a result.

In 1638 the National Covenant was drawn up in Scotland which declared Presbyterianism the only true form of church government. Many in Ulster also signed the Covenant. In response, Wentworth insisted that all Scots in Ulster over the age of sixteen take an oath—the infamous 'Black Oath'—abjuring the Covenant. Those who refused could be fined and imprisoned. Large numbers of Scottish settlers fled to their homeland; so many left that in some places there were not enough people to bring in the harvest.

After 1630, Scottish migration to Ireland waned for a decade.

The Attempted Emigration to America

In 1636 some of these men, with about 140 followers, set sail in the Eagle Wing for America; they never reached their destination as storms drove the ship back.

The Irish Rebellion of 1641

The Outbreak

On 23 October 1641, the Ulster Catholics staged a rebellion. The mobilized natives turned on the British colonists, massacring about 4,000 and expelling about 8,000 more.

The initial leader of the rebellion, Felim O'Neill, had actually been a beneficiary of the Plantation land grants. Most of his supporters' families had been dispossessed and were likely motivated by the desire to recover their ancestral lands.

The Devastation

At the time, wildly exaggerated estimates—often considerably more than the entire British population in Ulster at the time—were circulated, mainly in the English press to drum up support for crushing the rebellion. Nonetheless, thousands of settlers did die in the rebellion, at least as many from exposure and disease as from murder.

Those who had the means of doing so fled to Dublin or across the Irish Sea to England and Scotland. Others sought refuge in the towns that had not been captured.

The Impact

Marianne Elliott believes that "1641 destroyed the Ulster Plantation as a mixed settlement."

Military Response

In northwest Ulster resistance to the rebels was organized by the Stewart brothers, Sir William and Sir Robert, who recruited an army from among the settlers known as the Laganeers. Additional support for the settlers came in the form of a Scottish army under the command of Major-General Robert Munro which landed at Carrickfergus in April 1642.

The Cromwellian Period

After the Cromwellian war in Ireland was over, many of their soldiers settled permanently in eastern Ulster. Under the Act of Settlement 1652, all Catholic-owned land was confiscated and the British Plantations in Ireland, which had been destroyed by the rebellion of 1641, were restored.

However, due to the Scots' enmity to the English Parliament in the final stages of the English Civil War, English settlers rather than Scots were the main beneficiary of this scheme. The English Parliamentarians (or Cromwellians) were generally hostile to Scottish Presbyterians after they re-conquered Ireland from the Catholic Confederates in 1649–53.

The Wars eliminated the last major Catholic landowners in Ulster.

The Williamite Period and Later Migration

The Williamite forces, composed of British, Dutch, Huguenot and Danish armies, as well as troops raised in Ulster, ended Jacobite resistance by 1691, confirming the Protestant minority's monopoly on power in Ireland.

The 1690s Famine Migration

Finally, another major influx of Scots into northern Ireland occurred in the late 1690s, when tens of thousands of people fled a famine in Scotland to come to Ulster. It was only after the 1690s that Scottish settlers and their descendants, the majority of whom were Presbyterian, gained numeric superiority in Ulster, though still a minority in Ireland as a whole.

The principal driving factor in this migration was the distress caused by harvest failures resulting in severe famine conditions in Scotland. It has been estimated that as many as 50,000 Scots crossed the North Channel in this decade alone—a far greater number than came to Ulster in the first four decades of the seventeenth century.

Religious and Social Structure

Along with Catholics, they (Ulster Scots) were legally disadvantaged by the Penal Laws, which gave full rights only to members of the Church of Ireland (the Anglican state church), who were mainly Anglo-Irish (themselves often absentee landlords), native Irish converts or the descendants of English settlers.

The Broader European Context

It may surprise many people to learn that in the early seventeenth century more Scots went to Poland than came to Ulster. In fact more Scots went to Scandinavia than came to Ulster. During the reign of James VI Scotland became a much more politically stable kingdom. The King was able to impose his authority on the nobility and gentry and to establish law and order in the notoriously unruly Borders. Scotland's population was rising and there was a surplus of young men seeking employment or adventure—hence the numbers of Scots venturing abroad.

This was Scotland's first, and ultimately most successful, project of colonization beyond its shores.

Long-Term Consequences

The plantation turned out to be one of the most successful movements of population in European history—and at the same time, one of the most tragic. It effectively created two different tribes in Ireland—Protestant Unionist and Irish Catholic—and led directly to the troubles which still plague the island today.

As a long-term strategy, the result was a disaster for the people of North Ireland as they fought among themselves over religious and cultural differences for the next 350 years or more.

Summary

The Ulster Plantation was a carefully planned but ultimately controversial colonization scheme that fundamentally transformed Ireland's demographic, religious, and political landscape. While economically successful in establishing productive settlements, it created deep sectarian divisions that persisted for centuries. The plantation brought primarily Presbyterian Lowland Scots and Anglican English settlers to replace Catholic Irish landowners, establishing a Protestant majority in Ulster that would define the region's identity and conflicts well into the modern era.