Shamrock and Thistle

House of Lynn

Shamrock and Thistle

Lynns in Ulster, Ireland 1604/05 - ca. 1850
Known to be Scottish and/or Protestant

Copyright 2015 : Revised 24 April 2019
Loretta Lynn Layman, Author of "Barony of Lynn", The Scottish Genealogist,
Vol. LVII No. 1, The Scottish Genealogy Society, Edinburgh (March 2010)
Lynneage @ comcast . net

Links in Purple are bookmarks and stay on-page.  Links in Green are off-page and open in new windows.
A few of the off-page or external links are to other pages at this website,
some are to internet databases, and some are to books that are readable on the internet.
Most are not the property of this author and may change without notice.
This author would appreciate being informed (Contact) if anyone encounters a link that no longer works.

  

True it is that some Lynns and Linns in Ulster are genetic Irish and derive their name from the Gaelic O'Floinn or its anglicized form, O'Flynn.  In pronouncing O'Floinn, the letter "F" is faintly aspirated, rendering it nearly silent.  Thus, it was only natural that the "F" should eventually be dropped in many cases.  As time progressed, some O'Lynns eventually also dropped the "O".  However, by no means are all Lynns or Linns in Ulster truly Irish.  To the contrary, very many (perhaps a majority) either were themselves, or are descended from, Scots who migrated to Ulster shortly before, during, or after the Plantation.

That truth is evidenced not only by traditional historical and genealogical research but also by Y-DNA testing of living male Lynns.  In the Lynn/Lyne/Linn/Lind surname project at FamilyTreeDNA, five Lynns whose immigrant ancestors came to America from Ireland are of the Y-DNA haplogroup R-U198.  In the British Isles, R-U198 is found most often in the Scottish Lowlands and England and is distinctly lacking in populations with Gaelic origins.
       [http://meekdna.com/U198dna/S29_5.html]

Nevertheless, the focus of this discussion is the historical record, which is more than sufficient to stand on its own.  This account is chronological and begins with a Scottish Lynn who obtained land and position in northwest Ulster during the plantation, beginning in 1604/05.  Since he held properties forming something of a triangle encompassing portions of Counties Londonderry, Donegal, and Tyrone, those three counties are treated together in the chronologies below.  Counties Fermanagh and Monaghan also are presented under a single heading, owing to a certain known family connection.

The place names Derry City and City of Londonderry are synonymous.  However, while the old city was originally named Derry and was renamed Londonderry with the Ulster Plantation, there never was a County Derry.  Rather, County Londonderry was so named at its 1613 inception, when created from the now defunct County Coleraine and part of County Donegal.

__________________________________________________

Chronologies by County

Antrim Armagh  Down 
Fermanagh and Monaghan

Londonderry, Donegal, and Tyrone

__________________________________________________

Lynns who can be identified as Scottish, Protestant, or both are found in eight of the nine counties of Ulster prior to 1850.  County Cavan is the exception.  In the eight counties, the earliest that such Lynns are found is 1604/05 in Londonderry and Tyrone; 1618/19 in Donegal; 1633 in Down; 1658 in Antrim; 1740 in Armagh; 1774/75 in Fermanagh; and 1777 in Monaghan.  The great majority of such Lynns, as far as they have been found, lived in Londonderry, Donegal, Tyrone, and Antrim.  Given, however, the very great loss of early Irish records, it should not be assumed that there were few or no such Lynns in times or places other than those found.  In any event, the eight Ulster counties where Scottish and/or Protestant Lynns are found to have lived prior to 1850 are presented here in the order of earliest record discovered.  The exceptions are those counties which are grouped with other counties having earlier dates.

While attempting to make a judgment concerning the number of Scottish and/or Protestant Lynns living in Ulster prior to 1850, one must keep in mind the 1922 bombing of the Four Courts building in Dublin.  The explosion and resulting fire destroyed nearly all the records housed there at the time.  The reason information from any of those records exists is that Tenison Groves, a genealogist and antiquarian, worked in Dublin's Public Records Office prior to 1922 and transcribed some of the documents housed there before the bombing.  Those portions of the relevant records from which information does exist today are described on the page Available Record.

Names are spelled herein as found in the records cited.  For place names that were written differently from their modern forms, the currently accepted spellings are included in brackets.

Concerning the dates of records prior to the mid 17th century, there may be a discrepancy of one year in this chronology resulting from two facts.  First, the Gregorian calendar was introduced in parts of Europe in 1582 but replaced the Julian calendar only gradually, particularly in Ireland, with some overlap in use. Second, some sources used for this research reported dates exactly as they appeared in the original documents while other sources converted all Julian dates to Gregorian.  No effort has been made here to reconcile the two since the primary goal of this article is to demonstrate the presence of Scottish Lynns in Ulster, which is not altered by a difference of one year.

________________________________________

CHRONOLOGIES

Londonderry, Donegal, and Tyrone

William Lynne, gentleman of Londonderry, was most prominent among the Scottish Lynns who settled in northwest Ulster.  He was one of the two first sheriffs of the city and newly erected county of Londonderry, as well as attorney and agent for the Earl of Abercorn ...

1604-25

As evidenced by a deed produced in 1775 to James Hamilton, Eighth Earl of Abercorn, William Lynne of Londonderry was conveyed the County Tyrone property of Cloghogle by James Hamilton, First Earl of Abercorn on "27 October in the 38th year of reign by James".  James I and VI (the sixth King James of Scotland, who became the first King James of England and Ireland) reigned from 1567 to 1625, which places the Cloghogle deed in 1604 or 1605.

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/ecatalogue.htm : Click "Search the eCatalogue", enter T2541/IA/2/1/47 in the "PRONI Ref" box, and click "Search".

The Hamiltons of course were very Scottish, Abercorn being the name of their barony in Scotland.  Several years after the Cloghogle conveyance, William Lynne of Londonderry also is proven to be a Scot.  In his grant of denizenship on 9 July 1616, he was described as a Scottish settler of Derry City.

 

The Scots in Ulster : Their Denization and Naturalization, Rev. David Stewart, D.D., Edinburgh (1955) (p. 35)

In Nicholas Pynnar's 1618-19 survey of the Ulster Plantation, William is shown to also hold the County Donegal lands of Caroreagh and Laugaurack [Carrowreagh and Lurganbrack].  About 1625, then, William Lynne, gentleman of Londonderry, died leaving a prerogative will, which was recorded that year.  Notably, prerogative wills are those in which the testator died possessed of land in more than one county.  Rev. Hill unfortunately erred in his notes to Pynnar's Survey by saying that William died in 1633, possibly having assumed that a subsequent inquisition (see 1635, below) would have to have been held within a relatively short time after one's death.

An Historical Account of the Plantation in Ulster at the Commencement of the Seventeenth Century, 1608-1620, Rev. George Hill, Belfast (1877) (pp. 525-26 fn. 215) available at https://openlibrary.org/

Index to the Prerogative Wills of Ireland, 1536-1810, Sir Arthur Vicars, F.S.A., Ulster King of Arms (1897) (p. 296) available at https://openlibrary.org/

For a more complete account of William's life and position in northwest Ulster and a discussion of his probable connections in Scotland, see : Lynns of Londonderry, Donegal, and Tyrone.  To see where his lands were situated : Map.

1616

On 17 August of this year, David Lynn and John Lynn were two of the six Scottish settlers in the Earl of Abercorn's County Tyrone manor of Dunnalong who were granted denizenship.  Notably, William Lynne of Londonderry was the Earl's agent for Dunnalong.

The Scots in Ulster, Ibid. (p. 39)

1630-33

Five Lynns appeared on the muster roll from Counties Londonderry, Donegal, and Tyrone, where muster was conducted between these years.  One Lynn in Tyrone carried a snaphance or snaphaunce, then a new and expensive firearm (named for the type of firing mechanism employed), which had been brought to Ulster from Scotland.  The muster roll was taken, in fact, for the specific purpose of seeing that Scottish and English undertakers, as well as servitors to the Crown who'd been granted land, were fulfilling their obligation to have sufficient men and arms to defend against any potential Irish uprising.  Native Irish grantees in the plantation were exempt from such requirement and therefore not present at musters.  The published roll was compiled from the original field papers and is deficient, but it does represent the most exhaustive list of Ulster settlers available for the period.  Those Lynns appearing on the roll for Londonderry, Donegal, and Tyrone are :

County

Locale

Name

Weapon(s)

Londonderry

City of Londonderry

John Lyne

Sword

         " 

Town of Coleraine

Robert Lyn

Sword and pike

Donegal

Raphoe Barony

William Lyne

Sword

Tyrone

Clogher Barony

Andrew Leene [Linne]

Sword and snaphance

     " 

Strabane Barony

James Lynne

Sword

‘Men and Arms’ The Ulster Scots, c. 1630, Edit. R. J. Hunter, Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast (2012) (ff. 39, 43, 76v, 90v, 111, 135, 138v, 139v, 172, 198) - see also : Available Record.

Andrew Linne gave a sworn deposition before Scotland's Privy Council in 1646 concerning the 1641-42 Irish massacres.  He stated therein that he had been in Ulster for about eighteen years at the time of the massacres ~ thus, since about 1625.  Notably, the above Andrew is the only Andrew Lynn, with any variation of the surname, in the entire 1630s muster roll; and he carried a snaphance, which was popular among wealthier Scots who carried them to Ireland.

Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, Second Series Vol. VIII, A.D. 1544[sic]-1660, Edit. P. Hume Brown, M.A., LL.D., Edinburgh (1908) (pp. 163-64)

1635

William Lynn was named as a nephew and the heir of the late William Lynne of Londonderry in an inquisition concerning Lynne's land in Largavracke [Lurganbrack], Donegal.  Like his uncle, William Lynn of course was also an Ulster Scot.

An Historical Account of the Plantation in Ulster at the Commencement of the Seventeenth Century, 1608-1620, Rev. George Hill, Belfast (1877) (pp. 525-26, fn. 215) at : https://openlibrary.org/

1641

Ensign David Lynne, John Lynn, two William Lynns, and Major Nicholas Lynne were members of the Laggan Army, which was organized chiefly from the Ulster counties of Londonderry, Donegal, Tyrone, and Fermanagh to defend settlers against Irish forces.

The Laggan Army in Ireland, 1640-1685 - The Landed Interests, Political Ideologies and Military Campaigns of the North-West Ulster Settlers, Kevin McKenny, Dublin (2005) (pp. 166, 183, 193, 208)

1654-63

William Lyne and David Lyne were named in the 1654 civil survey of County Donegal as Scots Protestant proprietors of Bunintyne [Bunnaton], Largebreake [Lurganbrack], and Carrowreagh. As noted in 1604-25 above, Lurganbrack and Carrowreagh were first held by William Lynne, gentleman of Londonderry.  David appears in Lurganbrack again in the 1663 hearth money roll for County Donegal.

The Civil Survey 1654, County Donegal, Barony of Kilmacrenan : Donegal Survey
Donegal Hearth Money Rolls of 1663 : Donegal Hearth Money

1658

Henry Lyn was a merchant from Irvine in Ayrshire, Scotland who appears in Ulster this year, as described in a sasine (deed) registered in Ayrshire.  The sasine index published in 1939 by the Scotland Record Office describes Henry as "merchant in Temple Patrick, County Donegal, Ireland", while the sasine extract in the National Records of Scotland database describes him as "merchant in Tempillpark, County Antrim".

That database also includes an extract of a precept which predates the sasine by eleven days and gives investment in certain Ayrshire lands to "Susilie Oqueyne in Brendrewis in the County of Duningall [Donegal] in Ireland, spouse of Lachlan McGolrik, the sister daughter of Hugh Lin, then deceased as heir of her said uncle".

The sasine as extracted is more specifically described as being "in favour of Susillie Oqueyne in favour of Henry Lyn, merchant in Tempillpark [etc.]".  Clearly, Henry Lyn, Hugh Lin, and Susilie all were related.

Index to Secretary's Register of Sasines for the Sheriffdom of Ayr and Bailliaries of Kyle, Carrick, and Cunningham, Vol. 2: 1635-1660, Scotland Record Office, Edinburgh (1935)
Ref. # GD3/1/1/27/4 at http://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrsonlinecatalogue/search.aspx

The discrepancy in Henry's location may be the result of confusion on the part of the person who created the sasine index.  Perhaps he or she merely assumed Henry was in County Donegal since the sasine places Susilie there in the same sentence where it names Henry.

Further, since several authoritative Irish place name databases, as well as inquiries elsewhere, have all failed to identify any place in Donegal called Temple Patrick or some variant thereof, and since it hardly seems reasonable that a Scottish merchant would have settled in a place so obscure that it cannot now be identified, it seems more likely that Henry was in Temple Patrick, County Antrim.  However, since that likelihood cannot be absolutely proven, he is listed in this chronology for both counties.

Research of the original register of sasines may answer the question of Henry's whereabouts.  The crucial point, however, is that a Scottish merchant of the Lynn family left Scotland for Ulster sometime in or before 1658.

1660-72

William Lynn, gent[leman] and David Lynne, yeoman were listed in the 1660 and 1662 poll books for Donagheady Parish, County Tyrone as being  in Cloghogall [Cloghogle].  Cloghogle of course was previously held by the Ulster Scot William Lynne of Londonderry, now deceased.  William Lynn appears in Cloghogle again in the 1664 and 1666 hearth money rolls.  In 1667, William Lynn was among nineteen Presbyterians in Donagheady Parish excommunicated by the Bishop of Derry for not adhering to the Anglican Church.  William Lynne, gentleman in Cloghagall [Cloghogle] died about 1672, his prerogative will being recorded that year.

Donagheady Poll Book of 1660 at http://www.cotyroneireland.com/tithe/donagheadypoll.html
Donagheady Poll Book of 1662 at http://www.breadyancestry.com/index.php?id=leckpatrick
Donagheady Hearth Money Rolls of 1664 at http://www.breadyancestry.com/index.php?id=leckpatrick
Donagheady Hearth Money Rolls of 1666 at http://www.breadyancestry.com/index.php?id=leckpatrick
Donagheady Presbyterian Churches and Parish, Rev. John Rutherford, B.A., Belfast (1953)

Index to Prerogative Wills, Ibid. (p. 296) available at https://openlibrary.org/

1665

William Lyn in the parish of Raphro [Raphoe], county of Donnygall [Donegal] was the only son and heir of the deceased Margaret Muir and, as such, disposed of a tenement in the burgh of Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland which Margaret had inherited in 1604 from her father, the deceased John Mure, a notary and burgess of Irvine.  Notably, Hugh Lynn, merchant was also a burgess of Irvine in 1604.  It seems likely, therefore, that William was the son of Hugh Lynn and Margaret Muir.

Ref. ## GD1/693/1 & GD1/693/13 at http://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrsonlinecatalogue/search.aspx
Archaeological and Historical Collections Relating to Ayrshire & Galloway, Vol. VII, Ayrshire and Galloway Archaeological Association, Edinburgh (1894) (pp. 189-91)

ca.1690-
  1757

Another William Lynn was born about 1690 to a family that lived in Counties Londonderry, Donegal, and Tyrone.  He became a doctor, emigrated to America sometime prior to 1746, and settled in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, Virginia.  In the latter year, one of several notices was published by Dr. William Lynn in Fredericksburg's The Virginia Gazette.  Dr. Lynn wrote his will on 21 October 1757 and named, among others, certain beneficiaries who prove him to be from northwest Ulster ... 

 

"my kinsman Moses Lynn near Strabane in Ireland"

 

"the female issue of Lieut. Matthew Lynn, near Londonderry, in Ireland"

"my Brother in Law Mr. Charles Colhoun & my sister in Law, Rebecca Colhoun, both of Letter  Kenny in Ireland"

Strabane is in County Tyrone, Londonderry of course in County Londonderry, and Letterkenny in County Donegal.  While these three bequests evidence the family's whereabouts in Ulster, two others point to its Scots Presbyterian roots, by virture of certain related facts which will follow ...

"the children of my kinswoman Margaret Stuart now living in Augusta County, in Virginia which she had by her former husband, the Rev. Mr. Paul"

"my sister [Margaret] Lewis & my Nephews Thomas Lewis, Andrew Lewis, William Lewis &  Charles Lewis ... all of Augusta Co. [Virginia]"

Dr. Lynn's sister Margaret had married John Lewis, who became one of the founders of Staunton, Virginia; and three of their sons named above became prominent in the American Revolution. Both the Lewis and Stuart relatives of Dr. Lynn had settled in Beverly Manor, Augusta County in 1738 and 1749, respectively.  However, the facts most relevant to the question of the Lynns' origins are these ... The Manor's four churches all were Presbyterian, were established between 1740 and 1746, and were then called meeting houses.  The map linked below shows not only the locations of the meeting houses but also the names of men ~ Lewis and Stuart among them ~ who were ordered to survey roads.

The following persons complete the list of relatives named among Dr. Lynn's beneficiaries ...

"the children of my Brother Charles in Ireland [including] his eldest son, William Lynn"

"the Daughter of my Brother Audley Lynn, Dec'd, named Ann, now living in London with her  Mother"

Incidentally, the patent list linked below includes not only John Lewis but also John Lynn, Sr., an assumed or supposed brother of Dr. William Lynn whom William sued in the Augusta County court in 1751 and chose not to name in his will.  Margaret Stuart's second husband does not appear on the patent list but was David Stewart or Stuart, whose 1767 will makes a certain bequest "to wife Margaret, and to her oldest daughter, Mary Pall [Paul]".

The Virginia Gazette, Fredericksburg, VA (14 August 1746. Issue No. 524, p. 4, column 1)

Spotsylvania County, Virginia Will Book B, 1749-1759 (pp. 350-54)

Presbyterian Meeting Houses in Beverly Manor - top half of map; includes the following ...

Augusta Stone - 1740 : http://www.augustastone.org/index.php/history/

Tinkling Spring - 1740 : http://www.tinklingspring.org/history.php

Brown's (now Hebron) - 1744 : http://www.hebronpc.com/about-us/HebronsHistory.cfm

North Mountain (now Bethel) - 1746 : http://bethelpresbyterianstaunton.org/about-us/history-2/

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaaugust/BeverlyPatent.htm

Chronicles : Augusta County Court Records : Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County 1745-1800, Lyman Chalkley (1912) (Vol. I, p. 305; Vol. III, p. 509)

1705-10

At the General Synod of Ulster on 6 June 1705, Convoy Presbytery was appointed to place Charles Linn and several other men on trial for licenses to preach.  On 25 February 1707, as reported at the 1 June 1708 General Synod, Charles Lynn was ordained by Convoy Presbytery at Clandy-Vadock [Clondavaddog].  At the General Synods on 1 June 1709 and 21 June 1710, Charles Lynn was one of several ministers representing Convoy Presbytery.  At the latter Synod, he was appointed to a committee to revise the Synod's "Belfast Book".  Convoy is in the east of County Donegal not far from County Tyrone, and Clondavaddog is in the north of Donegal.

Records of the General Synod of Ulster, from 1691 To 1820, Vol. I (1691-1720), General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast (1890) (pp. 97, 145, 169, 189, 192) at https://openlibrary.org/

1708

On 1 June, John Lyn was an elder representing Derry Presbytery at the General Synod of Ulster.

Records of the General Synod, Ibid. (p. 142) at  https://openlibrary.org/

1740

As listed in extracts at the website of the PRONI, fourteen Lynns representing nine parishes were Protestant householders in County Londonderry this year, one in County Donegal, and three in County Tyrone.  However, since very little of those counties were transcribed before the original returns were lost in 1922, these numbers may substantially underrepresent the actual numbers (see also : Available Record) ...

County Parish Townland Name(s)
Londonderry Artrea not stated George Linn; John Linn
         "   Balteagh Little Derry James Linn
         "   Coleraine not stated Charles Lin; William Lin
         "   Cumber Brackfield John Lynn
         "        " Ling James Linn
         "   Drumachose Carrydoo Thomas Linn
         "           "  Rusk[e]y William Linn
         "   Dunboe not stated Andew Lin
         "   Kilcronaghan not stated Adam Linn; Samuel Linn
         "   Maghera not stated Daniel Linn
         "   Tamlaght not stated Adam Linn
Donegal Clonmany Clehagh Robert Linn
Tyrone Derryloran not stated Ad [Adam? Andrew? Audley?] Lyn;
James Lyn; Widow Lyn

1753

Adam Lynn or Lynd was an elder representing Tyrone Presbytery at the General Synod of Ulster.

Records of the General Synod of Ulster ... Vol. II (1721-1777), General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast (1890) (p. 373) at https://openlibrary.org/

1766

While only fragments survive from this year's Religious Census of Ireland, ten Linns or Lynns are found listed for Ulster : two Papists [Roman Catholic], one Protestant [usually Church of Ireland], and seven Dissenters [usually Presbyterians].  Three Dissenters were in County Londonderry and one Dissenter and one Protestant in County Tyrone.  Unfortunately, however, all of this census for County Donegal is lost ... 

Name

Religion

County

Parish

Townland

John Lynn

Dissenter

Londonderry

Drumachose

Ruskey

Joseph Linn

Dissenter

Londonderry

Drumachose

Ardgarvan

W. Lynn

Dissenter

Londonderry

Drumachose

Ruskey

George Lynn

Protestant

Tyrone

Aghaloo & Carnteel

[blank]

Alexander Lynn

Dissenter

Tyrone

Artrea

Tullyconnell

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/proninames.htm : Click "Search for Names", enter Linn for "Surname" on the next page, deselect all but "1766 Religious Census", and click "Search".  Repeat for Lynn.  See also : Available Record.

1767

In this year, David Linn was a freeholder at Nether, County Donegal, as listed in the Donegal Poll Book.  At the time, only Protestants with freeholds of a certain value were allowed to vote.

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/proninames.htm : Click "Freeholders' Records" and enter Linn for "Surname" on the next page".  Repeat for Lynn.

1811-13

In each of these years, Adam Lynn was an elder representing Tyrone Presbytery at General Synods of Ulster.

Records of the General Synod of Ulster, from 1691 To 1820, Vol. III (1779-1820), General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast (1898) (pp. 362, 388) - Note: Volume III is not currently available online.

1820

On 27 June, James Lynn was an elder representing the Colerain congregation of the Route Presbytery at the General Synod of Ulster.  Coleraine is in eastern County Londonderry.

 

Records of the General Synod ... Vol. III (1779-1820), General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast (1898) (pp. 518-19)

Down

Prior to 1850, only one Lynn is found in surviving records of County Down who is proven to be an Ulster Scot.  Such case undoubtedly is owing in no small part to the great loss of Irish records.

1633

John Lyne appeared on the muster roll for County Down with a  snaphance, an innovative and expensive firearm brought to Ulster about this time from Scotland.  John Lyne was under the jurisdiction of the Episcopal Bishop of Dromore, who had authority over the town of Dunmore and the Lower Iveagh, as well of course as his own land in the county.  Lower Iveagh is roughly the northern half of the barony of Iveagh, the barony lying in central County Down and stretching from the northern boundary of the county to nearly the southern tip.

‘Men and Arms’, Ibid. (f. 267V #131)

Antrim

Lynns who were Scottish and/or Protestant appeared in County Antrim in the same century as the Lynn who was the first Scots Protestant settler in Londonderry, Donegal, and Tyrone.  However, the man who may be the earliest Scottish Lynn in Antrim came there directly from Scotland ...

1658

Henry Lyn was a merchant from Irvine in Ayrshire, Scotland who appears in Ulster this year, as described in a sasine (deed) registered in Ayrshire.  The sasine extract currently in the National Records of Scotland database describes Henry specifically as "merchant in Tempillpark, County Antrim", while the sasine index published in 1939 by the Scotland Record Office describes him as "merchant in Temple Patrick, County Donegal, Ireland".

That database also includes the extract of a precept which predates the sasine by eleven days and gives investment in certain Ayrshire lands to "Susilie Oqueyne in Brendrewis in the County of Duningall [Donegal] in Ireland, spouse of Lachlan McGolrik, the sister daughter of Hugh Lin, then deceased as heir of her said uncle".

The sasine as extracted is more specifically described as being "in favour of Susillie Oqueyne in favour of Henry Lyn, merchant in Tempillpark in the County of Antrim in Ireland".  Clearly, Henry Lyn, Hugh Lin, and Susilie all were related.

Ref. # GD3/1/1/27/4 at http://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrsonlinecatalogue/search.aspx
Index to Secretary's Register of Sasines for the Sheriffdom of Ayr and Bailliaries of Kyle, Carrick, and Cunningham, Vol. 2: 1635-1660,
Scotland Record Office, Edinburgh (1935) (p. 269)

The discrepancy in Henry's location may be the result of confusion on the part of the person who created the sasine index.  Perhaps he or she merely assumed Henry was in County Donegal since the sasine places Susilie there in the same sentence where it names Henry.

Further, since several authoritative Irish place name databases, as well as inquiries elsewhere, have all failed to identify any place in Donegal called Temple Patrick or some variant thereof, and since it hardly seems reasonable that a Scottish merchant would have settled in a place so obscure that it cannot now be identified, it seems more likely that Henry was in Templepatrick, County Antrim.  However, that likelihood cannot be absolutely proven, and Henry therefore is listed on this page for both counties.

Research of the original register of sasines may answer the question of Henry's whereabouts.  The crucial point, however, is that a Scottish merchant of the Lynn family left Scotland for Ulster sometime in or before 1658.

1693

On 16 October, Hugh Linn and Elizabeth Geddis were married in the First Antrim Presbyterian Church in the town of Antrim.  Antrim town is less than five miles west of Templepatrick.

Public Records Office of Northern Ireland [PRONI] : Ref. #MIC1P/3

1727

On 20 June, Hugh Lynn was an elder representing Templepatrick Presbytery of County Antrim at the General Synod of Ulster.

Records of the General Synod of Ulster ... Vol. II (1721-1777), General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast (1890) (p. 113)  at https://openlibrary.org/

1740

As listed in extracts at the website of the PRONI, twelve Linns representing five parishes were Protestant householders this year in County  Antrim : Adam, two Hughs, James, and Samuel in Drummual Parish; Charles in Dunekeghan Parish; Hugh and John in Clogh Parish; Hugh, James, and William in Loghall Parish; Widow Linn in Rasharkin Parish.  Again, of course, only part of this census had been transcribed before the 1922 bombing that destroyed the original.

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/proninames.htm : Click "Search for Names", enter Linn for "Surname" on the next page, deselect all but "1740 Protestant Householders", and click "Search".  See also : Available Record.

1744-    1824

Robert Lynn was born about 1744; became a merchant in Belfast, County Antrim; and died in 1824 at age eighty.  He very probably is the same person as the Robert Linn who in Belfast signed the 1775 petition of Protestant Dissenters seeking an end to religious discrimination.

County Down Gravestone Inscriptions, Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast (Vol. 2, p. 78)
http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/proninames.htm : Click "Search for Names", enter Linn for "Surname" on the next page, deselect all but "1775 Dissenters Petitions", and click "Search".

1755-84

Michael Linn or Lynn was born about 1755; and died in 1784 at age twenty-nine.  He too signed the 1775 petition of Protestant Dissenters in Belfast.

County Down Gravestone Inscriptions, Ulster Historical Foundation, Belfast (Vol. 2, p. 78)
http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/proninames.htm : Click "Search for Names", enter Linn for "Surname" on the next page, deselect all but "1775 Dissenters Petitions", and click "Search".

1761-
   1833

According to his death notice, Mr. Henry Lynn of Broadisland [Templecorran Parish], County Antrim was born about 1761 and spent almost thirty years as a ruling Elder of the Presbyterian Congregation in Ballycarry.  The notice states also that he had died on 28 November 1833 at age 71.  Since Ballycarry also is in Templecorran Parish, Henry ~ if not born in the parish ~ must have lived there at least as early 1803.

Belfast News-Letter, 3 December 1833

1766

While only fragments survive of this year's Religious Census of Ireland, ten Linns or Lynns are found listed for Ulster : two Papists [Roman Catholic], one Protestant [Church of Ireland or other Protestant], and seven Dissenters [nearly always Presbyterian].  The two Catholics as well as three Dissenters were in County Antrim ... 

Name

Religion

County

Parish

Townland

Daniel Linn

Papist

Antrim

Ballymoney

[blank]

James Linn

Papist

Antrim

Ballymoney

[blank]

Mary Linn

Dissenter

Antrim

Ahoghill

[blank]

Sam[uel] Lynn

Dissenter

Antrim

Ahoghill

[blank]

Widow Lynn

Dissenter

Antrim

Ahoghill

[blank]

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/proninames.htm : Click "Search for Names", enter Linn for "Surname" on the next page, deselect all but "1766 Religious Census", and click "Search". Repeat for Lynn.  See also : Available Record.

1775

John Linn of Drumgooland Parish, County Down was a Dissenter who signed the 1775 petition of Ulster Protestants.

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/proninames.htm : Click "Search for Names", enter Linn for "Surname" on the next page, deselect all but "1775 Dissenters Petitions", and click "Search".  See also : Available Record.

1780-
   1850

As memorialized by a granddaughter who was eleven when the family left Ireland, James Lynn was a Scottish Presbyterian who was born in County Londonderry and moved to the now defunct village of Knockahollet [Loughguile Parish], County Antrim, where he raised six sons and two daughters before emigrating to America circa 1850.  The family settled in Exeter, Green County, Wisconsin.  James’s gravestone states that he was born in County Derry [Londonderry] and died on 19 March 1858 at the age of 78, indicating birth in about 1780.

This Side the Gully : This Side the Gully, Elizabeth Moore Wallace, The Wisconsin Farmer (1926)
Mt. Pleasant Township Cemeteries, Green County Genealogical Society (p. 119)

1819

On 29 June, Hugh Lynn was an elder representing the Ballymena Presbytery at the General Synod of Ulster.

Records of the General Synod of Ulster ... Vol. III (1778-1820), General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast (1898) (p. 494)

Fermanagh and Monaghan

While no 1740 Protestant householder returns, 1766 religious census returns, or 1775 Dissenters petitions for either Fermanagh or Monaghan have survived ~ either in the original or in transcript form ~ there were living here two branches of a Lynn family known to be of Scottish origin.  First ...

1753-88

Hugh Linn was born in 1753 to a Scottish Presbyterian family, possibly in County Monaghan.  In 1777, he did marry a County Monaghan woman whose family were also Scottish Presbyterians.  In 1713, Sarah's great-grandfather, James Widney, was one of four Commissioners who petitioned the Presbyterian Church in Ireland for the establishment of a new, separate congregation for certain members of the congregation of Kinaird [Kinard], Presbytery of Monaghan.  The request was granted, and the new congregation was situated in the village of Glaslough, which lies in the northern tip of County Monaghan.  About four miles northwest of Glaslough is the townland of Killymurry, half of which the Widneys owned from at least 1724 until the year 1784.  In the latter year, the eldest son ~ Sarah's brother James ~ sold the property and left for America.  In 1788, Hugh, Sarah, and three of their children followed James to Pennsylvania.  Hugh's Scots Presbyterian origins and certain other details mentioned above are attested to in a biography derived in large measure from the knowledge of his son Hugh Linn II, who married another member of the Widney family.

 

A History of a Fragment of the Clan Linn, Dr. George Wilds Linn, Chambersburg, PA (1905) (pp. 11, 27, 68, 93, 95) at https://openlibrary.org/ - Note : Although Scottish, the Linns were never a clan but were merely assumed such by Dr. Linn.

Records of the General Synod of Ulster, from 1691 to 1820, Vol. I. 1691-1720, The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Belfast (1890) (p. 298)  at https://openlibrary.org/

History of Congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rev. W. D. Killen, D.D., Belfast and Edinburgh (1886) (p. 153)  at https://openlibrary.org/

Registry of Deed Grantors, Book 121, pp. 254-55, Registered No. 82844 : 1724 Deed for Killymurry between "James Widney the elder" and his son, "James Widney the younger" : 1724 Deed Killymurry

Registry of Deed Grantors Index, 1708-1785, Book 368, pp. 65/66, Registered No. 246042 : 1784 Sale of Killymurry by James Widney (IV) : 1784 Deed Killymurry

Hugh and family settled in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, where Hugh helped to found the village of Concord.  As proven by the Y-DNA of certain direct male descendants, Hugh Linn was genetically related to a Lynn who lived sometimes in Monaghan and sometimes in Fermanagh ...

1775-ca.
   1850

William Lynn was born in 1774 or 1775; lived for some period in Clontivrin, County Fermanagh; died in 1847 at the age of 72; and was buried in Clones Parish, County Monaghan.  The register  of Clones Parish, Church of Ireland (a Protestant denomination), describes him as "of Clontivern [Clontivrin]".  Now uninhabited, Clontivrin was described by Sir Humphrey Davy in the 1876 Journal of the Royal and Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland (Vol. III) as being situated one mile west of the town of Clones.

William Lynn's son William married Anne Sheridan and lived sometimes in Monaghan and sometimes in Fermanagh.  Between 1825 and 1832 (or 1844), William and Anne had four (possibly five) children baptized in Galloon Parish, Fermanagh.  Between 1835 and 1842, they had four children baptized in Clones Parish, Monaghan.  William and his family lived in Parson's Green Glebe, Fermanagh circa 1825-1828 (and perhaps longer); in Mullaghgare, Fermanagh in 1832; in Mullanamoy, Monaghan circa 1835-1837; and in Clontivrin, Fermanagh circa 1840-1842 and probably until the late 1850s.

The eldest son of William and Anne, also named William, emigrated to America about 1850.  He was followed less than a decade later by his parents and five of his siblings.

LDS Microfilm #0897416 : 1818-39 Clones Parish Register, County Monaghan (pp. 596, 652, 664, 676, 687)

PRONI Ref. #MIC/1/51 : 1825-44 Galloon Parish Register, County Fermanagh

Various U.S. census, marriage, and death records

Two of the first group of children and three of the second are proven by U.S. records to be children of William Lynn and Anne Sheridan.  The other children all remained in Ireland, where one additional child in the first group is proven to be a daughter of William and Anne.  She, having already married, remained in Clontivrin until her death in 1896.

Armagh

Similarly to the case in County Down, only one Lynn is found in surviving records of County Armagh prior to 1850 who is proven to be a Protestant and/or Scot.  Again, however, such case undoubtedly is owing in no small part to the great loss of Irish records.

1740

Michael Lynn in Lurgan Parish is the only Protestant householder this year listed in the existing transcripts of this census for County Armagh.

http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/search_the_archives/proninames.htm : Click "Search for Names", enter Lynn for "Surname" on the next page, deselect all but "1740 Protestant Householders", and click "Search".  See also Available Record.

________________________________________

conclusion

It cannot be clearer.  Lynns from Scotland settled in Ulster, Ireland as early as 1604/05 and eventually made their homes in at least eight of the nine counties of that historic province.  In 1654, heirs of the 1604/05 settler of Londonderry, Donegal, and Tyrone were named as Scots Protestants.  In 1667, one was named specifically as a Presbyterian in County Tyrone excommunicated for not adhering to the Anglican Church. By 1740, dozens of Lynns were Protestant householders spread among five or more of the nine Ulster counties.  Unfortunately for Lynn historians and genealogists, transcriptions of the 1740 returns had been made for only six of the nine counties before the original returns were lost.  To believe that all, or even that most, Lynns in Ulster were actually O'Flynns is to deny the authentic origins of countless Ulster Scots who bear the name.

Loretta ~ 2015

For extensive collections from a nearly 600-page history of Lynns, Linns, etc. in Scotland and Ulster, see :

Book Excerpts on CD.

To read just a small portion of what the book holds, see any of the following ...

 

Lynn of that Ilk
a/k/a
Lords of Lynn

Andrew Lynn

and Ann Blair

Dr. William Lynn

Margaret Lynn Lewis and The Valley Manuscript

Lynn or Linn ?

Bard Pa Lein of Norway:
A Word of Caution

  Widney-Woodney-Udny

Lynn History - Main

To read folk tales and poems about a few Linns or Lynns of Scotland, click ...

Lynn Folke Lore

 

House of Lynn

Contact

______________________________________________________